How SoundCloud Shaped the Future of the Music Industry?

In the modern limitless world of digital music and its constant evolution, SoundCloud played a vital role by empowering music artists. It has become a potential hub where musicians can upload and share their musical creations with the world while influencing the music and media industries. The platform has helped many artists to grow from discovery to stardom. It is currently one of the most influential music platforms in the world and many artists have created a successful career. Let’s take a better look at the world of SoundCloud which changed the future of the music industry.

The Evolution of SoundCloud and Its Impact

SoundCloud changed the whole system process of artists connecting with listeners through music as it brought a unified culture to the global music industry. The system was first developed in 2007 by Eric Wahlforss and Alexander Ljung. However, it was launched in October of the next year. In the beginning, it was a platform for singers where they could work together and share their work online. But the creators decided to create a place where not only music artists but the listeners can also connect. They wanted to create a place where artists could quickly post and share their musical works while communicating with the fans for more engagement and popularity.

SoundCloud has evolved much since its launch and artists are now able to share their whole albums, podcasts as well as interviews along with the tracks which helps to bring more traffic and media attention. Being the most recognized music platform, SoundCloud is a favorite choice for many, especially emerging artists from various countries around the world. Before mainstream platforms like Spotify and iTunes came into the market, SoundCloud made sure that the artists could gain widespread popularity by letting the fans preview their tracks.

One of the main reasons behind SoundCloud’s popularity is the unique features offered by the platform. It mainly focuses on independent artists who are not connected to any label or production house. It enabled direct upload for emerging artists, which most streaming services do not provide. As a result, a diversified range of music artists utilize this platform to distribute their work whether a singer, a rapper, a songwriter, a DJ, or a music producer. With the effective distribution of music, SoundCloud quickly became popular and the most reliable platform for music. Listeners on the platform can also share their favorite music with their friends and other users which also improved its popularity.

Also Read: Know-How Organic Soundcloud Promotion can help Artists to Grow their Fan Base

The Launch of SoundCloud Go

Back in 2014, SoundCloud was going through a rough time due to a handful of issues like generation of revenue, copyright infringement licensing agreements, and effective monetization strategy. Though the platform is getting bigger with an increasing number of users, the business still required ample revenue to pay the bills or else it would have been impossible for the platform to make a long run.

Considering the issues SoundCloud launched a new feature called ‘SoundCloud Go’ which was built on March 29, 2016. It is a paid subscription service where users do not have to deal with annoying advertisements and can listen to music even when there is no connection to the internet. The paid subscription service helped the platform get a wider audience base of music lovers who really enjoyed listening to different tracks on the platform.

What is Special About SoundCloud Go?

The primary goal of SoundCloud was to let people listen to music for absolutely free of cost and they never wanted to interrupt their listening experience with a bunch of ads. However, the platform needed to generate some income in order to keep it running. That is where SoundCloud Go comes into play which paved the way for the platform’s success. With this paid membership option, it was convenient for the platform to sustain itself financially and make future investments in evolving features. The addition of licensed music on SoundCloud Go expanded its reach and helped listeners discover more music, whether it is underground or commercial. Later on, the platform came up with another subscription plan known as SoundCloud Go+.

    • Soundcloud Go: $5.99/month.

    • Soundcloud Go Plus: $9.99/month.

SoundCloud Go and Go+: Advantages

SoundCloud Go and Go+, both provide an ad-free listening experience which is the unique selling point. With no ads to interrupt, subscribers can enjoy a more refined and immersive musical experience while listening to their favorite tracks. One of the greatest features of the paid subscription plan is that users can download their favorite tracks to listen to offline later. This added more ease and adaptability for the areas where a listener might not get access to the internet but still can enjoy the music they like. It is especially helpful for people who want to spend their vacation in a remote destination while humming to their current jam.

Other than these, SoundCloud Go+ users can also get access to an extensive library full of licensed songs created by major labels and famous artists. The free version is more applicable for independent artists and user-generated material. As a result, the platform could gather attention from all kinds of listeners; those who want to discover more indie artists as well as those who want to groove with the popular tracks.

One of the greatest virtues of SoundCloud Go and Go+ is that it thrives to empower artists. The users on the platform directly contribute to the income pool of the platform which is further split among the artists on the platform. It is based on the number of plays on their tracks therefore, users are financially helping their favorite artists to grow. This is one of the reasons why artists keep uploading more music on the platform for their fans who support their musical careers. SoundCloud has always offered a place where emerging artists can create a fan base and get noticed by the industry.

Perks of SoundCloud Go+ for Artists

One of the greatest perks of SoundCloud Go+ for artists is that they have complete access to DJ tools offered on the platform. It is committed to the DJ community and offers a handful of DJ-focused tools directly on the platform. With features like flawless track transitions, real-time waveform display, advanced track search, and multiple options for filtering; the DJ tool is quite dynamic and allows for creating more innovation through music.

The DJs on SoundCloud Go+ can access enhanced track metadata along with information like track genre tags and BPM (beats per minute). This allows the DJs to find ideal tracks to construct coherent mixes which results in unified listening experiences through seamless transitions. There are also DJ-curated playlists that feature different music, mixes, and other performances that are currently trending among the DJ communities. The playlists can particularly help to have a better idea of the DJ music scene. Evidently, SoundCloud Go created a significant turning point for the platform and helped to develop a new era after 2016. The platform has become quite competitive with constantly increasing listeners and new artists on the platform.

Also Read: Garner minimum audience with the help of SoundCloud promotion

The World of SoundCloud Promotion 

Promoting your tracks on SoundCloud is the best thing you can do as an artist. There are more than 76 million registered users on the platform along with 20 million active content providers and 189.87 million monthly visitors. 12 hours of fresh content is posted through the platform every minute. It differs from other services as it not only helps to improve streams and share music but also allows artists to grow their fan base just like the social media influencers. SoundCloud is one of the best places to connect with audiences through likes, comments, and follows. It helps to connect with both, other musicians as well as fans while enabling sharing options for other platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. The platform helps artists to showcase their talents and to be a part of the larger community to kick-start their music careers.

Reasons to Promote SoundCloud Music with a Promotional Service?

If you are a music artist and looking for organic SoundCloud promotion to promote your tracks, find out four compelling reasons why you should hire a music promotion service.

    • Increased Visibility: The promotional packages can increase your exposure in the market as well as improve your ranking on the search engine result pages with the help of SEO benefits gained from the campaign

    • Expansion in Exposure: SoundCloud promotion services can boost your popularity with features on radio, blogs, playlists, curated collections, and many other credible sources

    • Genuine Audience Engagement: Promotional services well to target listeners who resonate with the artist’s musical style so, you can attract authentic and relevant listeners who can turn into loyal fans and support your music. 

    • Time-Saving Assistance: The professionals are well-versed in the various strategies of promotion and they can offer greater results within a short duration to make sure you can focus on your music.

Bottom Line 

SoundCloud has become an integral part of the music industry and to gain success in today’s digital landscape, music artists must utilize this platform along with the promotional services. SoundCloud has significantly altered the music scene and listening experience for music lovers. Being a part of it can help music artists to be a part of the evolution.