SoundCloud acquires decentralized music platform Nina Protocol
SoundCloud has secured the assets of Nina Protocol, including its artist roster and editorial archive, following the startup’s shutdown due to unsustainable business models.
SoundCloud has acquired Nina Protocol, a decentralized music platform, months after the startup announced it would cease operations. The transaction transfers Nina’s artist roster, editorial archive, and music discovery tools to the streaming service, marking the company’s first acquisition since purchasing AI music company Musiio in 2022.
The deal brings Nina’s independent artist community and its “genre map” into SoundCloud’s infrastructure. According to a blog post from SoundCloud, the acquisition allows the company to preserve Nina’s collection of music journalism, artist features, and cultural commentary. The platform aims to use these assets to help surface emerging artists and scenes to a broader audience.
Nina Protocol was founded in 2021 by independent musicians Jack Callahan, Mike Pollard, and Eric Farber. The platform operated on the Solana blockchain for transactions and utilised Arweave for decentralized storage, enabling artists to sell music directly to fans while retaining 100% of their revenue. The startup announced its shutdown on May 28, citing an inability to establish a sustainable business model.
SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton stated that the priority is to honour Nina’s creation and carry its mission forward. “Together, we’ll help more independent artists build deeper relationships with fans, unlock new ways to earn, and access the tools they need to grow sustainable careers on their own terms,” Seton said. The acquisition signals SoundCloud’s continued expansion beyond music hosting into a broader platform for independent artists.
Under the terms of the deal, SoundCloud will provide migration tools to help artists transfer their work to its platform. Affected artists will also receive complimentary Artist subscriptions through the end of the year, which include monetization features and audience growth tools.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. It remains unclear whether any members of Nina’s founding team or staff will join SoundCloud, and the company has not yet responded to a request for comment regarding the integration of Nina’s technology.
SoundCloud’s previous acquisition of Musiio was aimed at improving music discovery through artificial intelligence. This latest move suggests a strategic shift towards integrating decentralized technologies and direct-to-fan models into its core offering, although details on the long-term integration of Nina’s specific blockchain infrastructure have not been provided.
