Mixcloud Limiting Features for Non-Paying Users

Mixcloud is going through some changes. These changes are both for non-paying, and paying users. Pretty much, they say they want to focus their energy on content creators and artists. Mixcloud CEO’s Nico Perez, Nikhil Shah and Matthew Clayton spoke with the medium regarding the new changes. They also shared a blog post highlighting the major changes:

In the coming months, this free playback streaming experience on Mixcloud will become slightly more limited. It’s important to us that, as a member of our community, you understand why. The short answer is: so that we can keep up with the costs of running a streaming service that puts artists and creators at its core, and so we can build a sustainable platform that will be here for you in the long term.

So What Changes Are Coming?

Exactly what is changing with Mixcloud to help “put artists at its core”? To start, they are drastically limiting features that free users experience. This includes:

  • Free listeners will only be able to seek forwards (not backward) while listening to a show.
  • Free listeners will be able to listen to the same show maximum 3 times in a rolling two-week window.
  • Free listeners will not be able to listen to shows that feature more than 4 tracks by the same artist or more than 3 tracks from an album (If you are not a rights holder).
mixcloud users

In addition to these changes, they are also changing how their subscriptions function. The post also shares an exciting statistic around global music streaming: by 2030, it’s projected that 70% of global music revenue will come from streaming. So, with these changes, do you think Mixcloud is helping out their content creators? Check out the full Medium article here to learn more about the changes.