Who owns SoundCloud? Ownership structure explained (2026)

SoundCloud is one of the internet's oldest music platforms and, for many artists, its most important on-ramp. It lets anyone upload a track and reach a global audience without a label, which made it the launchpad for a generation of musicians who built followings before the industry noticed them. That open, creator-first model set it apart from the polished catalogs of Spotify and Apple Music.

The company's ownership tells a more complicated story than its brand. SoundCloud grew fast, nearly collapsed in 2017, and was rescued by outside investors who took majority control and pushed the founders aside. Since then it has changed CEOs, restructured its finances, and repositioned itself as an artist-services business rather than a pure streaming app.

Understanding who owns SoundCloud matters because the platform's future depends on decisions made by investors who bought in to eventually sell. Their appetite for growth, their tolerance for risk, and their timeline for an exit shape everything from product strategy to the controversial ways the company has approached artificial intelligence.

SoundCloud was founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung, a Swedish sound designer, and Eric Wahlforss, a Swedish musician and computer scientist. The pair began prototyping in Stockholm and formally built the company in Berlin, drawn by the city's electronic-music scene. The platform opened to the public in 2008. Today SoundCloud is dual-headquartered in Berlin and New York.

The core product is an open audio platform. Any creator can upload tracks, and any listener can stream them, comment on them, and share them. That distinguishes SoundCloud from catalog-driven rivals: much of its library is music that exists nowhere else, uploaded directly by independent artists, DJs, and podcasters. The company makes money through paid listener subscriptions (SoundCloud Go+), creator subscriptions and tools (SoundCloud Pro and Pro Unlimited), advertising, and distribution and monetization services for artists.

The business has scaled to a large user base, reported at roughly 180 million listeners and tens of millions of creators as of 2025, though only a fraction pay. SoundCloud spent years unprofitable before its current management stabilized its finances. Its most recent confirmed valuation reference point came from a 2024 sale exploration reported above $1 billion, a private figure of the kind a business valuation calculator helps approximate when there is no public share price.

SoundCloud has never held an initial public offering, and its shares do not trade on any exchange. It is a private company owned by a mix of institutional investors, venture funds, and, to a much smaller degree, its founders and employees. There is no single corporate parent that wholly owns SoundCloud. Instead, control is concentrated in a group of financial investors led by The Raine Group and Temasek, who together hold a majority stake.

Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss built SoundCloud and led it for its first decade, but they no longer control it. Successive funding rounds diluted their holdings, and the 2017 rescue financing shifted majority ownership to outside investors. Ljung stepped down as CEO in 2017 and moved to a chairman role, while Wahlforss, who served as chief technology officer, later departed to start other ventures. Both are reported to retain small equity stakes, but neither holds operational control or a majority position. SoundCloud has not published exact founder ownership percentages.

SoundCloud raised across many rounds over its life, from an early European seed investment to a majority-changing rescue. Reported figures vary across private-market trackers, and the company has not published a complete breakdown.

Note: SoundCloud has disclosed more than $400 million in funding across its history, though a full cumulative figure has not been confirmed. The 2017 round is the pivotal event, because it transferred majority control to Raine and Temasek and cut the company's valuation to roughly $300 million after Twitter's 2016 investment had valued it near $700 million.

The Raine Group, a merchant bank and investment firm focused on technology, media, and telecommunications, co-led the 2017 rescue and is one of SoundCloud's two controlling owners. Raine is known for advising and investing across the media industry, and its stake gives it significant influence over SoundCloud's strategy and any eventual sale.

Temasek, Singapore's state-owned investment company, co-led the 2017 financing alongside Raine and holds the other half of the controlling position. As a sovereign investor with a long horizon, Temasek's involvement gave SoundCloud the capital stability it lacked when it nearly ran out of money.

SiriusXM invested $75 million in February 2020 for a minority stake and two board seats, building on an earlier advertising partnership through its Pandora subsidiary. Earlier venture backers, including Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, and Atlantic Bridge, retain smaller diluted positions from SoundCloud's growth years.

SoundCloud has not filed for or announced an IPO. Its owners have instead signaled interest in a private sale. In early 2024, reporting indicated that Raine and Temasek were exploring a sale of the company at a price above $1 billion. As of 2026, no completed transaction has been publicly confirmed. A trade sale, rather than a public listing, appears to be the more likely path to an exit for its current owners.

Eliah Seton has been SoundCloud's CEO since March 2023, after joining as president in April 2021. Before SoundCloud, he spent more than a decade at Warner Music Group, where he ran ADA Worldwide, the company's independent distribution and artist-services division. Seton has reoriented SoundCloud toward artist monetization and services, cut costs, and steered the company toward profitability. He runs day-to-day strategy but does not own a controlling stake; that power sits with the board and its majority investors.

Control of SoundCloud rests with its board, which reflects the ownership structure. The Raine Group and Temasek, as majority owners, hold the dominant board positions, and SiriusXM gained two board seats through its 2020 investment. Founder Alexander Ljung held the chairman role after stepping down as CEO. The board, rather than any single executive, directs major decisions including the potential sale of the company.

Neither founder controls SoundCloud today. Ljung transitioned from CEO to chairman in 2017, and Wahlforss left to pursue new projects, including music-technology ventures. Their diminished role is a direct result of the 2017 rescue, which is common when a company raises emergency capital from investors who require control in exchange for saving it.

SoundCloud's defining crisis came in 2017. The company was burning cash, had cut roughly 40% of its staff, and reportedly had only enough money to last a matter of weeks. A rescue led by The Raine Group and Temasek injected about $170 million but came at a steep cost to existing owners: the deal valued SoundCloud near $300 million, well below the roughly $700 million figure attached to Twitter's 2016 investment. Early backers and the founders saw their stakes diluted and their control reduced. The episode reshaped SoundCloud's ownership permanently and stands as a cautionary example of how emergency financing transfers power away from founders.

In 2025, artists discovered that SoundCloud had updated its terms of service, in a change made in 2024, with language stating that uploaded content could be used to "inform, train, develop, or serve as input to" artificial intelligence technologies. The clause triggered a backlash, with some creators threatening to delete their accounts. SoundCloud responded that it had never used artist content to train generative AI models and did not allow third parties to scrape its platform for that purpose, then revised the terms to say it would not use uploaded content to train models that replicate an artist's voice or style without consent. Critics, including AI-ethics advocates, argued the revised language still left room for other forms of AI training. For a platform whose value rests on the trust of independent creators, the dispute highlighted the tension between artist interests and the commercial incentives of its owners.

SoundCloud's business depends on artists choosing to upload there rather than to rival platforms, which makes changes to royalties, monetization, and data use unusually sensitive. The company has rolled out fan-powered royalties and direct monetization tools to court creators, but any move perceived as favoring the platform over artists draws scrutiny. Because SoundCloud's owners are financial investors seeking a return, creators and observers watch closely for signs that monetization pressure could erode the open, artist-first model that built the platform.

SoundCloud's ownership structure explains much of how the company behaves. Because a group of financial investors led by The Raine Group and Temasek holds majority control, the company is run with an eventual exit in mind. That focus pushes management to demonstrate profitability and growth, which is why current leadership has prioritized cost cuts, artist-services revenue, and financial stability over the aggressive, cash-burning expansion of SoundCloud's earlier years.

The shift from founder control to investor control changed the company's character. Under Ljung and Wahlforss, SoundCloud chased scale and product ambition, which nearly bankrupted it. Under investor ownership and a music-industry CEO, it operates more like a business being groomed for sale, with tighter finances and a clearer revenue strategy. This mirrors the trade-offs visible across creator platforms such as Patreon, where ownership shapes how much the platform prioritizes creators versus returns.

The exit motive also carries risk for creators. A sale to a larger media or technology company could change SoundCloud's policies, pricing, and openness overnight. The AI controversy showed how quickly monetization decisions can clash with artist interests, and a new owner might push further in that direction. Whether SoundCloud stays independent, gets absorbed by a strategic buyer, or is sold to another financial owner will depend on the priorities of Raine, Temasek, and the board.

Finally, ownership shapes SoundCloud's competitive position. It sits between giants and independents. It cannot outspend Spotify or Apple Music, so its value lies in the open catalog and creator relationships that those platforms lack. Understanding how Spotify makes money clarifies why SoundCloud has leaned into artist services and distribution rather than competing head-on for mainstream catalog streaming. For anyone mapping that rivalry, a structured competitive analysis template helps frame where SoundCloud's ownership-driven strategy gives it an edge and where it leaves the company exposed.

Eliah Seton is the CEO of SoundCloud. He joined as president in April 2021 and became CEO in March 2023. Before SoundCloud, he spent more than a decade at Warner Music Group, where he led its independent distribution arm, ADA Worldwide.

No. SoundCloud is a privately held company with no public stock listing, and it has never completed an IPO. Its shares are held by private investors, led by The Raine Group and Temasek. In 2024, its owners were reported to be exploring a private sale rather than a public offering.

SoundCloud was founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, two Swedish entrepreneurs who built the company in Berlin. Ljung served as CEO until 2017 and later became chairman, while Wahlforss was chief technology officer before departing. Neither controls the company today.

The majority owners are The Raine Group and Temasek, which took control in a 2017 rescue financing. SiriusXM holds a minority stake and two board seats from a 2020 investment. Earlier venture backers, including Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, and Atlantic Bridge, retain smaller diluted stakes, and the founders hold reduced positions.

SoundCloud was reportedly valued near $700 million after Twitter's 2016 investment, then saw that figure cut to roughly $300 million in the 2017 rescue that gave Raine and Temasek control. The company later returned to positive EBITDA, and by 2024 its owners were reported to be exploring a sale at a price above $1 billion. Because SoundCloud is private, these figures reflect reported deal values rather than a public market price.

No. SiriusXM invested $75 million in SoundCloud in February 2020 for a minority stake and two board seats, but it does not own or control the company. Majority control rests with The Raine Group and Temasek.