Indie artist streaming giant SoundCloud has teamed up with Twitch to help independent musicians who have been affected financially due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The partnership allows SoundCloud artists the opportunity to fast-track new Twitch accounts to Affiliate status, which then unlocks Twitch’s monetization tools such as ads and subscriptions. This will enable artists who are feeling the strain from canceled tours and shows to be compensated within days as opposed to the usual process. Normally, according to The Verge, a Twitch user would have to have at least 50 followers along with at least 500 total broadcast minutes in the last 30 days, seven unique broadcast days in the last 30 days, and an average of three concurrent viewers or more in the last 30 days.
The opportunity is available to all SoundCloud Pro, SoundCloud Premier, and Repost by SoundCloud artists.
SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor has also announced other initiatives for users during the pandemic. SoundCloud Pro Unlimited subscriptions are 50 percent off until Monday, March 30th. In addition, SoundCloud staff will begin hosting online AMAs and workshops starting next week, and the platform has even launched Keep the Music Going, a resource guide for career tips.
