SoundCloud secures partnership with Session

Session (formerly known as Auddly) was founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, veteran Swedish producer Max Martin and songwriter Niclas Molinder. It describes itself as a platform that “collects and injects authoritative creator metadata into the music ecosystem, facilitating correct creator credits and accurate, timely music royalty payments.”

According to the platform, the partnership will allow SoundCloud artists to sign up for the free-to-download Session Studio app on mobile or web. After downloading the app, users can create a release with one or more tracks. The app enables users to capture creator identifiers, manage data and splits, and sync song information in real time with leading music production software.

“SoundCloud has doubled down on its platform’s broader goal of getting creators paid with fairness and transparency,” the company’s president, Eliah Seton, said.

The former Warner Music Group exec added: “At SoundCloud, we are passionately devoted to getting creators paid with fairness and transparency. Max, Bjorn, Niclas and the whole Session team are changing the game to get songwriters the credit they deserve. This partnership is a major milestone in our effort to equip creators with the tools to earn.”

SoundCloud joins a number of other companies, including Muso.AI, VEVA Sound and Jaxsta, which are taking steps to improve the metadata to make it easier to determine copyright ownership of musical works and the subsequent royalty payouts.

UK collecting society PRS for Music recently revealed plans to launch an online portal for songwriter credits. Scheduled to roll out early next year, the portal will initially feature metadata for more than two million works.

SoundCloud's new partnership comes about three months after it announced a significant milestone licensing agreement with Warner Music Group, which made it the first major music rights holder to support payouts based upon actual listening as opposed to a portion of total streams.