Why SoundCloud beats Spotify for locating underground music

Key Takeaways

SoundCloud is an internet streaming platform for music and podcasts, permitting artists to simply add their content material and achieve publicity.
The platform gives a user-friendly app for iOS and Android customers to reinforce the listening expertise.
SoundCloud is free to make use of with some limitations, however gives paid subscriptions for ad-free listening and extra options for each listeners and artists.

SoundCloud has been round for musicians attempting to make a reputation for themselves since 2007. Though the platform is most nicely related to unbiased, underground music, many now well-known artists like Publish Malone, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Ice Spice, and Lil Nas X discovered their begin on SoundCloud.

From podcasts to music, by way of free and paid-for plans, we have all the important thing particulars you’ll want to learn about what SoundCloud is, the way it works, and why you must give it an opportunity.

What’s SoundCloud?

Though music streaming companies like Spotify or Apple Music have turn out to be extra recognizable names, at its base, SoundCloud is an internet streaming platform for music and podcasts, similar to these companies.

One attribute that makes SoundCloud distinctive is how simple the platform has made it for artists to add their songs, tracks, podcasts, or different audio. Organising a profile to share music by means of is simple and will be free, permitting newbie and price range artists to get their names on the market.

This high quality has made SoundCloud an important platform for up-and-coming artists to interrupt out, since SoundCloud’s customers are usually fairly all for discovering new music and artists.

Find out how to obtain SoundCloud

SoundCloud originated as an internet site that you could possibly solely entry on an web browser. Though the web site remains to be up and working, SoundCloud has since developed a user-friendly app for iOS and Android customers.

I made a SoundCloud account. What now?

On the prime of SoundCloud’s residence web page, each on-line and within the app, you will be prompted to discover a few of the platform’s trending genres. Instantly beneath these, SoundCloud gives an array of music that their algorithm has deemed as tracks chances are you’ll get pleasure from primarily based on what else you hearken to. If you wish to hearken to what’s in style within the US proper now, you possibly can scroll right down to the part that provides Music Charts with Prime 50 playlists for varied genres.

You are additionally in a position to search with filters to seek out any tracks, artists, albums, or playlists you are in search of. One other attention-grabbing characteristic on SoundCloud are the “Scenes: Corners of SoundCloud” playlists and “FOSC: First on SoundCloud 2023” artists discovered a little bit additional down on the platform’s residence web page. Scenes highlights some area of interest genres which have discovered a neighborhood of listeners on SoundCloud, and FOSC places an annual highlight on 5 of its rising artists with the purpose of serving to these artists achieve listeners and attain new audiences.

SoundCloud

Is SoundCloud free?

SoundCloud’s origins are rooted in unbiased music and user-driven uploads, so it is nonetheless obtainable to make use of without cost, though there are some drawbacks.

Free listening has promoting in it, and non-paid customers aren’t in a position to obtain any tracks for offline listening. Nonetheless, income that SoundCloud makes from commercials helps them to pay the artists whose music you are listening to.

There are a number of tiers of paid memberships for SoundCloud, which every carry further options.

SoundCloud pricing: Listeners

SoundCloud gives multiple paid options for these seeking to pay attention ad-free and with another perks. Listed here are their subscription choices:

The extra primary paid subscription is SoundCloud Go, which prices $4.99 month-to-month and removes all of the advertisements whereas additionally letting you obtain as many tracks as you would like for offline listening.

SoundCloud Go+ is priced at $9.99 which gives the advantages of SoundCloud Go in addition to permits you to pay attention with higher-quality audio, will get you entry to a wider library, and even lets you combine obtainable tracks in sure DJing apps. For college students, SoundCloud Go+ is obtainable at a 50% low cost.

SoundCloud pricing: Artists

When you’re looking to upload music, SoundCloud gives a free subscription known as SoundCloud Subsequent. This feature permits artists to add as much as three hours of audio both privately or publicly and have entry to primary analytics studies of listeners.

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SoundCloud Next Pro is the platform’s paid artist plan, which prices $8.25 a month. It removes the restrict on how a lot music you possibly can add and opens the door to a complete heap of stats that can assist you perceive who’s listening to your music and the way. This plan helps artists to increase their tracks’ attain, have wider distribution, monetize their tracks, have restricted entry to trace mastering, and extra.

Who makes use of SoundCloud?

Whereas SoundCloud is utilized by a big selection of artists and listeners from all over the world, sure genres have positively discovered their area of interest viewers on the platform.

Listeners typically flip to SoundCloud to hearken to new and distinctive sounds and artists reasonably than the present Billboard Prime 50.

Some present trending genres on SoundCloud embody electronic, house, reggae, pop, and hip hop & rap. Trying on the songs discovered on SoundCloud’s trending playlists reveals that whereas some large names are included, like Megan Thee Stallion, Jhené Aiko, and Zeds Lifeless, lots of the trending artists are removed from family names. There are additionally playlists obtainable that provide new tracks exclusively found on SoundCloud or every week’s fresh sounds on the platform.

SoundCloud can be used to hearken to extra area of interest music genres that many individuals might by no means have heard of. Though stats aren’t but obtainable for 2023, the 2022 fastest growing genres included plugg, an Atlanta-based hip-hop scene, drill, a lure subgenre during which Ice Spice had a prime SoundCloud monitor of 2022, phonk, UK dance, and digicore, a hyperpop microgenre.