Berlin-based digital music startup SoundCloud is taking its music subscription service to Europe: The company is getting ready to launch the service in the U.K. and Ireland Tuesday, according to Reuters. The Euro expansion comes just weeks after SoundCloud launched its paid service in the U.S..
SoundCloud will charge users in Ireland €9.99 (about $11.50) per month; U.K.-based subscribers will have to pay £9.99 (about $14.65 per month). Those prices mirror what competitors like Apple Music and Spotify are charging locally, as do the features offered by SoundCloud: Just like other music subscription services, it is offering ad-free on demand access to full albums from major and indie label artists.
Unique about SoundCloud Go, as the service is officially called, is that the company is combining its licensed catalog with user uploads. These include both promotional tracks from artists and labels as well as DJ sets, cover versions and more. SoundCloud’s goal is to eventually monetize all of this content through subscriptions and advertising.
The company told Reuters that it is looking to launch in a number of additional countries this year. However, the company is facing off against well-established competitors: Spotify now has more than 30 million paying subscribers, and Apple recently announced that it has grown Apple Music to more than 13 million paying users since the service’s launch last summer.
