# SoundCloud absorbs Nina Protocol’s catalogue and editorial archive after shutdown

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/soundcloud-acquires-whats-left-of-nina-protocol/
- Published: 2026-07-22T19:57:06+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-23T02:12:23+00:00
- Original publisher: Pitchfork
- Original article: https://pitchfork.com/story/soundcloud-acquires-whats-left-of-nina-protocol/
- Topics: Art, Culture, Entertainment, Music, TV

## Key points

- SoundCloud has absorbed Nina Protocol's archive and offered artists its platform
- Nina Protocol shut down in 2026 after struggling financially since its 2021 launch
- Report found just $50,000 was spent on Nina Protocol over its lifetime

## Summary

SoundCloud has acquired the remaining assets of Nina Protocol, the independent, blockchain-based music platform that announced its closure nearly two months earlier. Under the deal, SoundCloud inherits Nina's editorial archive and genre map, while former Nina artists can choose to migrate their catalogues onto SoundCloud's "creator ecosystem", gaining access to distribution, direct fan monetisation and audience-growth tools. Nina's co-founder and chief executive, Mike Pollard, called SoundCloud "the natural choice" given its role in laying the foundations for Nina's existence, framing the move as continuity rather than a simple shutdown.

Nina Protocol was founded in 2021 by Jack Callahan, Mike Pollard and Eric Farber and built on the Solana blockchain, letting artists sell music directly to fans while retaining full ownership and revenue; it was used by acts including ML Buch, Yung Lean, James K and Purelink, alongside labels such as Warp and Hyperdub. A report published by Components on 6 July found that only around $50,000 (roughly £39,000) had been spent on the platform across its lifetime, with about 77% of its nearly 37,000 listings left uncollected, underlining the commercial struggles that preceded its closure. The acquisition follows SoundCloud's own efforts last year to reassure artists over its AI policy, after backlash over wording that suggested uploaded content could be used to train generative AI.

## Coverage

- [Pitchfork: SoundCloud absorbs Nina Protocol’s catalogue and editorial archive after shutdown](https://pitchfork.com/story/soundcloud-acquires-whats-left-of-nina-protocol/)
- [TechCrunch: SoundCloud acquires decentralized music platform Nina Protocol months after its shutdown](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/22/soundcloud-acquires-decentralized-music-platform-nina-protocol-months-after-its-shutdown/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.