Back on July 13, we posted about SoundCloud allegedly only had funding to carry on for another 50 days or so. The site suddenly laid off 40% of its workforce one week prior to the news story, which was about 173 employees, and things looked insanely grim.
Now in a new blog post on the site by founder Alex Ljung, he assures SoundCloud users that the site isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
There’s an insane amount of noise about SoundCloud in the world right now. And it’s just that, noise. The music you love on SoundCloud isn’t going away, the music you shared or uploaded isn’t going away, because SoundCloud is not going away. Not in 50 days, not in 80 days or anytime in the foreseeable future. Your music is safe.
Along with each of you, we’ve built this incredible creative community of artists, podcasters, DJs, producers and more who are the driving force in pushing culture forward in the world. That’s not going to change. Last week we had to make some tough decisions to let go of some of our staff, but we did this to ensure SoundCloud remains a strong, independent company.
Thank you for the outpouring of love and support. Some of you have asked how you can help–spread the word that we’re not going anywhere and keep doing what you’re doing–creating, listening, uploading, sharing, liking, and discovering what’s new, now and next in music. SoundCloud is here to stay.
So what happened? It's currently speculated that Chance The Rapper had a hand in fixing the situation, at least according to sites like The Verge and Chance's Twitter.
I'm working on the SoundCloud thing
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) July 13, 2017
@ an artist who you wouldn't know if not for @SoundCloud
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) July 14, 2017
Now link me to a song on @SoundCloud that you swear you're responsible for like atleast a thousand plays
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) July 14, 2017
Just had a very fruitful call with Alex Ljung. @SoundCloud is here to stay.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) July 14, 2017
Chance and whoever else ended up helping the site out – thanks! Though there's still the matter of the 150+ people who lost their jobs. Were the compensated? Were any asked to come back?
