Soundcloud changed its terms of use in February 2024 to allow uploaded music to be used for AI training. AI copyright activist Ed Newton-Rex spotted the change and said that users were not informed. In a statement, Soundcloud said it does not train AI models with artist content, does not build its own AI tools, and blocks third-party scraping. It said AI is only used internally for things like recommendations, fraud detection, and content sorting. Artists keep control of their work, and all AI use follows existing license deals. However, the statement does not clearly rule out general AI training.
Update: Soundcloud spokesperson Marni Greenberg told The Verge that if content is ever used for generative AI, users will have clear opt-out options and transparency — confirming that such training may happen in the future.
