Many international music sites are talking about SoundCloud, the most known music streaming service nowadays. To those few who do not know it, SoundCloud allows anyone to upload and share their own songs.

Latest news about this service reported it is in serious financial difficulties and is today supposed it should continue all of its operations for another 80 days only. The news, commented by SoundCloud without denying it entirely, comes after the dismissal of 173 company employees last week and the closure of San Francisco and London offices.

SoundCloud has existed since 2008 and within the competitive music streaming services industry has always maintained its own identity and was originality compared to competitors such as Spotify and Apple Music.

The main purpose of SoundCloud is (or, was) to share music from emerging, semi-professional or even amateur artists. In addition to music, it hosts a lot of podcasts and recordings of radio broadcasts. It’s also used by very famous people – the most famous is the rapper Kanye West – but it’s more common that users listen to the latest EP from a semi-known band they read on. It’s free but has two different monthly subscriptions.

For this reason, SoundCloud has a very loyal user base, and for many artists, it is a basic essential service, because it is the easiest way to promote their music.

Unfortunately, things are not going well for SoundCloud from an economical point of view: according to founders Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, spending cuts will allow the company to operate until the very beginning of the next financial quarter, less than 80 days.

According to TechCrunch’s rebuild, Ljung and Wahlforss are looking for new investors. The news website also reported – based on employee testimonials – stories of a controversial use of the company’s financial resources, such as buying Apple laptops and headphones for new employees and large group lunches.

SoundCloud responded to TechCrunch’s article saying it contains many inaccuracies and for that reason would not comment on it in detail. However, it was admitted that the company was “fully funded until the fourth quarter” and it was said that the management is convinced that cuts will ensure long-term survival.

If SoundCloud is closing in less than three months, it will probably mean the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of hours of songs, podcasts, and recordings. In particular, it would be a problem for young hip hop artists, the most active community on the web site.