Live edition: SoundCloud’s Sound Advice with Imogen Heap

Empowering Artists: Imogen Heap and SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton on AI, Data, and the Future of Music at Web Summit Lisbon 2025

Eliah Seton, CEO of SoundCloud, opened the “Sound Advice” session at Web Summit Lisbon 2025, spotlighting artists reshaping the music industry. He introduced Grammy-winning artist and technologist Imogen Heap, a pioneer who has spent three decades redefining independent artistry through fearless technological experimentation, from Mi.Mu performance gloves to her latest AI innovations with Auracles.io.

Ms. Heap’s early SoundCloud innovations included “The Song That Never Was” and “Sparks” album, which incorporated fan audio submissions. Her “Ask Imogen” button, allowing direct fan contact, even inspired SoundCloud’s direct messaging feature. These projects aimed to improve administration, discovery, and money flow for musicians, fostering greater transparency.

The challenge of fragmented data regarding fan contributions led Ms. Heap to develop Oracles.io. This system creates a single, authoritative data source for music, encompassing creative identity, song information, and permissions. It replaces inconsistent datasets, providing updated biographical and contextual information to aid discovery beyond mere sonic similarities, such as artists’ supported charities or ethical stances.

Crucially, Oracles.io integrates granular, song-level permissions for AI training, set by all contributors. This empowers artists to control AI usage of their work, moving past broad blanket label permissions. Mr. Seton emphasized SoundCloud’s role as a two-sided marketplace, supporting both fans and independent artists, acknowledging that traditional streaming alone is insufficient for most creators.

Ms. Heap introduced “AI Imogen,” an initiative born from the frustration of managing overwhelming social media. This AI agent answers common questions, freeing her to engage with unique fan queries, enhancing artist-fan relationships. “AI Imogen” also extends to her voice model, ethically permissioned for other artists to use, enabling collaborations and “extended releases” without her direct studio presence.

Both speakers agreed that AI, with proper legal and commercial frameworks, offers immense opportunities. Mr. Seton believes generative AI tools will democratize music creation, making it accessible and affordable. AI can also help artists promote, market, and distribute music, connecting them with fans more effectively, moving beyond the need for millions of followers.

SoundCloud is focused on new revenue formats, like “fan support,” allowing direct fan contributions with 100% of proceeds going to the artist. The goal is for artists with 1,000-10,000 fans to earn a living wage. Ms. Heap urged artists to organize their data within a unified system like Oracles.io, enabling platforms like SoundCloud to innovate confidently and create new revenue streams. This new era promises a bright future for independent musicians.