SoundCloud closed the necessary funding round to keep the struggling music service afloat on Friday, August 11. New York investment bank Raine Group and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek have stepped in to lead a $169.5 million Series F funding round.
CEO Alex Ljung will step aside as the company’s chief executive, with former Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor replacing him. Ljung will remain SoundCloud’s chairman. Mike Weissman will become COO as SoundCloud co-founder and CTO Eric Wahlforss will remain as chief product officer.
Raine will get two board seats for bailing out the company, held by partner and former music industry attorney Fred Davis and the firm’s vice president on music investments Joe Puthenveetil.
“This financing means SoundCloud remains strong & independent. As I said, SoundCloud is here to stay.”
Alex Ljung, SoundCloud chairman
It’s unclear whether this news will help to quell the anxiety facing musicians who have built their audiences on SoundCloud that Grasswire reported on July 21:
My thoughts are
YouTube is better— Dj CUTMAN! (@VideoGameDJ) August 11, 2017