GigaOM » Le Web

SoundCloud’s size does matter, but it’s not the only metric to watch

David Meyer — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:14:56 +0000

SoundCloud is really big these days. Heck, even Barack Obama is on the platform. This makes sense: there is no equivalent service out there at scale, apart from YouTube, which is hardly focused on the audio experience.

So how big is it? On Tuesday, as the service took its ‘Next’ web app version out of beta, it revealed that 180 million people interact with SoundCloud each month through the service’s website, mobile apps and embedded players. It should be stressed that this does not mean 180 million registered users (the last update there was 20 million-plus, back in May), but still. Woah.

And that’s not enough, it seems. As co-founder Eric Wahlforss told me, the revamp is largely aimed at increasing engagement and attracting more users:

“If you go on the front page it’s a more friendly appearance. We’re basically accepting any kind of user – it’s a broadening out.”

How will it achieve this? The biggest new feature is reposting, which should make it easier for sounds to spread. This feeds into the newfound ability to curate sets of sounds – a feature that Wahlforss reckons should appeal to music bloggers and even labels and radio networks.

There are other handy tweaks too, such as the introduction of continuous listening, keyboard shortcuts and a realtime notification infrastructure (the last two there came out of internal hacking projects, of which CTO Wahlforss says he is especially proud).

According to Wahlforss, the rather lengthy gestation phase for Next (it was in beta for seven months) showed a 30 percent increase in overall engagement, with the main metric there being the time people spend listening.

However, the most important metric for SoundCloud is really its number of premium subscribers – and there, the company is staying pretty tight-lipped.

SoundCloud operates a freemium model, with charges ranging from €29-€500 ($38-$654) annually, and that’s pretty much where all its revenues come from. Ask Wahlforss whether ads might invade the service at some point, and you get a swift circling-back to the subscriptions angle. So is SoundCloud profitable yet? “We don’t really comment on those numbers in public. We’re focused on growth.”

Overall size does matter. But it remains frustratingly difficult to evaluate whether that growth is translating yet into the kind of premium subscription uptake that SoundCloud needs for a sustainable future.

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Why I am heading to Le Web 2012

Om Malik — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 04:15:07 +0000

It is almost a ritual for me — come December, I pack my bags for a week and head to Paris, where I attend Le Web, the must-attend technology conference in Europe. Sure, there are many events — some old and some new — but there is nothing like Le Web for someone like me to instantly refresh and reconnect with all my friends, sources and startups in Europe. Of course, as a side benefit, it is in Paris – the food is great and shopping is fun too.

Looks like this year is going to be a fun event, for the theme for the year — the internet of things — is something that is core to our way of thinking. The internet of things is based on GigaOM’s core philosophy of connectedness and how it changes everything. Loic and Geraldine Le Meur, who organized the conference, just released the full lineup of speakers and sessions and it promises to be a great few days. Just listening to the Tony Fadell of Nest Labs alone is worth it.

The conference will be held on December 4, 5 and 6th. I hope to see you there at the event.

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LeWeb London almost happened in San Francisco

Bobbie Johnson — Tue, 29 May 2012 11:58:21 +0000

Seesmic CEO Loic Le Meur

French entrepreneur Loic Le Meur has been through plenty of ups and downs over the last few years with his own startup, Seesmic — an outfit that has seen more twists than a pretzel factory. But through it all, one thing has remained constant: his side project, the Paris-based startup conference LeWeb.

Started more than seven years ago, the event now claims to be the industry’s most international shindig, and now it’s about to see its first spin-off, to be held in London next month.

But when I spoke to Le Meur a couple of days ago, he admitted to me that just a few months back it wasn’t the English Channel he wanted to cross with LeWeb — it was the Atlantic. He’d just started exploring the idea of starting a LeWeb for the Bay Area, where he has lived for the past five years.

“We had started to think about doing one in San Francisco,” Le Meur told me. “But then Cameron stepped in.”

By “Cameron” he means David Cameron, the British Prime Minister.

Reports have long suggested that the British government — keen to score a victory over their rivals in France — wanted to lure LeWeb to London. Le Meur says those rumors are accurate, but he never intended to move the entire conference away from Paris. However, he says, in the end, British politicos offered such a range of assistance that eventually meant the decision to set up a second, London-based event, was easy to make.

“It was a special request from Mr Cameron,” says Le Meur. “Last year I was was a Founders’ Forum event and I was very impressed because he shook me by the hand and said ‘Loic, you need to move Le Web to London.’ We’re not moving Le Web, and we had no plans for London just two months ago. But they’ve been so helpful that we couldn’t refuse.”

That helpfulness extended to a financial commitment, too, with Tech City Investment Organization (the body charged with drumming up publicity and investment for London’s startup scene ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games) acting as the first major sponsor for the event.

But anyone concerned that the U.K. government may end up underwriting the whole affair as it tries to woo European startups to London are misplaced, says Le Meur.

“They took a top-level sponsorship, but I would say it’s about 10 to 20 percent of the whole budget,” he says. “It’s very nice and one reason we decided to go to London, but we’re still taking a risk.”

That chimes with what TCIO chief Eric van der Kleij told me last month.

Le Meur said that the early takeup for the event, which takes place on June 19th and 20th, shows there actually is “room and demand in London for us”, and that there is enough going on in the startup world to warrant a spinoff.

“Everything moves so fast in six months,” he says. “At LeWeb, nobody was talking about Pinterest. Instagram was on stage in Paris, but nobody cared very much.”

Photo of Loic Le Meur courtesy of Joi Ito on Flickr. Photo of David Cameron user under Creative Commons license courtesy of World Economic Forum.

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EuroTrip: In search of new ideas from the old world

Om Malik — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:00:31 +0000

At GigaOM RoadMap conference, uber-investor Mike Moritz (whose investments include Yahoo, LinkedIn and Google) pointed out that in the age of global connectedness “you have to go where entrepreneurs are these days.” He said that startup creativity is not just for Silicon Valley, for the seeds of entrepreneurship are spreading across the planet.

While I have more travels planned for the coming year, for now I am restricting myself to a handful. Taking Moritz’s advice, I am dusting off my boots, unpacking my winter coat and getting ready for a trip to some of the newest, hottest startup hubs in the world.

After spending a few days in Paris, where I will be attending Le Web (and interviewing designer Yves Behar), I am going to go to Berlin and Helsinki, where I am told that the great Nokia implosion is having a positive impact on entrepreneurship. Berlin, they say, is the new (startup) black.

In Paris, I am hoping to catch up with lots of friends at Le Web and more importantly, stop by and catch up with Illiad (Free.fr) founder Xavier Niel and ask him about the future of communications. It is bound to be a feisty and fun conversation. (I last talked at length with him in December 2007 and it was a prescient conversation with one of the broadband mavericks.)

Over the next 10 days, I am going to keep you informed about the impact of technology in these new cities, write about new interesting startups and how things are different in these locales. Here is how you can follow me on this trip:

Sign up for my Om Says newsletter and get my daily dispatch emailed directly to your inbox.
Sign up for my Instagram feed to catch up with my photos. I am @Om on Instagram.
Follow me on Twitter. I am @om on Twitter.
See photos, videos and occasional touristy posts on my personal blog, Om.co.

Too much? Well, you can come to GigaOM and find my latest posts, fresh off the press as they say. Here is what I am carrying as my gear:

Macbook Air
iPad 2 (with 3G and the 800 MB plan from AT&T
iPhone 4S as my still/video camera with a Gymbl tripod/stand
Mophie battery pack for those awkward times when iPhone 4S exposes its one flaw — less than optimal battery life

I think those are enough gizmos for me to do a decent job of reporting the news. Onward!

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GigaOM Meetup in Paris: Dec. 8, 2009

Om Malik — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:40:49 +0000

I am going to be in Paris next week for the Le Web 2009 conference, hanging out with some of the movers and shakers of the European technology scene. Many of you have emailed me asking to meet up before the event. Instead of trying to make individual plans, I decided perhaps it’s time for a meetup.

I emailed Ouriel Ohayon, co-founder of apps discovery company, Appsfire.com, looking for suggestions as to where I should host the event. He put me in touch with Stephane Distinguin, CEO of FaberNovel, a leading web consulting group in France. A few emails later, Distinguin made an extremely generous offer: How about we have the meetup in his offices? It was an offer we couldn’t refuse. So we are having a meetup in partnership with Ouriel’s company. Here are the details:

GigaOM + AppsFire Meet Up
2-4 p.m., Dec. 8, 2009.
@ The offices of FaberNovel
17, rue du faubourg du Temple, 75010 Paris (M° République).

The space is limited to 40 people so drop me an email (om+tips at gigaom dot com) or send me a tweet (@om)

Photo of Eiffel Tower by Steven Vanwel via Flickr under Creative Commons

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Destination Paris: 5 Things I Must Do

Om Malik — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 22:35:44 +0000

I am en route to Paris to attend the Le Web 3 conference. (If you are interested in attending the conference, you can get a 100 euro discount by going to this web site.) I have a day to myself — i.e. no conference duties. I am wondering, what are the five things I must do in Paris before I come back?

I want to know a great restaurant that doesn’t give anorexia to my charge card. Also, what is the state of Wi-Fi in Paris, because I need to use my N95 to make VoWiFi calls. Most importantly, I want to buy a cool laptop bag in Paris. Any recommendations on where to go?

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