If you have uploaded any of your music to Soundcloud, now is a good time to go through it and make sure you have the files backed up.
TechCrunch reports that the music startup suddenly laid off 40% of its workforce last week, which was about 173 employees. They also closed their offices in San Francisco and London. But it gets worse:
Sources at SoundCloud tell TechCrunch that founders Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss confessed the layoffs only saved the company enough money to have runway “until Q4” — which begins in just 50 days.
That seems to conflict with the statement Ljung released alongside the layoffs, which noted that, “With more focus and a need to think about the long term, comes tough decisions.” The company never mentioned how short its cash would still last.
We reached out to Ljung and SoundCloud for this story and PR responded to the request reiterating Ljung blog post. After being presented with the leaked information from the all-hands, SoundCloud PR admitted that, “We are fully funded into Q4,” though it says it’s in talks with potential investors.
The story notes that the remaining employees are losing faith in the company and some are already exiting at their own will.
Unless, some magical unicorn comes and saves Soundcloud, this could spell the end for the service, which is primarily focused on user-submissions.
Are you a fan of Soundcloud? Sad to see it go? Let us know in the comments.
