Whether SoundCloud will make it to the end of summer, let alone the end of the year, has become something of an open question in recent days.
Last week, Alexander Ljung, one of the music service’s co-founders, announced that the company was letting go of 173 of its employees, or 40 percent of its workforce. What’s worse, sources told TechCrunch that the layoffs only made sure the company could make it to the fourth quarter of the financial year “fully funded,” leading to questions about how long the struggling service could last.
The news caused alarm among the service’s dedicated user base, among them Chance The Rapper, who told his 4.75 million followers on Thursday that he was “working” on solving the incredibly complex financial problem.
What a difference a day can make. On Friday, Chance, an independent artist-turned-megastar, said he spoke with Ljung and that SoundCloud is “here to stay.”
About an hour later, SoundCloud echoed Chance’s message over Twitter.
Ljung also blogged about the current state of things on the SoundCloud blog:
Hey everyone,
There’s an insane amount of noise about SoundCloud in the world right now. And it’s just that, noise. The music you love on SoundCloud isn’t going away, the music you shared or uploaded isn’t going away, because SoundCloud is not going away. Not in 50 days, not in 80 days or anytime in the foreseeable future. Your music is safe.
Along with each of you, we’ve built this incredible creative community of artists, podcasters, DJs, producers and more who are the driving force in pushing culture forward in the world. That’s not going to change. Last week we had to make some tough decisions to let go of some of our staff, but we did this to ensure SoundCloud remains a strong, independent company.
Thank you for the outpouring of love and support. Some of you have asked how you can help–spread the word that we’re not going anywhere and keep doing what you’re doing–creating, listening, uploading, sharing, liking, and discovering what’s new, now and next in music. SoundCloud is here to stay.
Peace,
Alex
Now, did Chance really just swoop in and save the day? While we’d like to believe so ― who doesn’t want to believe in Chance? ― it’s also just as (if not more) likely that Ljung told Chance what he wanted to hear. After all, Ljung isn’t going to tell anyone right now, much less someone with millions of Twitter followers, that his company is doomed.
But if you want to believe, then believe. It’s Friday after all.
Before You Go
