Mixcloud Looks To The Future With Paid-For Packages

Popular DJ mix, radio show and podcast hosting website Mixcloud has introduced premium, paid-for packages for both content providers and listeners, in a bid to become the dominant platform for DJ mixes. The move comes at a time when a notable rival, SoundCloud, is becoming untenable for DJs due to content takedowns.

Mixcloud’s “Pro” package is for people who wish to upload their Dj mix, radio show or podcast to the service, and offers a new comprehensive analytics suite to help you understand how well your mix performs. You can monitor the size, source and location of your listeners and for the first time see exactly where they’re dropping off. You also get comment control and scheduled uploading.

The “Premium” package is for listeners, and costs $6.99 a month. It primarily offers ad-free listening, although Mixcloud is also pointing out that this is a great way to make sure more money goes back to the music makers; as Mixcloud is a licensed platform, the structure is already in place for content owners to be rewarded for tracks on the platform, so the more revenue the service can generate, the more money flows back to them.

The Mixcloud platform, although criticised by some for not giving them anywhere as near as much exposure as SoundCloud did (before it started wholesale removing DJ mixes from the site), has seen a 60% increase in listener hours since January 2014’s redesign, and the addition of a “Repost” button is a step towards offering the kind of social features that make SoundCloud attractive to uploaders.

We can’t in all honesty see many listeners opting to subscribe at this stage unless more features are added for them, but any half-serious content uploader would want to pay in our view, in order to take the analytics package to help them grow an audience more effectively.

• Visit Mixcloud for more details.

Is this a good move for the platform? Are you more likely to use Mixcloud for your mixes knowing the company is trying to sustainably monetise their operation with more than just advertising? Please share your thoughts in the comments.