SoundCloud denies using uploads to train AI after silently updating their terms

SoundCloud, one of the most used music sharing platforms by artists and labels alike, has responded to backlash over a silent change of its terms of service which would allow them to train AI with SoundCloud uploads.

On May 9, New York-based science and technology publication Futurism reported that the platform had updated its terms in February of 2024 without notifying users of this change.

The term in question claims that "You explicitly agree that your Content may be used to inform, train, develop or serve as input to artificial intelligence or machine intelligence technologies or services as part of and for providing the services."

Use of music, art, literature and much more to train artificial intelligence systems has been widely critiqued. In March of this year, Meta was reported to have trained AI models with pirated books, many of which came from Australian authors.

Just a few weeks ago, French music streaming service Deezer reported that 18% of the music uploaded to its service every day is AI-generated.

The backlash towards this 'silent' change in SoundCloud's terms of service would appear to be only the latest in this trend, and the reactions from artists and listeners alike are in keeping with this trend. As 'Futurism' shared, "like countless other digital platforms in the AI era, SoundCloud seems to understand that the vast piles of data it's collected over its many years of operation are more valuable than ever."

SoundCloud has been quick to respond to these allegations, sharing a statement that denies having ever used artists' content to train AI. "SoundCloud has never used artist content to train AI models, nor do we develop AI tools or allow third parties to scrape or use SoundCloud content from our platform for AI training purposes," the statement reads.

Many have been quick to point out that SoundCloud's statement does not claim that content will not be used to train AI in the future however, as well as SoundCloud's commitment to "use cases" that already encompass many AI tools developed by the company.

SoundCloud has previously referred to this suite of tools and products as a way to "democratise music creation for all artists." Examples of these include AIBeatz, a beat-maker designed to "generate and customise [users own] beats like a Pro"; Tuney, designed for remixing, editing and new track generation"; and Starmony, which advertises itself with the tagline, "make and release your own song just by using your voice."

With a vested interest in AI tools and with a series of AI partners, the dubiousness of many users, artists, publications and industry experts is understandable.

SoundCloud has long prided itself on caring for musicians better than other streaming platforms. Just last year, it committed to ensuring that "rights holders [would] receive proper credit and compensation" were their work used with its AI partners. SoundCloud is also part of the non-binding 'Principles for Music Creation with AI' by AI for Music. These principles commit to the "vital contributions of human creativity and to the responsible development and application of artificial intelligence for music creation."

In a follow-up statement to Futurism, SoundCloud emphasised that there would be exemptions for licensed content "such as music from major labels" and promised to introduce clear opt-outs "in advance" should SoundCloud be considering training AI with 'content'.

Read SoundCloud's statement in full below:

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SoundCloud has always been and will remain artist-first. Our focus is on empowering artists with control, clarity, and meaningful opportunities to grow. We believe AI, when developed responsibly, can expand creative potential—especially when guided by principles of consent, attribution, and fair compensation.

SoundCloud has never used artist content to train AI models, nor do we develop AI tools or allow third parties to scrape or use SoundCloud content from our platform for AI training purposes. In fact, we implemented technical safeguards, including a “no AI” tag on our site to explicitly prohibit unauthorized use.

The February 2024 update to our Terms of Service was intended to clarify how content may interact with AI technologies within SoundCloud’s own platform. Use cases include personalized recommendations, content organization, fraud detection, and improvements to content identification with the help of AI Technologies.

Any future application of AI at SoundCloud will be designed to support human artists, enhancing the tools, capabilities, reach and opportunities available to them on our platform. Examples include improving music recommendations, generating playlists, organizing content, and detecting fraudulent activity. These efforts are aligned with existing licensing agreements and ethical standards. Tools like Musiio are strictly used to power artist discovery and content organization, not to train generative AI models.

We understand the concerns raised and remain committed to open dialogue. Artists will continue to have control over their work, and we’ll keep our community informed every step of the way as we explore innovation and apply AI technologies responsibly, especially as legal and commercial frameworks continue to evolve.

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Jack Colquhoun is Mixmag ANZ's editor, find him on Instagram.