Okay but seriously, this really is the end of Soundcloud y’all. After years of operation without any massive reproach, Soundcloud is about to come under fire by the likes of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and arguably the biggest dog of them all, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). If just one of these companies filed suit, Soundcloud might still have a leg to stand on, but a legal assault from all three simultaneously would force Soundcloud to most likely shut down their services due to “massive copyright infringement.”

The streaming service, who was speculated to introduce a subscription-based plan rollout soon, wants to keep a free tier like Spotify, but seeing as how Soundcloud failed to reach the proper deals with UMG and Sony, the talks will soon dissolve in favor of the lawsuits. The latter has been relentless in its quest to show Soundcloud who is in control, forcing them to remove entire catalogs from most of its major artists.The only label that won’t likely be involved in this legal battle will be Warner Music Group, who reached an agreement in exchange for a 5% share.

If you recall, the same thing happened to Grooveshark, who recently folded due to legal troubles. They surrendered their website and wiped their entire site to appease the same companies that Soundcloud is currently in hot water with. Though I doubt they’ll have six years to continue to operate if UMG, Sony, and the RIAA are on their heels. If Soundcloud can’t come out on top, this could be the end of (mostly) ad-free music streaming.

Source: Digital Music News