SoundCloud offers SoundCloud Go+ for $1 for three months

As speculation grows about the future of SoundCloud, the ten-year-old Berlin-based streaming company is aiming to build up its subscriber base in America.

It is offering a three-month subscription to its premium $9.99 per month Go+ tier for just US$1.

Its rival Spotify has offered similar deals in recent years which helped it reach 50 million subscribers by March 2017, from 40 million in September 2016.

In SoundCloud’s case, it’s a bit more urgent. Earlier in the year when it announced its financials, co-founder Alexander Ljung revealed, “The assumption of a successful launch of the new subscription service is the key element of [our] financial projections for the next three years.” 

He added on a sombre note, “[This] bears financial risks regarding the operating results and cash flows of the group.” 

SoundCloud’s last available finances posted that its 2015 revenues rose 21.6% to €21.1 million (A$$30.82 million) but net losses sped up 30.9% to €51.22 million ($74.80 million). 

Some analysts are reading more into the $1 offer than just a popular promo campaign – they say it suggests desperation.

SoundCloud was considered to be worth US$1 billion. It was almost bought by Spotify and Twitter, both of which walked away.

More recently, Recode journalist Peter Kafka speculated: “SoundCloud is now at a point where it may sell for less than the $700 million investors thought it was worth a few years ago.

“One source thinks it will consider bids, as long as they’re above the total investment it has raised to date — about $250 million.”

Ljung told investors a few months ago, “SoundCloud may run out of cash earlier than December 31, 2017. These matters give rise to a material uncertainty about the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

SoundCloud was also not among the streaming services included in this morning’s announcement, first reported by TMN, that ARIA will count streams towards its Albums chart.