SoundCloud Removes 70% of Kaskade’s Content

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Earlier today, Kaskade revealed that 70% of his uploads have been taken down by SoundCloud. The legendary house DJ/producer spoke out about the situation in a series of tweets:
 


 
Kaskade then announced that he’ll be building his own direct-to-fan site, which we presume will be similar to the one Deadmau5 launched last year:
 


 
It didn’t take long for Kaskade’s label Ultra Music to respond though. The company’s reply suggests that they’re currently working with SoundCloud to restore his content:
 


 
Even if Kaskade gets his content back, the current situation reaffirms concerns that SoundCloud is increasingly becoming a hostile platform for DJs and producers.
 
Recent reports have indicated that SoundCloud is in talks with major labels to stem the tide of “unauthorized uploads.” This has led many analysts to believe that the current barrage of take down notices are a result of possible negotiations.
 
So how will this affect the DJ and producer community at large? Numerous people have reported similar issues in recent weeks, but many of them aren’t fortunate enough to have the relationships and leverage of artists such as Kaskade.
 
Have you been affected by take down notices from SoundCloud? Do you have plans to switch to another service? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
 
Related: DJcity Partners with Mixcloud

  • David

    I already moved to mixcloud!

  • sean

    Meh

  • Shivam Patel

    Mixcloud is where it’s at.

  • SGK

    shame soundcloud is such a good site but i put my mixes on mixcloud now

  • leed

    Don’t blame soundcloud. They are compkying with the law. Any replacement service would have to do the same. Blame the labels like ultra.

    • Mat Clayton

      As one of the founders of Mixcloud, I can say the reason we don’t have the same issues is that we are registered and pay royalties to SoundExchange, PRS, PPL and other societies to ensure this doesn’t happen and artists get paid.

  • Soulplay

    it actually makes sense..in order to get the music business goin again, it’s good for the musicians, original & unknown artists…soundcloud will leave up all original materials, so if its taken down, it means it belongs to someone else, and was not authorized to be up in the first place. ex: unsigned samples, or remixes of other peoples music…and yes all platforms will be doing the same soon enough..even itunes…On itunes there are djs selling other peoples tracks within their podcasts lol wtf? This should bring the real soundcloud community back to its roots…(my personal opinion)

    • Jawesome

      but what about people not monetizing off of incredible remixes that they make?

      • Macattaq

        Copyright doesn’t apply on the basis of whether you make money from your “work” or not. It applies from the time the original author creates their piece. Making a remix, incredible or not, doesn’t make you exempt. If you don’t have permission, it’s illegal, and that’s the bottom line.

        • David

          That is not entirely true. There are exceptions made for creative use of other people’s work. Everything really comes down to the type of copyrights. For example, someone who only has a mechanical copyright cannot sue someone unless they copied the record itself. Someone who holds the publishing rights has more grey area to work with. On the other hand, an artist who records their own version of a song, without using any samples from the original recording, has quite a bit of latitude if they do not try to make money off of the recording. If money is made from a track, royalties do need to be paid, but they are usually lower than if you sample the original track.

          • Macattaq

            I think you’re confusing a couple of things. There are exceptions for fair use, but that doesn’t apply here. There isn’t a mechanical copyright, only a mechanical license, which grants limited rights to use or reproduce without reworking the original piece. You aren’t going to hold the publishing rights to a piece if you remix it, either, because those are held either by the original artist or the publishing company or some combination of the two.

            Recording your own version of a song, without using any samples doesn’t exempt you, either. What really matters is whether your work goes to the “heart of the matter”. That is, is what you’ve made recognizable as being taken from another work? It doesn’t matter whether you’re making money from your remix or re-edit, or whatever. Deriving a profit isn’t a factor when considering whether copyright has been infringed, though it’s something that may be looked at when damages are assessed. Absent permission from the artist, you don’t have the right to take the lyrics, melody, bassline, or other elements without infringing their copyright. And doing so in Europe, so far as I know, infringes on the creator’s author’s rights, which creates a whole other set of legal issues.

  • Mark Mtraxx Perrins

    Sound cloud use to be a good site for promoting yourself as a Dj or producer. I’ve had mixes that I have made taken down recently as well and I am now looking at switching everything over to mix cloud and ditching sound cloud all together.

  • Deerrty D

    i use mixcloud and mixcrate. both are really good

  • Melly

    Disappointing but it’s their loss. I will still listen to Kaskade and follow him wherever he’s at! I only used Soundcloud to follow him anyways.

  • Geovane Darabas

    Mixcloud, exellent platform, this latest visual, more interactive. for completeness are missing an auto play on social networks

  • David Gonzalez

    URL: EMSRADIO.LA is launching this summer which is rumored to be the remedy to this sound cloud headache. A social media platform for djs by djs. They are even gonna have a booth at #EDMBiz during #EDC weekend. I highly suggest you guys look in to it

  • Luiz Carvalho

    At about 2 or maybe 3 years ago, I made a mixtape with several foreign artists, and in consequence it is being widely viewed and downloaded consequemente very suddenly supreendo with my track set list or blocked for downloads and when you least expected it already was no longer seen there … I see you all are so open the doors at first and then the fechamsem prior notice and worse blocking the possibility of disclosing our work. PENA because I’ll migrate to another type of page you respect my work as a DJ.

  • will mixcloud be allowing or do they allow downloads?

  • Bruno

    And this is why the RIAA/SoundExChange/MPAA lobby is out of control. They are forcing these anti-piracy measures on us that are rolling across the Internet destroying legitimate works. At least Kaskade has enough clout to get his stuff back.

  • BusterNaeslund

    There really needs to be non-ignorable consequences for the ones sending bogus take-down requests. Right now they risk nothing. If they, say, were fined or lost the right to issue take-downs for a period of time they would have to stop this scatter shot aproach.