Sound Credit
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersMemphis, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Sound Credit does
Sound Credit, operated by Soundways, Inc. and headquartered in Memphis, TN with engineering presence in San Francisco and Buenos Aires, is a cloud-based music collaboration and metadata infrastructure platform founded in 2021. The product is organized around 'Projects' (formerly Playlists) — centralized workspaces that consolidate audio/video files, automatic version control, timestamped comments, lossless streaming playback, credit and splits management, and industry-standard code generation (ISNI, ISRC, ISWC, GRid). The platform is delivered via web portal, native Mac/Windows desktop apps, and iOS/Android mobile apps, with a desktop sync applet that watches a local DAW output folder and pushes bounces to the cloud with version tracking. AI-powered features include Mood Detection for tagging and Version Detection for automatic file organization, and the company maintains an explicit policy prohibiting use of user creative works for AI training.
The business model is a tiered SaaS subscription with four tiers — Free (1 GB, 20 tracks), Essential Unlimited ($6/mo, 300 GB), Pro ($14/mo, 1.5 TB), and Business ($17/mo, 3 TB) — plus annual billing at roughly 17-20% discount, an Educators tier with institutional discounts, and custom Enterprise Solutions sold via direct sales to major labels, publishers, PROs, CMOs, distributors, and royalty platforms. Enterprise delivery uses private API endpoints, custom exports, and DDEX RIN file generation rather than a public API. Go-to-market is hybrid: a self-serve product-led motion drives individual creator acquisition through the free tier, while a direct enterprise field-sales motion targets industry organizations. Distribution spans the web portal, app stores, and direct desktop downloads globally.
The platform is integrated with the dominant music rights infrastructure — BMI, ASCAP, SOCAN (PROs), SoundExchange, The MLC, PPL (CMOs), DDEX (data exchange standards), and ISNI International Agency — and has 32,000+ Creator IDs across 60+ countries with 50+ labels using the platform, including Warner Music Nashville. Leadership consists of Founder & CEO Gebre Waddell, President Tony Brooke (appointed April 2025, previously at Warner Music Group and Pandora), and Customer Success Manager Samuel James, operating with a 1-10 person team.
Sound Credit firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Sound Credit
- Legal name
- Soundways, Inc.
- Website
- https://soundcredit.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Sound Credit industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Music Collaboration Software
- NAICS
- Sound Recording Industries (5122), Music Publishers (512230), Record Production and Distribution (51225), Other Sound Recording Industries (51229), Sound Recording Studios (512240)
- SIC
- Phonograph Records & Prerecorded Audio Tapes & Disks (3652), Radio & Tv Broadcasting & Communications Equipment (3663)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cloud Collaboration & Remote Recording Platforms (MPAIAIAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Audio Plugins & Virtual Instruments (VST/AU/AAX) (MPAIAIAB), Sample Libraries, Loops & Sound Content Platforms (MPAIAIAF), Enterprise Audio Publishing & Private Podcast Platforms (MPAIADAI), Re-Recording Mixing (Theatrical/TV/Streaming) (MPAHAEAF), Audio Editing, Restoration & Mastering Software (MPAIAIAH), Dubbing & Voiceover Production (Casting, Recording, Lip-Sync) (MPAHAFAB), Music & Audio Streaming Platforms (BPAMAJAC)
Keywords
Where Sound Credit is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Memphis
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Sound Credit business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription Plans: Tiered subscription SaaS model with four tiers: Free (1 GB, 20 tracks), Essential Unlimited ($6/mo, 300 GB), Pro ($14/mo, 1.5 TB), Business ($17/mo, 3 TB). Annual billing offers ~17-20% discount. Revenue is recurring monthly/annual subscription fees.
- Enterprise Solutions: Custom enterprise licensing for major labels, publishers, and music industry organizations requiring metadata infrastructure and API integration. Private API delivery endpoints and custom exports.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free tier for individual creators - 1 GB storage, 20 tracks |
| Subscription | Monthly | Essential Unlimited - $6/month - 300 GB storage |
| Subscription | Annual | Essential Unlimited Annual - $4/month ($48/year) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Pro - $14/month - 1.5 TB storage |
| Subscription | Annual | Pro Annual - $10/month ($120/year) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Business - $17/month - 3 TB storage |
| Subscription | Annual | Business Annual - $14/month ($168/year) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels7 records
Sound Credit product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Sound Credit is a cloud-based music collaboration platform that centralizes files, versions, credits, and splits for songwriters, producers, and engineers. It provides lossless streaming playback, automatic version detection, ISNI/ISRC code generation, and export pipelines to PROs (BMI, ASCAP, SOCAN), CMOs (SoundExchange, The MLC, PPL), and labels via DDEX RIN and 30+ other industry formats.
Product overview
Sound Credit is a cloud-based music collaboration and file-sharing platform operated by Soundways, Inc. The product suite consists of the core Sound Credit Platform (accessible via web portal, Mac/Windows desktop app, and iOS/Android mobile app), organized around 'Projects' (formerly Playlists) as the central workspace. The platform integrates a full set of collaboration sub-products including Instant Share Links, Drip Before You Drop (ephemeral preview streaming), Automatic Version Control, Desktop Sync applet, Timestamped Comments & Markers, Credit Editor, Splits Editor, ISNI/ISRC code generation, Mood Detection (AI-powered tagging), Lossless Streaming Playback, and a comprehensive Label-Ready Metadata Exports engine with 30+ export formats to PROs (BMI, ASCAP, SOCAN), CMOs (SoundExchange, The MLC, PPL), and DDEX RIN. Additional sub-products include split sheet and producer agreement e-signature generation, Creator ID wallets, and Enterprise Solutions (private API metadata pipeline for partners). Pricing tiers range from a free Essential plan through Essential Unlimited ($6/mo), Pro ($14/mo), and Business ($17/mo), with educational discounts available.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Sound Credit Platform Multi-platform music collaboration and file-sharing SaaS available via web portal, Mac/Windows desktop apps, and iOS/Android mobile apps. Designed for individual songwriters, producers, engineers, and artists to organize work-in-progress music, manage versions, capture credits and splits, and stream audio losslessly.
- Sound Credit Enterprise Solutions Backend metadata pipeline service for enterprise partners including major labels, publishers, PROs, CMOs, distributors, and royalty platforms. Delivers structured, validated music data through private API endpoints and custom exports without requiring partner integration with Sound Credit.
- Sound Credit for Educators Institutional offering for music production and music business educators with educational discounts, supporting teaching of industry-standard collaboration, credits, splits, and metadata workflows in academic programs.
Quantifiable outcome
- 82% of music creators say Sound Credit is the most intuitive and sophisticated platform for music projects
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Sound Credit
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Sound Credit technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration11 records
AI capability5 records
Feature10 records
Sound Credit partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Warner MusiccoreMajor record label group using Sound Credit for music collaboration and metadata management. Warner Music Nashville identified as specific division. Sound Credit integrates with label workflows for credit capture and metadata delivery.
- SoundExchangecoreDigital royalties collection society for sound recordings. Sound Credit exports metadata in SoundExchange format for royalty tracking and payment distribution.
- PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited)coreUK-based music licensing company for recorded music. Sound Credit exports metadata compatible with PPL requirements for performers and sound recording royalties.
- ISNI International AgencycoreInternational Standard Name Identifier agency. Sound Credit generates free ISNI codes for creators to ensure accurate identification across the global music industry.
- DDEXcoreData Exchange Standards organization. Sound Credit supports DDEX RIN file generation for standardized recording session data delivery to industry partners.
- The MLC (Music Licensing Collective)coreMechanical Licensing Collective for musical works. Sound Credit exports metadata in The MLC format for mechanical royalty tracking and payment.
- BMIcoreBroadcast Music, Inc. - performing rights organization. Sound Credit supports streamlined PRO registration for BMI compositions directly from platform.
- ASCAPcoreAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers - performing rights organization. Sound Credit supports streamlined PRO registration for ASCAP compositions directly from platform.
- SOCANcoreSociety of Canadian Authors - performing rights organization. Sound Credit supports streamlined PRO registration for SOCAN compositions directly from platform.
- Major LabelscoreEnterprise partnerships with major record label groups for metadata infrastructure. Sound Credit acts as backend system for receiving clean project data from creators.
- PublisherscoreMusic publishing companies using Sound Credit to receive songwriter splits, publishing metadata, and rights information directly from creators.
- DistributorscoreDigital music distributors integrating with Sound Credit for release metadata, credits, and identifiers for tracks distributed to streaming platforms.
- Royalty PlatformscoreTechnology platforms handling royalty tracking and payment distribution using Sound Credit's structured metadata for accurate creator compensation.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights2 records
Sound Credit competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- BandLab: Cloud-based, free music creation and collaboration platform with social and cross-device workflows. Targets the same independent songwriter/producer/artist base as Sound Credit and competes for both creator mindshare and platform-of-record status.
- Vampr: Music collaboration and networking app focused on connecting musicians, producers, and songwriters. Overlaps with Sound Credit's collaboration and credit-attribution use cases for independent creators.
- Soundtrap: Cloud-based music and podcast creation studio (owned by Spotify) with collaboration features and tiered education/team plans. Closest direct competitor in 'cloud DAW + collaboration' positioning for creators and schools.
- Splice: Subscription platform for music creators combining sample libraries, production tools, and collaboration features. Competes for the same producer/engineer wallet and shares a creator-led, vertical SaaS model.
Broad incumbents
- DistroKid: Dominant independent music distribution platform. Competes for the same artist/label customers around release-ready metadata, though from the downstream distribution side rather than the upstream creation side.
- Songtrust: Music publishing administration platform that registers songs and collects royalties worldwide. Comparable on the publishing/rights-admin side of Sound Credit's metadata and splits workflow.
- iZotope: Professional audio software company (RX, Ozone, Neutron) widely used by the same mixing/mastering engineers and producers Sound Credit targets. Competes for the audio-tooling wallet in the same studios.
- Audiam: Music publishing and royalty administration service for songwriters and publishers. Adjacent to Sound Credit's splits editor and PRO export features on the back-end rights side.
Emerging players
- LANDR: AI-powered mastering, distribution, and music creation tools for independent artists. Partial overlap in serving indie creators with cloud-based production utilities and AI features.
- Audius: Decentralized music streaming and artist-sharing platform with creator upload, sharing, and analytics features. Overlaps with Sound Credit's sharing/playback and analytics use cases for independent artists.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Sound Credit social profiles
Digital presenceSound Credit financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Sound Credit leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Sound Credit funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Sound Credit M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Sound Credit
What does Sound Credit do?
Sound Credit is a cloud-based music collaboration platform that centralizes files, versions, credits, and splits for songwriters, producers, and engineers. It provides lossless streaming playback, automatic version detection, ISNI/ISRC code generation, and export pipelines to PROs (BMI, ASCAP, SOCAN), CMOs (SoundExchange, The MLC, PPL), and labels via DDEX RIN and 30+ other industry formats.
Is Sound Credit a public or private company?
Sound Credit is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Sound Credit founded?
Sound Credit was founded in 2021. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Sound Credit based?
Sound Credit is headquartered in Memphis, United States, in the North America region.
How does Sound Credit make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Subscription Plans are the primary driver. The others are enterprise Solutions.
Who are Sound Credit's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are BandLab, Vampr, Soundtrap and Splice. Broad incumbents are DistroKid, Songtrust, iZotope and Audiam. Emerging players are LANDR and Audius.
Does Sound Credit have an API?
No public API is recorded for Sound Credit.
What industry is Sound Credit in?
Sound Credit's product category is Music Collaboration Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAIAIAD, Cloud Collaboration & Remote Recording Platforms, with a secondary code of MPAIAIAB, Audio Plugins & Virtual Instruments (VST/AU/AAX). Its NAICS code is 5122 and its SIC code is 3652.