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All your bass are belong to us: Soundcloud fans raid site for music amid fears of total collapse
You have no chance to survive make your time
Music hosting biz SoundCloud, having just axed 40 per cent of its staff, is now trying to ward off rumors that it will go broke in less than two months.
The song-sharing service was rumored to be in crisis mode and had to shut its doors, with just 50 days of funding left before it ran out of cash. A spokesperson insisted Thursday, however, that this is not the case, and that following last week's layoffs, SoundCloud is going to be able to turn a profit soon.
"To clarify, SoundCloud is fully funded into the fourth quarter," the spokesperson told El Reg. "We continue to be confident the changes made last week put us on our path to profitability and ensure SoundCloud's long-term viability."
Users, meanwhile, don't seem to be buying it. Many are flocking to the site seeking to download as much music as possible ahead of an anticipated shutdown.
*downloads everything off soundcloud to computer & moves on with my day*
— dr thompson 🌊 (@Benjamania_) July 13, 2017
peace out soundcloud everyone get your downloads in while you can
— nobody [is] special (@nobody__is) July 13, 2017
hey, hey - download all your files from soundcloud. ASAP
— steel tipped dove (@steeltippeddove) July 13, 2017
if soundcloud actually goes down I have like 1,200 songs I'm gonna need to download
— xandy (@xandy99k) July 13, 2017
The rumblings of a funding shortfall come just days after the music service announced it would be closing offices in San Francisco and London as part of a massive layoff effort. Those cuts ended up with 173 of SoundCloud's 420 employees being out of a job and only two offices (New York and Germany) left operating.
This comes as SoundCloud struggles to get its advertising and subscription revenues up high enough to push the music-sharing service into the black. Since 2008, the company has relied on VC funding to stay afloat and, after nine years, is still trying to turn a profit. ®