SoundCloud in an effort to cut costs announced on Thursday that it has let go 173 employees and consolidated the remaining team into two offices - one in New York and the other in Berlin. SoundCloud reportedly had around 420 employees before the cuts.
Co-founder and CEO Alex Ljung said they've spent the last several years growing the business. The work has paid off as they've more than doubled revenue over the last 12 months but to ensure their long-term, independent success, cost-cutting measures were a necessity.
Ljung said they are extremely grateful for the contributions of each and every staff member who will be leaving SoundCloud and wished all of them the best.
The reduction in staff means SoundCloud is also closing its offices in San Francisco and London.
SoundCloud debuted in October 2008 and launched a paid music subscription service in March 2016. Word broke last fall that Spotify was in late-stage talks to acquire its streaming music rival but by December, the deal had been taken off the table. The rumor mill also labeled Twitter as a potential suitor years earlier but an agreement never materialized.
SoundCloud isn't the only online music entity struggling as of late. Internet radio pioneer Pandora, which sold a 19 percent stake to SiriusXM last month, recently saw co-founder and CEO Tim Westergren step down.