If you've been keeping up with SoundCloud lately, you know there have been some struggles. After laying off nearly 40% of their staff earlier this summer, the steaming service has been scrambling for ways to let the music live. With private equity firms, Raine Group & Temasek agreeing to fund a life line deal of nearly $170 million earlier this week, it appeared that the music site will live to see another day.
However, this deal doesn't come without some stipulations. The investors have demanded a slew of preferential terms with the most notable one being that founder and CEO, Alexander Ljung is out and former Vimeo CEO, Kerry Trainor, is in. Mike Weissman of Vimeo will also act as COO. Additionally, these Hail Mary investors will be first in line to receive cash should the service not be able to recoup its losses.
Ljung isn't exactly left out in the cold though. According to the most recent post from Ljung on SoundCloud's blog, he'll be handing over the reigns of CEO to Trainor so that he can “fully focus on the role of the Chairman and the long-term.” Other notable news from this deal is that current CTO, Eric Wahlforss will move into a Chief Product Officer role.
As the ink on this deal sets, there's no denying that all eyes will be on SoundCloud in the coming months to see how it goes. For us devout EDM fans, we want to see the platform triumph and succeed, so we're hoping this move is the right one.
We'll keep you updated as this story develops.
