Has SoundCloud Cracked Superfandom and AI Music?

This week on the New Music Business podcast, Ari sits down with Eliah Seton, CEO of SoundCloud. Eliah breaks down how SoundCloud is evolving beyond streaming into a creator-first platform focused on fan relationships, monetization, and artist discovery.Why “streaming is not enough” for artists, how fan-powered royalties work, the future of direct-to-fan monetization, and why creator tools are becoming more important in the AI era. Eliah also explains SoundCloud’s approach to generative AI music, ethically trained AI models, and why the platform refuses to monetize fully AI-generated songs.Follow Eliah Seton and SoundCloud:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eliahseton/https://soundcloud.com/Check out Ari’s Take:https://aristake.com08:27 - Eliah Seton on the Future of SoundCloud13:41 - Why “Streaming Is Not Enough” for Artists18:15 - Fan Monetization, Merch, and Direct-to-Artist Revenue22:03 - How SoundCloud Helps Artists Get Heard and Build Fans27:14 - Creator Subscriptions and Fan-Powered Features31:24 - Wallets, Tipping, and the Future of Fan Transactions36:01 - AI Tools for Music Creation and Artist Discovery40:48 - SoundCloud’s Approach to Ethically Trained AI47:17 - AI Music, Royalties, and Streaming Economics52:08 - The Future of Human Artistry in the AI EraEdited and mixed by Ruben ZarateMusic by Brassroots DistrictProduced by the team at Ari’s TakeOrder the THIRD EDITION of How to Make It in the New Music Business: https://book.aristake.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.