Who even needs hard drives anymore? Streaming is so much more convenient, and doesn’t fill up all the space on 128GB smartphones — so you have more space for pictures of your pug. Not all streaming offerings are cut from the same cloth, though. Outfits like SoundCloud have had to change things up to survive in the cut-throat music streaming industry.

One thing SoundCloud has always got right: its focus on indie music producers and DJs. They’ve created a platform for these artists to share their music and engage with the communities of not-so-mainstream musos and fans. Now those DJs will be able to mix in real-time with streamed music.

SoundCloud announced that DJs will soon be able to mix and perform live by streaming content from SoundCloud’s catalog. This is made possible by SoundCloud’s partnership with different DJ software companies (like Native Instruments, Serato, Virtual DJ, DEX 3, Mixvibes, and Hercules). Upcoming versions of the various mixing applications will integrate with SoundCloud directly, giving DJs the ability to browse SoundCloud’s library and mix it directly through their preferred software.

DJs that perform using digital music typically download their content ahead of time and mix from a locally-stored library of songs. This SoundCloud feature will allow them to mix music that is not present on their hard drives, but rather based in the cloud.

The new feature will only be available for users with a SoundCloud Go+ subscription (which will run you $9.99, or about R150 a month), even if you already have a Pro or Pro Unlimited account.

Although Spotify already has a similar type of feature, it’s not integrated directly with the mixing programs that DJs use — so this is a strategic play for SoundCloud. SoundCloud’s new integration with selected DJ software will roll out in 2019.

Source: SoundCloud Blog