For quite some time now, SoundCloud has been planning out a paid subscription service and laying the groundwork for it. After scoring licensing deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment to add bigger names to their sizeable stable of indie and retro artists, SoundCloud is ready at last to get their subscription service, known as SoundCloud Go, off the ground. Priced to compete with other options in the same avenue, such as Apple Music and Spotify, the new plan comes at a cost of $9.99 a month for web and Android users, with a markup to $12.99 per month for iOS users, most likely to compensate for Apple’s 30 percent share on purchases originating from their App Store.
The new paid service was unofficially included in the newest update to the Spotify app for iOS, finding a place in the release notes. Released earlier in the day, the newest version of the app was later trailed by an updated Android app and changes to the web interface for SoundCloud to reflect the addition of SoundCloud Go. The new premium offering will give unfettered, ad-free access to SoundCloud’s massive library, consisting of roughly 125 million songs across 12 million creative sources. Users will also be able to download their favorite tracks for offline use. The official press release also seems to hint that SoundCloud Go will also give users access to some of SoundCloud’s library that free users don’t get to listen to, although it remains to be seen if that’s actually the case.
SoundCloud Go is live and available to all users in the United States via the existing web interface and mobile apps for now, with more areas slated to be added on to the service in the near future. Users who subscribe to the service on one medium will be able to enjoy it across the others as well, with the obvious exception of web and Android subscribers wanting to play their music on iOS. The first month is free, as a trial period. Additionally, content creators on SoundCloud that subscribe to the Pro Unlimited model can get their hands on a SoundCloud Go subscription for only $4.99 a month.