SoundCloud partners with Zefr, a platform specialised in YouTube monetisation tools

SoundCloud has partnered with Zefr, a company that is specialised in rights management identification and monetisation tools for brands and publishers, The Verge reports. 

The vast majority of Zefr's work is with YouTube, where the service works in tandem with ContentID to "unlock even more value for content owners" (Zefr.com).

The partnership will allow SoundCloud to scan uploaded music for copyrighted tracks (something that the company is already doing via Audible Magic), but on top of that it could be a way to let copyright owners figure out which content is theirs and claim advertising on it, just like on YouTube. 

The partnership makes sense since if SoundCloud wants appease record labels by removing infringing works but also needs to start figuring out how to make money for them in a scalable way.

The music consumption platform has hit a few snags recently because DJs, tired of seeing their mixes pulled down due to copyright issues, have started to take their music to competing services that - for example - are specialised in long-form remixes and have the licenses for it, such as MixCloud. 

A deal of this kind appears to be a no brainer for SoundCloud, although that depends on what its plans are for future monetisation. 

At the moment the biggest question mark remains whether Universal Music is prepared to jump on board and license its music to the company. The label’s new stance towards freemium services - unless there is a real breakthrough in negotiations - suggests that it will take a lot of determination from the SoundCloud team to make a deal happen. 

 

(Andrea Leonelli)