SoundCloud has started letting artists sell music directly to fans on its own platform, and says it won’t take a cut of those sales.
The company launched a beta of direct music purchases on Wednesday (August 26), opening it to a select group of Artist Pro creators who can now sell tracks from their profiles.
SoundCloud says it takes no commission on purchases, with artists receiving the proceeds from each sale, less applicable fees and taxes.
Fans can find, buy, and download tracks without leaving SoundCloud, according to the company.
“Artists should be able to build their audience in one place, on one platform,” said Eliah Seton, CEO of SoundCloud. “SoundCloud has always been where artists find their first fans and build real communities.
“We’re continuing to bring more of what they need to grow their careers into that same experience, while letting fans directly support the music they love.”
“We’re continuing to bring more of what they need to grow their careers into that same experience, while letting fans directly support the music they love.”
Eliah Seton, SoundCloud
The beta is starting with approximately 200 US-based Artist Pro creators who have Fan Support enabled.
Those creators can set the price of eligible tracks, make streamed music available for purchase, and track sales through Artist Studio and the Fan Support Dashboard.
Fans buy and download in whichever format the artist supplies, such as MP3 or WAV.
“Starting with a smaller creator group gives us a direct feedback loop: what’s working, where there’s friction, and what artists want us to build next,” SoundCloud said in its announcement.
SoundCloud says access will widen through the beta before it reaches all eligible creators later this fall.
Purchases sit alongside Fan-Powered Royalties, Fan Support, on-demand vinyl, and ticketing as ways for artists to earn on the platform, the company says.
The company says the demand is already visible in the traffic leaving SoundCloud for other services.
More than 250,000 artists have linked over 2.4 million tracks to external music platforms, SoundCloud says.
It also says it sends more than half a million users a year to outside parties to buy music.
In its own research, 28% of surveyed artists either sell downloadable music already or want to, split evenly between the two groups at 14% each.
“The need is already there,” SoundCloud said. “We’re bringing it directly to SoundCloud.”
SoundCloud says its research also shows that superfans can spend up to five times more on music and artists than casual listeners.
The launch extends a run of monetization changes at SoundCloud.
In November 2025, SoundCloud scrapped the revenue share on its distribution service, letting subscribing artists keep 100% of their royalties from distribution to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, TikTok, and other platforms.
That overhaul also introduced zero-commission Fan Support, on-demand vinyl, merchandise, and artist storefronts, part of what Seton has called “the next major revenue format” in music.
In March 2026, SoundCloud launched Follower Exclusive Releases, which lets Artist Pro subscribers gate tracks behind a follow.
The company then acquired Nina Protocol in July 2026, taking on the editorial archive of a platform that had let artists sell music directly to listeners and keep 100% of their sales.
Paid downloads also sit at the center of Bandcamp‘s business.
That platform takes 15% of digital sales, dropping to 10% once an artist reaches $5,000 in sales, according to its published fee schedule.
Bandcamp‘s share on physical goods is 10%, with payment processor fees charged separately.
Downloads and other digital revenues fell 5.0% year-on-year in 2025 and now account for 2.5% of global recorded music revenues, according to IFPI’s Global Music Report 2026.
That marked a 13th consecutive year of decline for the format, in a year when streaming accounted for 69.6% of the global total.Music Business Worldwide
