Among the various audio-sharing communities that are popular among artists and listeners, Soundcloud is one of the best. They are one of the pioneers of online music distribution and sharing as we know of today. It is an ideal platform for upcoming and independent artists looking for effective ways of reaching out to the mass with their music. Hence, Soundcloud is also a marketing tool. Also, online music promotion forms an important part of an artist’s overall journey. So, if an artist wants to get Soundcloud plays that are organic, they are bound to adopt various strategies and tips on the way.
The following tips and tricks are crucial for someone looking for organic audience engagement on Soundcloud.
1. Make Great Music
Well, the first strategy is to create good music to offer the audience a different and unique musical taste to enjoy. You might be able to promote a song that is not up to the mark but it would never survive the ultimate hurdle of people’s opinion. If your music is not captivating enough, the audiences are more likely to leave your page and look for other good music. Most music artists make the same mistake of overestimating the quality of their music. However, making music is part of a promotion as well and so, the music artists need to focus on their craft more to create a huge buzz among the listeners.
This leads to the greater question of whether you should upload your music when it's not 100% great. And the answer is yes. While making good music is important, you need to show your progress as well. Taking valuable feedback from the listeners and improving them in your next track is what makes the audiences happy too. Thus, you might be able to gain more online engagement and traffic even without doing anything.
A few pointers for improvement -
• Make sure your musical ideas are concrete enough, otherwise mixing and mastering would not make
any difference
• Take reviews and feedback from the listeners, tastemakers, and others from the music industry
• Be consistent and keep creating a larger volume of music
2. Tagging
Soundcloud is a place where the audience can also find new artists and their music. One way to achieve this goal is through music tagging. It is a marketing trick that makes content discoverable for everyone who might be searching for similar music on the platform. However, one must know how to use tags effectively. Tags should always be relatable and relevant. Someone looking for new music will be able to find you by searching keywords similar to what is used in the tags. Tags can comprise genres, location, moods, production details, etc.
3. Adding the ‘Buy’ Link
You get a like and a comment from one of your listeners and you are happy about it. But your journey only starts from there as you also have to monetize your music. One can add the ‘buy’ link to your track on Soundcloud. Just click on ‘Metadata’ while uploading the song. One can also add the links to other websites and sell their music and merchandise through the same. This is an important feature of Soundcloud that helps the artist establish a sense of authenticity before the audience.
4. Using the Waveform
Soundcloud allows fans to comment on song waveforms. The artist is also able to do the same. This feature is essential for explaining your music or conveying information to the audience. As an artist, you must be honest because it is the only way in which one can truly grow. Waveforms are also a great way to invite audience feedback. You may also publish drafts of your music even before releasing the final edit.
5. Album Art
Visual attraction is one of the major strategies in all types of marketing including digital or online ones. You will always need album art when distributing music. The art, as part of the visual explanation of the music also enhances its identity before the public. In a way, album art represents the music while captivating more attention. So, you must stand out to make a mark with your creative flairs. The album art is the first thing that they see even before they hear your music. You can also hire graphic designers or freelance artists to come up with the best art for your album.
6. Private Sharing
Soundcloud allows the private sharing of track links. This method comes in handy when sending out demos across producers, collaborators, production houses, etc. or when contacting a media outlet for exposure. There is a personal touch in the private sharing of music which helps in establishing a professional relationship with a potential collaborator. You can share private track links very easily and can also reset or change the same anytime. It is a creative way to encourage constructive criticism without making it public. These pointers will then come in handy in the final edit of the song or album. Private sharing is an example of a feasible and effective project structure. So, your chances of getting widespread audience engagement also increase.
7. Publish the Best
This is a continuation of the previous point. An artist should always publish only the best edit at their disposal. Suppose, after upload, you suddenly feel the need to change something and you take it down. This will cost you all the plays and comments that the song has garnered so far. So, always try to run the final edit with other people to get their opinion before proceeding onto releasing it for the public.
8. Pro Subscription
This subscription on Soundcloud enables the swapping of audio on any upload, any time you want. Do not worry about comments and likes. This can be used to get feedback on songs before you upload your final edit. Private sharing comes with many advantages. It can help you improve your content as you always publish only your best work on you.
9. Leverage Existing Audiences
Well, this might sound a little tricky but this is actually possible. There are a lot of people who are more prominent at marketing music than the artist himself. So, you do not require to reinvent it but utilize those people for your marketing. How to do that?
Firstly, you need to find channels on SoundCloud that can share your musical content to a larger number of potential listeners than your individual approach can do. You need to look for,
• Promotional Channels
• Repost Channels
• Other music artists with a huge follower base
• Playlist creators
• Record labels and Collectives
It is not just about SoundCloud since you can gain attention from the offsite audiences as well. Usually, these sources do not have a huge SoundCloud listener base but that does not mean those can’t send potential listeners on your way. So make sure to utilize the following resources,
• Music Blogs
• YouTube Channels
• Hype Machine
• Spotify Playlists
• Vloggers and Potential Influencers on Instagram
• Radio Stations
All of the aforementioned resources can provide a significant boost to your follower base along with organic exposure.
10. Repost Chains
Soundcloud is a music-sharing community. So, you must keep sharing and reposting in order to get discovered. Bring together like-minded people who will further help with social sharing. The more you share, the more your chances of coming across great opportunities.
Repost chain is one of the most useful tools on SoundCloud that helps to gather attention from multiple accounts in a simplified and automated way. It is a group of people who automatically repost a track at regular time intervals. SCPlanner helps to maximize your exposure on SoundCloud.
As a music artist on SoundCloud, you can simply grab some of your friends and fellow musicians in the field and create a chain. Each time when someone from the chain uploads musical content, all of the members receive more followers. As a result, you can multiply your reach every time.
If you are still not sure how to create a chain, here are a few suggestions.
• Producer Chains – You can get your inner circle of music artists and producers to sign up in the reposting chain. It makes sure you receive a guaranteed amount of exposure every time a new track is uploaded.
• Bigger Chains – There are a lot of individuals and Facebook groups that look for other accounts in order to join the reposting chain. It is simply because the bigger the chain gets the value of exposure gets higher too. However, there is a catch. In order to join these repost chains, you would require at least 5000 followers on your SoundCloud Profile.
• Random Chains – If you are just after exposure, there are a lot of random chains you can find by simply searching on Google with ‘Repost Chains’. You will be able to see a bunch of repost chains looking for a submission. Some of them can be payable too.
A few things to check before joining a repost chain,
• Make sure the chain is relevant to your style and genre
• Check pricing details for paid packages and the other accounts in the chain for free submission
A lot of SoundCloud artist thinks that the repost chain is ruining the purpose of reposting. So make sure you are okay with uploading music to repost chain before joining one.
11. Build Anticipation before Release
Most music artists emphasize the release date of their music. So, if you are looking forward to creating huge buzz on the date of release, it is recommended to start early. Initiate your promotional approaches at least two weeks before the music release and make sure to utilize all the platforms including SoundCloud.
The option for private links can help to leverage plays during this phase. You can upload your song at least 2 to 3 weeks before the actual release date and set the track as a private link to make it visible for you and only the people to whom you send your music. SoundCloud allows setting the track with a scheduled release that automatically turns the private link into a public one on the release date.
The private links allow generating more plays even before the track is officially released. You can send this link to curators, tastemakers, and others to get feedback. It can be also used as a reward to loyal fans who took the time to pre-save the link and eagerly waited for the release. Private links are also great for pitching, promotional purposes, launch programs, and so on.
The marketing momentum that is created through the private link will provide an ample amount of hype on the release date. However, make sure to keep up with the momentum so that the track does not lose its hype after the release.
12. Put yourself out everywhere
Always link the Soundcloud profile link with your social media handles on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Cross-sharing across different digital platforms helps in garnering a global crowd. Auto-posting is also another tip to integrate your social media handles. Here are some of the social media platforms that can be utilized extensively for the purpose.
• YouTube – It is the biggest video streaming platform and the second largest search engine after Google along with more than 2 billion active users on the platform. You can upload music videos on YouTube or utilize reels for a marketing approach.
• TikTok – Undoubtedly, this platform has created a major influence in the music industry. The tracks which are being used in TikTok videos are gaining more listeners as well as being played on various Radio Stations. Thus, if you put a bit of time and energy to improve your presence on the platform, it will eventually offer more traffic to your SoundCloud profile.
• Facebook – This is one of the oldest social media platforms that is gone through a lot of changes and currently it is utilizing Web3 and metaverse. This platform proves to be a valuable resource for music artists to invest in the community.
• Instagram – It is one of the most popular trendy platforms around the world with millions of active users. There are also potential influencers on the platform who can offer a significant boost to your profile if you collaborate with them.
• Twitter – Twitter is known to be one of the most community-enriched platforms where you can easily share links among your fans and followers. You can get direct traffic from Twitter,
• Reddit – It is a unique forum site with numerous communities. Sharing your music here might enable new ways for interaction and strengthen relations with the niche.
• Discord – Though this platform is more famous in the gaming communities but it is being widely used among musicians for better communication and leads. The platform allows you to create your own server with fine audio quality.
Handling all the profiles and posts on these platforms could be overwhelming. So, why not start with the few where you already have a profile? Then you can gradually extend it.
13. Create a Community
Whether it is SoundCloud or any other major music platform; you need to create a community that supports you and your music. In order to gain something, you have to give something as well and that is how a community is created with mutual understanding. If you are not sure how to start, here are some ways.
• Engagement leads to more engagement
If you take enough time to listen to other artists’ music and comment on their songs, it will bring more organic traffic to your profile as well. However, do not just spam over every song. Be sensible enough to actually listen to the music and then comment on it, which shows your expertise in music. If you are able to foster relationships with engagement, you will gain more mutual support.
• Pay attention to the listeners
You will see the potential listeners are suggesting ideas through comments to help you improve your music. Focus on their valuable feedback and incorporate the ideas in your next track. You see, the audience love to be part of the process. And when you offer that feeling to them, they are more likely to support you even more.
• Promotion Circles
It is a great way to interact with fellow SoundCloud music artists and support each other mutually. These circles are usually created but reaching out to potential artists and rallying up in a group together. It does not require any promotional approach but the members are genuinely happy to support it.
• Collaboration
Collaboration offers a chance to grow in a whole new way where you can share the audience base and exposure mutually with the collaborator. It is also an exciting element to offer the listeners that keep them engaged. Collaboration also helps you grow as an artist with more diversity in your musical creations.
14. Professional services and Marketing agencies
Hiring a professional agency that offers SoundCloud music promotion services is always a great option to avail of. The agencies possess intricate knowledge and ample experience in music marketing and promotion. That is why they offer better results in a short duration. Being a music artist yourself; it can be a daunting task to keep up with all the promotional strategies. But hiring an agency provides you enough time to concentrate on your craft peacefully.
A simple search with ‘SoundCloud Promotion’ on Google can show you an array of promotional agencies for the task. But it can be quite confusing to opt for one. Get to know the 10 Best Soundcloud Promotion Companies on the web that offers highly effective and affordable services for everyone to obtain.
15. Sharing Profile Link
Always link the Soundcloud profile link with your social media handles on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Cross-sharing across different digital platforms helps in garnering a global crowd. Auto-posting is also another tip to integrate your social media handles. Whenever you upload on Soundcloud, all your linked social media profiles will also post the same update.
Conclusion
Soundcloud is both an audio-sharing platform and a marketing tool. If you want organic engagement through Soundcloud, the aforementioned tips are for you. Upgrading and implementing new strategies will help you reach your career goals faster.
