Getting signed to a major label is no easy feat, so the artists this deal will benefit are already pretty established.

Now that SoundCloud has signed a licensing deal with Warner Music Group (WMG), one of the largest global record companies, even more musicians will be eligible for these payouts from SoundCloud. In its initial roll-out of FPR, only independent artists were eligible to earn FPR, and they have to pay at least $30 a year. “Under FPR, each fan’s subscription or advertising revenue is distributed among the artists they listen to, rather than being pooled under the traditional pro-rata model the music industry has been using for over a decade,” SoundCloud explained in a press release. The user-centric model, or what SoundCloud calls fan-powered royalties (FPR), is designed to level the playing field for smaller artists. But that means that the success of superstar musicians can inadvertently take away from the payouts of up-and-coming performers. Spotify pays artists via a pro-rata model, which means there is a large pot of money that gets divided among all artists depending on how many streams they each get. New models like music streaming on Spotify can feel like a stop-gap, though, since payouts from these services can be paltry if you’re not Lizzo or Olivia Rodrigo. Since the early 2000s, artists and record labels alike have struggled to figure out how musicians can make a living when it’s so easy to download.

Now, SoundCloud has inked its first major label partnership with Warner Music Group, whose artists can now earn fan-powered royalties on the platform too. When SoundCloud launched its artist-friendly fan-powered royalty system last year, the model was only available for independent artists subscribed to the streamer’s paid tiers.

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