SoundCloud rolls out personalized playlist feature, exposes company’s copyright woes

SoundCloud has just announced a new user feature in the form of a weekly personalized playlist. Updated every Monday, “SoundCloud Weekly” pulls music from the platform’s millions of independent creators, which newcoming SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor (formerly of Vimeo) says “has the largest, most diverse music catalog ever assembled.”

“SoundCloud Weekly draws from our global creator community to deliver a simple, personalized music experience that connects more creators with new listeners than ever before,” Trainor continues in a statement.

The feature is akin to Spotify‘s “Discover Weekly” feature, which has already been around for three years, causing many critics to call SoundCloud’s rollout an attempt to remain a relevant player in the online streaming wars. But, for SoundCloud buffs, the new rollout is eerily similar to a feature SoundCloud implemented over a year ago, called “The Upload,” which is generated weekly from tracks a listener clicks on the most.

The new feature is intended to amplify the DIY/creator-centric mission the company was founded upon. Yet, The Verge points out how the feature “unintentionally exposes SoundCloud’s continuing struggle with copyright management,” often serving up “mashups that violate SoundCloud’s own terms of use.”

SoundCloud Weekly is available now on all mobile and desktop versions of the platform, under the Discover tab of the home screen.

H/T: The Verge, Via: SoundCloud Newsroom