SoundCloud have just gained some very interesting investment of $75 million from the owners of music streaming service Pandora.

SoundCloud have long been a paragon of their own independence and that of artists. Standing on their own as streaming services rose around them, they built their service and created new elements to survive on their traditional model and incorporate popular elements of other services.

New funding could signal a potential move towards working with other services in the future. They have just announced that they have received $75 million in investment from SiriusXM, a major player in music and the owners of music streaming service Pandora as of last year.

SoundCloud say that they are going to use this new investment to “accelerate product development and enhance the services that fuel its global community of creators and listeners”.

The investment gives SiriusXM a minority stake in SoundCloud’s business. SiriusXM run their own popular music service delivering satellite radio to the US. Pandora meanwhile offers traditional streaming and music streaming based-station offerings.

Whilst they could all be seen as competitors in the industry, their differences naturally define them enough so as to stand apart without needing to compete with each other. SoundCloud’s draw is of course their open platform allowing for anyone to add music with no barriers.

SiriusXM CEO, Jim Meyer says: “SoundCloud’s unique platform serves a vital role in today’s music ecosystem where new artists are discovered and build their fan base, and established artists experiment and connect directly with their fans in highly effective ways.

“We admire SoundCloud’s loyal and growing audience, its offering for creators, and its reputation and popularity in global music communities. We believe this is another opportunity to continue creating value for SiriusXM stockholders by investing in expanding digital audio platforms.”

SoundCloud and Pandora have been partnered with Pandora already under an ad-sales relationship. Brands can purchase SoundCloud’s ad options through Pandora directly streamlining the process for those looking to advertise on music services as well as simply compiling the data and responses from music services.

SoundCloud’s CEO, Kerry Trainor added: “SoundCloud’s three consecutive years of strong financial performance directly reflect the success of our creator-led growth strategy. We have an exciting roadmap focused on deepening the connections between creators and listeners that fuel creator discovery, career growth and the evolution of music culture on SoundCloud.

“We’ve built a great relationship with SiriusXM through our highly successful Pandora ad sales agreement, and their investment gives us added capital flexibility to accelerate our vision and take advantage of strategic opportunities as they arise.”

SiriusXM entered 2020 with a stride, having revealed that their annual revenues were up by 35% in 2019. With confident growth they are clearly looking to expand their repertoire and affiliates for a strong year ahead.