Is SoundCloud Turning Into Spotify-lite?

Following yesterday’s news that Snapchat is planning to add ads to its offering, SoundCloud, the popular audio-sharing platform, is now launching an ad-supported On SoundCloud program to let music and podcast creators monetize the audio they post. The program will have users “see and hear” commercials alongside sponsored tracks. In addition, it announced plans to launch a subscription service to allow listeners to opt out those ads. Essentially, it’s slowly turning into Spotify-lite, just with fewer music licenses. And as long as it doesn’t annoy the users, its popularity will pay off.