Top Reason to Choose Soundcloud

Discovery and increased rates. SoundCloud promises to deliver your first 100 streams through an algorithmic boost that will land your track in the music recommendations of its users. It’s like Spotify’s Discovery Mode but without any requirements other than distributing music through SoundCloud. One of the two biggest pain points with music distribution is Discovery and this feature addresses that. Consider it a springboard because if people respond to your music positively, it’ll make its way into more recommendations which could result in far more than 100 streams. If you’re setting up distribution and searching the internet for information on how to get your music heard, this feature is for you.

SoundCloud isn’t a distribution company, it’s a music streaming service that does music distribution. Long considered the YouTube of audio, this distinction is what makes it uniquely positioned to deliver on such a promise as getting your music its first 100 streams. Additionally, when you sign up for distribution through SoundCloud, you’re signing up for Next Pro which bundles other SoundCloud features with distribution. With your SoundCloud bundle comes the ability to master 3 tracks per month, gain access to advanced audience insights, private track uploads, fan messaging, ability to submit music to the SoundCloud SiriusXM radio station, and increase SoundCloud royalties through their Fan-powered model.

Top Features

Audience Insights 

Audience insights with SoundCloud are incredibly powerful because unlike most of its competitors in the streaming market, Spotify, Apple Music, etc. it tells you who’s streaming your music and not just where. You can see a girl named Julie from Omaha has been streaming your song 30 times a week. Its features open the door to better relationship building because not only can you message Julie directly, but you have the option of taking a subtler approach by doing something like giving her a shoutout in SoundCloud’s Timed comments. Additionally, you have an opportunity to gain further insight into the interest of your listeners by visiting their profiles and seeing which other artists they’re fanning out on, visit their connected social media accounts to see what their interests are beyond music, etc. You can use it to gain a full-picture understanding of the listeners that are most passionate about your music.

Fan-Powered Royalties

With Fan-Powered-Royalties the revenue generated by individual listeners gets divided between the artists they stream. A user paying $10 a month for a subscription to SoundCloud Go that streams your music 90% of the time would have 90% of their $10 subscription fee go to you. Building a catalog and a fanbase to consume it could allow you to make a living off of your music through SoundCloud alone.

Internal Advertising

You can run targeted ads on SoundCloud to drive streams of your track using Promoted Tracks. This has your song appear at the top of the Feeds of SoundCloud users who can stream it, heart it, Repost it, and take all the normal actions they could take with any other track that’s listed in their feed. What’s key, is that everyone you reach with an ad on SoundCloud is a SoundCloud user and if they’re checking their music Feed, they’re likely a dedicated user which means longterm activity if they like your song and add it to their libraries. With Facebook ads, artists hope the people they reach are subscribed to one streaming platform or another and that they’ll go there to listen to their music. The reality is, most people aren’t subscribed to anything which leads to spending major money for minor returns. This remedies that.

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