SoundClick
Encyclopedia
SoundClick is a music-based social community. It offers bands, artists, and music labels a platform for self-promotion. Songs can be streamed, downloaded in MP3
format, sold through the store, or licensed to others. SoundClick compiles daily charts for various genres, based on how many times a particular track is played. The social-network offers profile pages with friends networking, photo, video, blogs, and user stations. SoundClick has also revolutionized hip-hop production by allowing many unheard-of producers to get their music on the web.
SoundClick was founded in 1997 by twin brothers Tanju and Tolgar Canli. The site initially worked with RealAudio
audio streams, and switched later to the now prevailing MP3
file format for audio streams and downloads. SoundClick was incorporated in 1999 in California by law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
. In 2007, SoundClick launched its own social network
. The site celebrated its 10 year anniversary on August 13, 2007. Today SoundClick reports 3.5 million songs, 450,000 bands and artists, and over 3 million registered members. SoundClick is a privately held company
.
license or under a paid license. The artist page can contain news, tour calendar, and information about their group/project.
and you can also buy it for 50
.
Soundclick has also been accused of looking the other way when it comes to high profile and high revenue generating users pages. In many instances sample copyright violations may go unchecked for these type of users, while your average user gets punished. In September of 2011, Soundclick founder, Tanju Canli was shown to be a "Top Seller" while selling songs created by Blink-182.
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format, sold through the store, or licensed to others. SoundClick compiles daily charts for various genres, based on how many times a particular track is played. The social-network offers profile pages with friends networking, photo, video, blogs, and user stations. SoundClick has also revolutionized hip-hop production by allowing many unheard-of producers to get their music on the web.
SoundClick was founded in 1997 by twin brothers Tanju and Tolgar Canli. The site initially worked with RealAudio
RealAudio
RealAudio is a proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks and first released in April 1995. It uses a variety of audio codecs, ranging from low-bitrate formats that can be used over dialup modems, to high-fidelity formats for music. It can also be used as a streaming audio format, that is...
audio streams, and switched later to the now prevailing MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
file format for audio streams and downloads. SoundClick was incorporated in 1999 in California by law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is a law firm in the United States that specializes in business, securities, and intellectual property law. The firm's Chairman, Larry Sonsini, is well known as an attorney and advisor to technology companies....
. In 2007, SoundClick launched its own social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
. The site celebrated its 10 year anniversary on August 13, 2007. Today SoundClick reports 3.5 million songs, 450,000 bands and artists, and over 3 million registered members. SoundClick is a privately held company
Privately held company
A privately held company or close corporation is a business company owned either by non-governmental organizations or by a relatively small number of shareholders or company members which does not offer or trade its company stock to the general public on the stock market exchanges, but rather the...
.
Free music services
SoundClick allows unlimited upload of songs in MP3 file format. The songs can be offered as streams only, as free downloads, or they can be sold through the SoundClick music store. Songs can be licensed to others either under a free Creative CommonsCreative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
license or under a paid license. The artist page can contain news, tour calendar, and information about their group/project.
and you can also buy it for 50
Optional fee-based services
The most prominent of the fee-based service is the VIP service. It gives the artist more freedom in site design, the VIP page is free of advertisements. The songs can be uploaded in higher sound quality. VIP artists receive a discount for other promotional tools.Music store
Songs can be sold through the site’s music store. The buyer has to purchase a prepaid account, starting at $5 USD which is then valid for one year. The artists can sell their songs either as single songs or as MP3 albums. The price can be set by the artist, with free USD being the default price for singles. The artist keeps 70% for a sale through the site and is paid weekly via PayPalPayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
.
Social network
Users get their own profile page, where they can network with online friends. The page features photo albums, video uploads, blogs, and message boards. Users can create their own stations, where they can make their selection of SoundClick songs available to the public.Controversial Policies
Soundclick has exhibited some controversial policies and enforcement. For example, users may have their entire page banned from public view without warning if they are discovered to have a song mis-categorized by genre. For example a "Reggae Instrumental" song posted in the "Reggae" category may lead to an account review. An account review effectively results in the user page being inaccessible to the public.Soundclick has also been accused of looking the other way when it comes to high profile and high revenue generating users pages. In many instances sample copyright violations may go unchecked for these type of users, while your average user gets punished. In September of 2011, Soundclick founder, Tanju Canli was shown to be a "Top Seller" while selling songs created by Blink-182.