SoundCloud Partners With Twitch To Allow Musicians To Earn Money From Twitch Streams

Source: Soundcloud

Yesterday (March 20th), SoundCloud announced a new partnership with Twitch that will allow SoundCloud Pro, SoundCloud Premier, and Repost By SoundCloud creators to start earning money from Twitch streams.

The partnership comes as a result of musicians having to cancel or postpone live dates due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s an unsettling time for everyone right now, and we know COVID-19 has been especially hard on musicians who were scheduled to play live shows over the next few months, “ the streaming service said in the blog post. “Many creators are turning to live video streaming platforms to connect with their fans.”

SoundCloud creators will be able to fast track their Twitch Affiliate status by first signing up with an account at twitch.tv and then filling out a Google form with their contact information, SoundCloud account information, their familiarity with Twitch, and more. After doing so, Twitch will notify them within a matter of days.

Once a creator has Affiliate status, their fans will be able to subscribe to their channel for ad-free viewing, extra perks, and support them with Bits, which are animated emoticons. Additionally, creators can run ads on their channels, link out to their music and merchandise stores, and receive donations from fans.

All SoundCloud Pro, SoundCloud Premier and Repost by SoundCloud creators have access to Twitch Affiliate status as of today, however, SoundCloud notes that access is not guaranteed so it recommends that creators make sure that their profile follows Twitch’s best practices to increase their chances of being accepted.

Insights & Analysis:

With live shows and concerts shut down for the foreseeable future, SoundCloud and Twitch’s partnership provides musicians the opportunity to earn money and potentially mitigate money lost from canceled or postponed shows by streaming live performances and holding Q&A sessions. Not to mention, it’s a great way for musicians to connect and engage with their fans.

Livestreaming is more popular than ever so it’s a no-brainer for musicians to try it out if they haven’t done so yet or double down on their efforts if they are already live streaming. While big names like John Legend and Diplo have been live streaming on Instagram, many independent acts have made Twitch their home due to its variety of revenue-generating tools, which likely played a role in SoundCloud teaming with Twitch versus another live streaming platform.

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SOURCE: SoundCloud