【The Doctor Has Big Boobs 2】

There's another digital horse in Australia's online music subscription race.

On Thursday,The Doctor Has Big Boobs 2 SoundCloud Go launched in Australia and New Zealand where it will face off against market incumbents like Spotify and Apple Music.

SEE ALSO: Uber's Scheduled Rides launches in Australia, but drivers won't get more pay

For A$11.99 or NZ$12.99 a month, users will get access to more than 135 million tracks. Like its rivals, SoundCloud Go offers offline, ad-free listening and a free trial period.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

SoundCloud's free service, long beloved by independent and emerging musicians, will now also be supported by ads and promoted profiles. The company is building a local sales team to manage Australian ad sales.

Already up and running in the U.S., the UK, Ireland and France, the new SoundCloud subscription service can be seen as an attempt by the company to find some kind of business model to satisfy the big end of town, without annoying fans.

Launched in 2008, the platform gained a reputation for being user-generated and artist-friendly, and did little to make money of its user base besides minimal ads. The "YouTube for Music" had become the target of legal action in recent years, however, thanks to hosting a fair portion of copyrighted music uploaded by users.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

CEO of SoundCloud Alexander Ljung speaks during the Digital Life Design conference in Germany. Credit: Getty Images

Shortly before it launched SoundCloud Go in the U.S. in March, the company signed a major agreement with Sony Music. The studio had yanked the catalogues of artists like Adele and Miguel from the platform in mid-2015 amid a breakdown in negotiations on its way to a subscription deal.

According to Billboardat the time, the collapse had something to do with "a lack of monetization opportunities" on the platform. Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group had previously signed up.

With SoundCloud Go, the company can now presumably pay per stream like Spotify. And on the free version, "Each time an ad is heard on SoundCloud, an artist will get paid," according to Sonia Flynn, SoundCloud’s Vice President of International. That should make the studios happy.

In a nod to the ongoing controversy about how little Spotify, Apple Music and the like pay artists per stream, Alexander Ljung, SoundCloud cofounder and CEO, said in a statement creators were "at the centre of everything we do."

"The launch of SoundCloud Go and the introduction of ads to the free service enables us to continue to build the most progressive artist remuneration system in the world," he added. "While offering listeners everything from emerging creators, new tracks from indies, global hits as well as hits in the making, all in one place."

The company declined to provide further information to Mashable, saying it does not disclose specifics on the deals it has in place with the record labels or around artist payments.

Since anyone can upload songs to SoundCloud, it has an army of fans who love the depth of music discovery it allows. But for free. Whether its subscription play works out remains to be seen.

• Shopping
• Deals
• Tech
• Games
• Digital Culture
• Life
• Science
• Social Good

• #churchtoo
• Best podcasts for achieving your 2021 New Year's resolutions
• Lenovo made a desktop PC you can shift into portrait mode
• Chelsea Clinton rips Alabama candidate who used racial slur
• Finger-Lickin’ Lulz
• TikTok's new confetti effect uses iPhone 12 Pro's LiDAR sensor
• Intrepid koala hangs on for dear life to a car axle for 10 miles
• Bitcoin is worth more than $30,000 for the first time ever
• Stormbound
• Fitbit Ionic review: This fitness smartwatch is no Apple Watch killer

• Teacher makes GoFundMe to 'buy' senator's vote on Betsy DeVos
• 9 of the most iconic and rewatchable 'Friends' episodes
• Matthew McConaughey thinks it's time Hollywood 'embraces' Donald Trump
• One hashtag is uniting Americans in the fight against Trump
• The #BodegaStrike is giving New Yorkers all the feels
• Billy Porter's powerful Emmys acceptance speech was a rallying cry for equality
• Denis Leary knows he looks like Kellyanne Conway and he's not ruling out a biopic
• PS5's energy
• How embarrassed should you be about your 'Succession' crush?
• Stop using Internet Explorer immediately; also, why are you still using Internet Explorer?

• Conflict Irresolution
• Uber is in trouble after yet another sexist promo
• Brilliant Hubble photos show colliding galaxies
• Flower girl who's totally over it inspires the most relatable of Photoshop battles
• The Secret Policeman at the Marathon
• YouTube reportedly let Trump supporter profit as he tweeted from Capitol
• Chelsea Clinton rips Alabama candidate who used racial slur
• Boise State's football dog is a good boy who fetches the tee after kickoffs
• General McMaster and the Miniskirts
• 'WandaVision' first reactions are in. Disney+ series is looking good.

• A Low, Dishonest Decade
• Google bans, Apple suspends Parler from app stores
• Pete Souza's latest Instagram lets Trump know who the real 'Rocket Man' is
• Elisabeth Moss's outfit at the Emmys contained a secret message against the patriarchy
• How Education Reform Ate the Democratic Party
• See the number of U.S. COVID
• Joe Biden slams Trump's classless retweet of Hillary GIF
• Amazon delivers a killing blow to the pro
• Trump’s Baby-Cager
• Can everyone please back off Alexander Skarsgård's moustache?