In the wild west that currently is the world of online music streaming, SoundCloud made a move today (June 4) that looks out for the little guy: the streaming service came to terms on a deal with more than 20,000 independent labels that will allow them to receive royalties for their content on SoundCloud.

SoundCloud founder Alexander Ljung talked about the deal with the New York Times. “Independent creators have always been at the core of SoundCloud, and with this partnership we’re thrilled to extend new revenue-generating opportunities to thousands of independent labels."

SoundCloud worked with Merlin – an agency that manages digital rights for indie labels – to reach a deal. Included in the deal are some prominent indie labels like Secretly Group, (whose artists include Bon Iver, the War on Drugs, Dinosaur Jr. and Sharon Van Etten), Beggars Group (home to Vampire Weekend and FKA Twigs) and Warp Records (Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus, Grizzly Bear) and other primarily electronic acts.

This news follows SoundCloud signing a licensing deal with Warner Music Group in November and Sony pulling its content off the site last month after failing to come to an agreement with SoundCloud.

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