SoundCloud went from underground music’s salvation in its early stages to a platform that people love to hate now. It’s still one of the greatest tools online for discovering and sharing new music, but with Spotify and Apple Music soldiering ahead, the platform chose to make some decisions that were likely premature and ill-thought out.
As part of a round of investments in 2017 necessary to save the company, co-founder Alex Ljung stepped aside as CEO to become chairman and was replaced by former Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor. Now, the last remaining co-founder, Eric Wahlforss, has made the decision to step down as CPO to “take a break, reflect and think about what to create next.”
SoundCloud is undoubtedly in a much better position than it was in 2017, but the departure of Wahlforss means that both SoundCloud’s original founders are no longer involved in day-to-day operations at the company. (The ship of Theseus thought experiment springs to mind.)
“This was not an easy decision to make, but one of th ebiggest reasons why I feel I have made the right decision is that the company is in such capable hands. It’s been a pleasure working with Kerry and the new leadership team over the past 18 months. Our team is stronger than ever, and we have very exciting plans slated for 2019,” writes Wahlforss.
Read his full statement below.
After 11+ years of building SoundCloud, it is time for me to take a break, reflect and think about what's next.
I will be stepping back from day-to-day operations and into an advisory role on March 1st.
I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved and deeply grateful. pic.twitter.com/71DQ8h0Sjv
— Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss (@ericw) January 24, 2019
