Music streaming site SoundCloud began including advertisements and allowing artists to get paid for original content for the first time. This new system is part of a licensing deal with several entertainment companies, according to The New York Times.

The six-year-old website allows people to upload and stream any audio for free. Big-name musicians have latched on to the site: Lorde first posted her now-smash hit "Royals" to SoundCloud. Beyond future stars, the online public has also embraced the site: around 175 million people listen to recordings on SoundCloud each month according to the company. This is four times the global listeners that Spotify attracts.

"We have listeners in every single country in the world -- and in space," Alex Ljung, SoundCloud's chief executive said. Ljung was referring to a Canadian astronaut who posted recordings of the International Space Station.

The new monetized system shows SoundCloud is not immune to the pressures from the music industry to produce revenue. However, the website finds itself in the unique position where labels promote and look for new talent on the site yet want them to make money off of their enormous following.

The licensing deal with major music labels will allow outside companies to buy equity skates in SoundCloud in exchange for agreeing not to sue for copyright infringement in the past.

For example, American DJ Kaskade raised alarm when he claimed many of his tracks were taken down from the site in June because they violated copyright notices. He now seems a bit torn on SoundCloud's new direction.

"They got this incredible service up and running off all these people that have been trusting it, and then they yanked the rug out from under them," Kaskade said.

With this new paid-by-advertising set up is a risk for the company, with the mainstream choice potentially driving away some of its established users and music artists. However, SoundCloud doesn't seem too concerned, and even plans to roll out a paid subscription option for users who want to skip the new ads.