SoundCloud hiring Australian-based sales team
On the day of SoundCloud’s consumer subscription service launch, the Berlin-based music and audio platform has hinted at plans to launch an Australian office.
While SoundCloud has not announced plans to open a local office, it is currently recruiting a Sydney-based sales team.
The introduction of advertising on the just-launched SoundCloud Go – including audio advertising, mobile interstitials, promoted tracks and creator partnerships – warrants the need for two local staffers. They’ll manage local brand partnerships and ad sales as well as the kind of in-house native partnerships that saw the UK’s Sizzlebird produce the track
They’ll manage local brand partnerships and ad sales as well as the kind of in-house native partnerships that saw the UK’s Sizzlebird produce the track Leaves for Jaguar.
Alexander Ljung, co-founder and CEO at SoundCloud, told TMN:
“We’re in the early stages of our expansion into Australia. We are very excited to bring SoundCloud Go to the market, and […] we see a lot of potential. For now, we’re looking to hire a Sales Manager and an Account Manager, and will determine how best to move forward in the market as we grow.”
It’s not unusual for SoundCloud to bolster its on-ground sales teams following SoundCloud Go’s launch. It did the same thing in the UK and Ireland in May, when it appointed ex-Capital FM executive David Couch as Commercial Director.
The first brand advertisers in the UK and Ireland were Squarespace and TuneCore, extending a relationship already established in the US. In France, brand partners included Zalando and 20th Century Fox.
In the US, where SoundCloud’s monetisation programme has been active since 2014, the platform has run campaigns with HBO, Pepsi, Netflix, Amazon, and 20th Century Fox.
SoundCloud has said it will partner with AdsWizz and Triton Digital for interstitials and the audio ads tied to content. Creators who participate in the SoundCloud monetisation programme will receive royalties however SoundCloud is tight-lipped on the percentage delivered to them.
Sonia Flynn, SoundCloud’s Vice President of International said: “The introduction of advertising forms a cornerstone of our commitment to the interest of our creator community, 12 million of which are heard each month on our platform.
“Each time an ad is heard on SoundCloud, an artist will get paid, and will help to ensure the free offering remains available alongside the premium option, SoundCloud Go.”