SoundCloud announced on Thursday the music website is debuting a three-tier monetization plan and artists would begin to see revenue from the site.
Users in the United States will begin seeing audio and display ads on the website, with artists in charge of what tracks on the website they will appear on, Newsday reports. At the moment, founder Alexander Ljung says that in the early days of the program, only about 20 partners, which includes a mix of indie artists and major record labels, will be eligible for the revenue.
The plan is then to eventually expand it to anyone who hosts music on the site to benefit from ad revenue. Users will also be able to pay to avoid the ads at some point in the future as well.
According to SPIN, SoundCloud says that by adding advertisements to the site it will allow the player to remain "free for users, on mobile as well as on the web."
The three tiers available for creators are "partner," "pro" and "premier" and are found through "On SoundCloud.
"SoundCloud has from the very beginning been driven by creators," a company spokesperson told the site. "SoundCloud is for everyone, not just the majors. We're happy to be launching with a broad array of creators from across the platform."
So visitors to the site will begin to see ads from the likes of Squarespace, Red Bull, Comedy Central and others.
The streaming website currently boasts 175 million unique listeners every month, with a total of 350 million people listening to tunes.