Satellite radio company SiriusXM has invested $75 million in SoundCloud, a streaming service considered the audio equivalent of YouTube.
The investment was announced through a press release distributed by SoundCloud on Tuesday.
SiriusXM said it was encouraged by SoundCloud’s “unique platform” that provided a way for new musicians to get discovered and build a loyal base of listeners and fans.
“We admire SoundCloud’s loyal and growing audience, its offering for creators, and its reputation and popularity in global music communities,” SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer said. “We believe this is another opportunity to continue creating value for SiriusXM stockholders by investing in expanding digital audio platforms.”
SiriusXM’s other streaming product, Pandora, had an existing advertisement share partnership with SoundCloud. The partnership allowed companies to purchase advertisement inventory for SoundCloud through Pandora directly, which leveraged both services’ combined reach of 100 million unique listeners.
Through its financial investment, SiriusXM has acquired a minority stake in SoundCloud, a company originally started in Berlin. In exchange for the investment, SoundCloud has agreed to expand its board to include two additional seats which will be assigned to individuals chosen by SiriusXM.
“We have an exciting roadmap focused on deepening the connections between creators and listeners that fuel creator discovery, career growth and the evolution of music culture on SoundCloud,” SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor said in a statement. “We’ve built a great relationship with SiriusXM through our highly successful Pandora ad sales agreement, and their investment gives us added capital flexibility to accelerate our vision and take advantage of strategic opportunities as they arise.”
The investment adds to more than $400 million raised by SoundCloud since its founding in 2007. SoundCloud’s co-founders stepped down in recent years, and the company enacted significant layoffs in 2017 as a cost-cutting measure intended to keep the service afloat.
SiriusXM is majority owned by Liberty SiriusXM Group.
