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The Complete SoundCloud Guide: For Listeners and Musicians

Estimated Read Time: 12 min.
complete soundcloud guide for listeners and musicians
Overview

With over 175 million monthly users, including 76 million registered accounts, SoundCloud is a thriving community for audio discovery and creative expression.

For listeners, the first section of our guide will help you navigate the platforms rich music landscape, ensuring you find tracks and playlists that truly resonate with you. We’ll talk about how to effectively use all features to enhance your listening experience.

Turning to musicians in the second part, we’ll cover how SoundCloud can be your portal for success. From optimizing your profile to promoting your songs, we aim to equip you with the tools needed to connect with fans and elevate your career.

Learn how it can become the cornerstone for finding new tunes or catapulting your career forward, making sure you tap into the full breadth of what the platform offers.

Part 1: SoundCloud Guide for Listeners

What is SoundCloud and How It Works for Listeners?

Exploring the music-streaming site:

SoundCloud is a service site where artists share their songs and listeners discover new sounds. It’s known for its rich community interactions, allowing users to comment on tracks, follow their favorite artists, and curate playlists. This platform is a hub for discovering tunes across genres, connecting creators directly with their audience.

Getting Started:

  • Go to their website or download the app.
  • Click “Create account” and sign up via email, Google, Apple ID, or Facebook.
  • Complete the setup by entering your details and agreeing to the terms.
  • Start exploring, following creators, and enjoying or sharing jams.

Joining the music sharing platform will satisfy your musical needs, whether you’re looking to find new tracks or share your own compositions.

people with headphones gathering around a big phone with the soundcloud cloud on top

Exploring and Organizing Music on SoundCloud

SoundCloud makes finding new songs easy with its user-friendly navigation, enabling you to search for tracks or explore recommendations based on your listening habits. The “Discover” section features curated playlists and highlights trending genres to help uncover new releases. Listening is simple—click on a track for uninterrupted playback.

Creating playlists is straightforward, allowing you to organize your tunes with the ‘Add to playlist’ option next to tracks. This feature lets you manage your favorites, share your playlists, or keep them private. The platform’s integration of music discovery and playlist management improves your listening experience.

Understanding SoundCloud’s Unique Features

The platform stands out with its customized subscription models, SoundCloud Next Pro and SoundCloud Go, designed to enhance the experience for creators and listeners alike. We will explore what these subscriptions offer and how they benefit the user, so you can make the decision if it’s worth going for them or not.

Creating playlists is straightforward, allowing you to organize your tunes with the ‘Add to playlist’ option next to tracks. This feature lets you manage your favorites, share your playlists, or keep them private. The platform’s integration of music discovery and playlist management improves your listening experience.

illustration showing a big phone and headset with an orange background

What is SoundCloud Next Pro?

SoundCloud Next Pro is aimed at creators, providing tools for promotion, audience engagement, and analytics. This subscription enhances content sharing, increases upload capacity, and offers promotional tools to boost track visibility, helping them grow their presence and connect with fans. Conversely, SoundCloud Go is for listeners, offering ad-free streaming, offline playback, and access to a wider track library. The main distinction lies in their target audience: Next Pro is for creators looking to advance their career, while Go is designed for listeners seeking an enhanced experience. Your choice depends on whether you aim to create and share tunes or enjoy an improved listening experience.

SoundCloud 3-Month Trial

The 3-month trial offers a no-commitment peek into its premium features, perfect for those on the fence about subscribing. Go users can enjoy ad-free music and offline listening, while Next Pro offers creators advanced analytics and promotional tools. Fully use discovery features, test offline listening, and, for musicians, explore your track’s analytics and audience engagement during this trial. It’s an ideal opportunity to see if the premium benefits align with your needs and goals.

Part 2: SoundCloud Guide for Artist

What is SoundCloud for Musicians?

SoundCloud is a powerful platform for creators looking to share their projects, connect with listeners, and grow their fan base. It’s perfect for musicians of all levels, offering a space to upload tracks, receive listener feedback, and increase visibility within the music community. Utilizing it effectively can help expand your reach and engage with a wider audience.

Creating Your Artist Account:

Getting started with an artist account is simple and can significantly boost your career:

  • Register with an email or via Google, Facebook, or Apple ID.
  • Customize your profile with a clear photo, a brief bio, and links to your other social networks to make it easy for fans to follow you.
  • Upload your tracks, ensuring you tag it correctly by genre and mood to help new listeners find your work.
  • Stay active by responding to comments on your tracks and promoting your page on social media.

With these steps, you’ll be well on your way to building a solid presence, making your releases more accessible to fans around the world.

a band playing music with the soundcloud logo on top of them

Crafting Your Artist Profile

Creating a compelling artist profile involves a few key steps. Use a distinct profile photo and craft a brief bio that highlights your musical identity, including links to your other online networks. This seamless integration helps fans easily navigate your online presence.

For uploads, clear titling and accurate genre tagging are essential for discoverability. Enhancing each track with quality cover art also plays a crucial role in attracting listeners.

By focusing on these profile and upload strategies, you elevate your visibility on SoundCloud, but to strengthen it even more, we suggest buying SoundCloud followers.

Maximizing Your Artist Profile on SoundCloud

For musicians looking to make an impact, paying close attention to your profile and how you present your tracks is vital. Start with a clear, engaging profile picture and a bio that quickly tells listeners who you are and what your sound is about. Including links to your other online networks in your bio can significantly enhance your online ecosystem, making it easy for listeners to dive deeper into your world.

The way you handle your music uploads is equally important. Ensuring your tracks are properly titled and accurately tagged by genre can dramatically increase their visibility and accessibility to the right audience. Moreover, the power of visual aesthetics shouldn’t be underestimated. Investing in quality cover art for each track not only enriches the listener’s experience but also makes your songs more inviting to potential new fans.

a tablet with the soundcloud logo inside surrounded by mini characters and headphones

Conclusion

Whether you’re just a listener or a creator, this platform offers endless opportunities for discovery and growth. With our guide, users can navigate all the features with ease, ensuring a rich listening experience and effective artist promotion. Remember, beyond SoundCloud, enhancing your reach can also be achieved through buying Spotify plays, offering another avenue to amplify your online presence. Embrace the tools and tips provided to fully exploit SoundCloud’s potential and take your listening sessions to new heights.