Many of us DJ’s, producers, promoters & radio show hosts have been there, you spend an eternity uploading your new piece of audio only for SoundCloud to take it down immediately after for Copyright infringements. After clogging up your broadband for an hour there is nothing more frustrating!

But are they right?

SoundClouds stance on the situation is this ‘SoundCloud is a community of sound creators, and for that community to thrive, everyone needs to respect copyright. For this reason, we use an automated content identification system to identify known copyrighted works. We do this at the time of upload and also on a regular basis thereafter’

About 2 years ago the artist known as Lovebirds decided he would name & shame anyone who was sharing his music for free. Re-posting wasn’t an option back then but he did post comments asking why certain users had uploaded his track ‘Want You In My Soul’ and offered it as a free download. So, for this specific example, I agree, it is completely unfair and as SC is supposed to be a ‘community’ it just isn’t cool.

The problem is, as much as SC want to remain the market leaders for ‘sound creators’ and not DJ’s, they are the first place most DJ’s will visit to upload their new podcast or live set. I wonder how the subscriptions would fall if all DJ’s removed themselves?

SC know full well there is a work-around that enables users to upload mixes and hurdle the Copyright barrier but my guess is, they welcome it! On paper, they are seen to be working on the side of the creator and protecting their work whilst also keeping major record labels off their back but actually retaining the business from all the DJ’s. Win Win!

It may be interesting if one day Mixcloud’s licensing changes & they are able to offer downloads, but until then, SC remain the top dog so are in their right to call the shots!

Lastly, we are going to help you with a work around but only if you can promise us one thing?

When you upload your DJ mix, you include a full track listing & where possible links to purchase the tracks used!

The Work-Around:

SC is only going to try to recognise the first track on your recording, so the idea is to run some kind of jingle, voice over, advert, skit or perhaps a short rip from a film or TV programme. I would say 20 seconds should do it.

·         If you are recording the session live you will need to download your 20s audio clip and kick the mix off with it.

·         If you have access to editing software you can just drag and drop the audio clip in, personally we use Ableton.

 If you have had a mix removed or feel strongly for or against the above, please share your comments below.