SOUNDCLOUD EXTENDS ADVERTISING RELATIONSHIP WITH SXM MEDIA, RENEWING EXCLUSIVE SALES AGREEMENT WITH PANDORA
SXM Media, the combined sales group of SiriusXM, to continue to represent SoundCloud in the sale of U.S. advertising
January 31, 2023, NEW YORK, NY — SoundCloud and Pandora today announced the renewal of their advertising sales agreement. SXM Media, the combined sales group of SiriusXM, will continue to serve as the exclusive advertising representative for SoundCloud into 2024. Following the success of the original agreement, which launched in 2019, the extension enables advertisers and brands to continue purchasing SoundCloud’s U.S. advertising inventory directly through SXM Media.
The agreement leverages SXM Media’s direct sales capabilities, targeting data, audio programmatic product, and innovative ad-tech solutions through AdsWizz, a subsidiary of SiriusXM. Through SXM Media, advertisers can access SoundCloud’s young, engaged, and diverse audience, 80% of which identify as Gen Z or Millennials, and tap into the platform’s unique, global community of engaged artists and creators. As the only music platform at scale that enables direct connection between artists and fans, SoundCloud has 130 million engaged fans, 40 million artists and has jump-started the careers of global superstars including Billie Eilish, Ugly God, and Doja Cat.
SoundCloud advertising inventory will now be available via AudioGO, AdsWizz's self-serve advertising platform for small and medium-sized businesses and advertisers. With this new offering, agencies and SMBs can easily and efficiently reach SoundCloud’s audience and take advantage of AudioGO’s targeting across demographics and listening interests and habits. AudioGO will be the only self-serve platform where advertisers can access SoundCloud U.S. advertising inventory.
“We are excited to extend our SXM Media relationship and continue bringing innovative and creative music-first brand offerings to advertisers,” said Vanessa Baria, Vice President, Revenue Partnerships & Operations at SoundCloud. “By tapping into SoundCloud’s multicultural and Gen Z artist and fan communities, brands can be at the forefront of music and artist discovery while being a major part of an artist’s journey from the first upload and beyond.”
“We’re thrilled to continue our successful relationship with SoundCloud and help advertisers of all sizes reach SoundCloud’s audience of young, influential listeners and creators,” said Phil Wierzbinski, VP of Revenue Partnerships at SXM Media. “Our work with SoundCloud gives brands access to the largest advertising marketplace in digital audio with the innovative tech and creative solutions to back it up. In fact, since 2019, we’ve seen the number of brands on SoundCloud increase by 20x.”
This renewal marks the latest collaboration between SiriusXM and SoundCloud. SoundCloud also launched “The Lookout by SoundCloud” station, spotlighting the next wave of hip hop superstars, on Pandora and on SiriusXM’s Hip-Hop Nation (Ch. 44). Together, SoundCloud and SiriusXM’s combined U.S. offerings reaches more than 150 million unduplicated listeners, making it easier for advertisers and brands to access the largest collection of digital audio advertising assets.
SoundCloud is a music company powered by an ecosystem of artists, fans and curators leading what’s next in music. Founded in 2007, SoundCloud is an artist-first platform empowering artists to build and grow their careers by providing them with the most progressive tools, services, and resources. With over 320 million tracks from 40 million artists, the future of music is SoundCloud.
SiriusXM is the leading audio entertainment company in North America with a portfolio of audio businesses including its flagship subscription entertainment service SiriusXM; the ad-supported and premium music streaming services of Pandora; an expansive podcast network; and a suite of business and advertising solutions. Reaching a combined monthly audience of approximately 150 million listeners, SiriusXM offers a broad range of content for listeners everywhere they tune in with a diverse mix of live, on-demand, and curated programming across music, talk, news, and sports. For more about SiriusXM, please go to: www.siriusxm.com.
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The following factors, among others, could cause actual results and the timing of events to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements: we have been, and may continue to be, adversely affected by supply chain issues as a result of the global semiconductor supply shortage; we face substantial competition and that competition is likely to increase over time; if our efforts to attract and retain subscribers and listeners, or convert listeners into subscribers, are not successful, our business will be adversely affected; we engage in extensive marketing efforts and the continued effectiveness of those efforts is an important part of our business; we rely on third parties for the operation of our business, and the failure of third parties to perform could adversely affect our business; we may not realize the benefits of acquisitions and other strategic investments and initiatives; the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has introduced significant uncertainty to our business; a substantial number of our Sirius XM service subscribers periodically cancel their subscriptions and we cannot predict how successful we will be at retaining customers; our ability to profitably attract and retain subscribers to our Sirius XM service as our marketing efforts reach more price-sensitive consumers is uncertain; our business depends in part on the auto industry; failure of our satellites would significantly damage our business; our Sirius XM service may experience harmful interference from wireless operations; our Pandora ad-supported business has suffered a substantial and consistent loss of monthly active users, which may adversely affect our Pandora business; our failure to convince advertisers of the benefits of our Pandora ad-supported service could harm our business; if we are unable to maintain revenue growth from our advertising products our results of operations will be adversely affected; changes in mobile operating systems and browsers may hinder our ability to sell advertising and market our services; if we fail to accurately predict and play music, comedy or other content that our Pandora listeners enjoy, we may fail to retain existing and attract new listeners; privacy and data security laws and regulations may hinder our ability to market our services, sell advertising and impose legal liabilities; consumer protection laws and our failure to comply with them could damage our business; failure to comply with FCC requirements could damage our business; if we fail to protect the security of personal information about our customers, we could be subject to costly government enforcement actions and private litigation and our reputation could suffer; interruption or failure of our information technology and communications systems could impair the delivery of our service and harm our business; the market for music rights is changing and is subject to significant uncertainties; our Pandora services depend upon maintaining complex licenses with copyright owners, and these licenses contain onerous terms; the rates we must pay for “mechanical rights” to use musical works on our Pandora service have increased substantially and these new rates may adversely affect our business; failure to protect our intellectual property or actions by third parties to enforce their intellectual property rights could substantially harm our business and operating results; some of our services and technologies may use “open source” software, which may restrict how we use or distribute our services or require that we release the source code subject to those licenses; rapid technological and industry changes and new entrants could adversely impact our services; we have a significant amount of indebtedness, and our debt contains certain covenants that restrict our operations; we are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NASDAQ listing rules and, as a result, qualify for, and rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements; while we currently pay a quarterly cash dividend to holders of our common stock, we may change our dividend policy at any time; our principal stockholder has significant influence, including over actions requiring stockholder approval, and its interests may differ from the interests of other holders of our common stock; if we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel, our business could be harmed; our facilities could be damaged by natural catastrophes or terrorist activities; the unfavorable outcome of pending or future litigation could have an adverse impact on our operations and financial condition; we may be exposed to liabilities that other entertainment service providers would not customarily be subject to; and our business and prospects depend on the strength of our brands. Additional factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2022, which are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov). The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this communication.