SoundCloud vs. Bandcamp: Explore Which One Is Better for A Musician

In this digital age, if you are trying to become a successful music artist, you need to pay a little more attention to deciding on the music distribution platform. There are various music streaming platforms where you can distribute your music. However, you need to understand which one is better for your exposure. Currently, there are two renowned platforms known as SoundCloud and Bandcamp. You can share your music on both these platforms to showcase your talent. However, you will have to understand which one is suitable for you to achieve your desired goals. Both these platforms are known for their unique elements, which are helpful for music creators. When you are trying to influence the music industry, you must understand the advantages and disadvantages of these sites. Thus, here are the pros and cons of SoundCloud and Bandcamp- 

SoundCloud

    • What are the pros of SoundCloud? 

    1. The exceptional interactive feature: 

When you are struggling to become a successful music artist, you need to learn that interaction with the audience is one of the most important things. On SoundCloud, you will be able to receive real-time comments and reply to them as well. As a music artist, if you reply to the comments of your listeners, you will be able to interact more easily. It is very important to interact with the audience. It helps to build a bond and eventually build a fanbase. This particular feature can lead you to build a community, which can help influence the music industry. Hence, it is an advantage of SoundCloud that can be really helpful for you. 

    2. Garner more audiences: 

SoundCloud is a massive platform where you will get the chance to reach out to millions of listeners in a hassle-free way. If you share your music on this platform, you will be able to cater to more number of audience in a much easier manner. Every music artist wishes to garner the largest audience base. If you also want to amuse more listeners with your music creations, then distributing your songs on this site will be extremely helpful. It can be a great platform to get the attention of more listeners. The more exposure you get, the easier it will be to get established in the music industry. 

    3. Social media inclusion: 

On SoundCloud, you will be able to add the links to your social media profiles. If you can implement the strategy of social media on SoundCloud, then you will be able to garner audiences from different platforms at the same time. Currently, as a struggling music artist, if you do not implement various strategies, then it will be extremely difficult to achieve success. And SoundCloud gives the opportunity to use social media platforms to garner a larger number of listeners. It is another perk of this music streaming platform, which helps one to grow at a large scale in a much effortless way. 

    4. Monetization: 

You can monetize your songs on SoundCloud, which can help you earn money from royalties. For this, all you need to do is get the Artist Pro Plan and accomplish the right steps to set up your account. If you can do this, then you will be able to earn money from SoundCloud in a hassle-free way. Thus, with the help of SoundCloud, an artist will not only gain attention on the streaming site but earn money as well. So, it can help one to achieve success in a much easier manner. 

    • What are the cons of SoundCloud? 

    1. Difficulties in reaching out to potential listeners:

SoundCloud is a massive music streaming site where a large number of artists are constantly trying to attain success in their careers. That is why this platform might feel a little overcrowded. When more artists are willing to grab the attention of the audiences, then reaching out to the target audiences becomes much difficult for everyone. The over-saturation is a great cause that is faced by most artists. It is something that can be a little problematic for you. 

    2. Discovery barriers: 

An artist will be able to achieve more success when they make it to the SoundCloud algorithm. However, getting into the algorithm of this platform is quite difficult. It is seen that new artists go through many difficulties at the time of getting discovered by existing listeners. The challenge on this platform is quite massive, and that is why it takes a lot of effort to gain fame on SoundCloud. 

    3. Difficult monetization requirements: 

To get monetization on this platform, an artist has to do various things. The monetization process is quite complicated on this music streaming site. An artist has to take a paid subscription on the platform to monetize their songs. And this might not be useful for all the artists. Thus, it is a barrier that is making things quite difficult for all the budding artists. 

Bandcamp

    • What are the pros of Bandcamp? 

    1. Dedicated fans: 

If you are a music artist and reach out to Bandcamp to share your music, then you will be able to find many dedicated fans. It is seen that on this streaming site, the listeners are much more supportive and dedicated, who are willing to pay for listening to your music and buying your merchandise. Thus, if you are a music maker and use Bandcamp as a distribution platform, then you will be able to accumulate more loyal listeners. 

    2. Seamless sales and monetization opportunity: 

Bandcamp is a platform that is meant for selling music, tickets, and merchandise. With the help of this platform, you will be able to reach out to potential listeners in a much easier manner. The effortless monetization tools make it easier for everyone to get the money without going through any hard procedures. Thus, artists will be able to take the benefits in a much easier manner. 

    3. Sell merchandise: 

Along with being a music-sharing platform, Bandcamp is also a site where you will get to sell your merchandise. Right now, it has come to see that artists can create a buzz among the audience with their merchandise. It helps to create a huge buzz among the audience within a brief time. Therefore, you do not have to reach out to two different sites to fulfill the requirements. So, it is an advantage that no other streaming sites provide. 

    4. Brilliant artist control facilities: 

With the help of Bandcamp, you will be able to have better control over your branding, pricing, and the relationship with your fans. On other sites, artists do not get the chance to have such facilities, which makes the whole process much difficult. But with the help of Bandcamp, you will be able to do all these in a much easier manner. You can get even better assistance with the help of its Pro features. Thus, it can be a great move for achieving better recognition. 

    • What are the cons of Bandcamp? 

    1. Massive competition: 

On Bandcamp, you might see a huge competition that is quite problematic. There are millions of artists who are working on the same goal. So, if you want to attain success, then you have to implement other useful marketing strategies. By doing so, you will be able to achieve a satisfying recognition. 

    2. Lesser social focus: 

Bandcamp is quite difficult compared to other music sites. Here, you will not get that many social features. This makes it quite difficult for the artists to get social recognition. The limited social network features make a great impact on the growth of an artist. Therefore, it is one of the biggest disadvantages of this company. 

Both SoundCloud and Bandcamp are useful in many ways for an artist. However, before sharing music, you must understand your purpose. If you are trying to reach out to a larger number of audiences, then SoundCloud would be a better choice for you, and if you are paying more attention to direct monetization, then Bandcamp will be the right one for you. So, you need to choose according to your requirement.