Why an Artist Loses Followers on SoundCloud?

SoundCloud is definitely one of the top influential music streaming platforms that introduced numerous talented music artists to the industry. The platform allows independent music artists to share their music with the world full of listeners and helps to create a successful career by monetizing their musical content. But maintaining consistency with constant growth is not easy on this competitive platform, as fellow music artists are also trying the same. A majority of SoundCloud music artists have this question: “Why do I lose followers on SoundCloud?” and it can discourage the creative flow of the artist.

While it can be a blow to your confidence as a music artist, a reduced follower count is not necessarily a signal of you not being a good artist, as it can happen for many reasons. Sometimes it can be technical issues, a lack of an effective marketing strategy, or something that is not related to the creative process or product of your music. If you are willing to improve your follower count on SoundCloud, you will need to find out the root causes. Let’s find out.

Common Reasons for Losing SoundCloud Followers

• Inactivity on SoundCloud

Your SoundCloud profile works like the digital presence of your musical brand. If you are inactive on the platform for too long, the listeners will stop engaging with your music, and eventually you will lose followers. The listeners follow music artists with the hope of listening to more tracks in the coming days, and if you are not providing anything new to them, they are more likely to unfollow you. Other than frequent music uploads, you should be active on the platform through reposting, commenting, liking, and other activities that keep your followers engaged.

• Over-promotion and Spam

Nobody likes spam in this digital landscape, and that goes for SoundCloud followers as well. If you are overusing reposts, filling your feed with a lot of advertisements, or sending repetitive promotional messages to the listeners, they might get frustrated and choose to unfollow you. Try to build your community in a positive and organic way instead of being annoying, as it can push away the followers. It is recommended to proceed with a balanced approach that includes both organic interaction and promotional methods.

• Sudden Change in Music

Independent music artists have the right and creativity to experiment with their musical creations. Many indie artists create genre-bending music that sometimes cannot be put under any particular musical style. But this might not work positively for your listeners. While creative experiments are always welcomed by the fans, a drastic change in genre can be difficult to accept for some listeners, as they started following you for your previous works in the first place, and they might be seeking similar projects in the same genre. You can be innovative in your own way, but drastic changes can push away some followers who came to your profile since their music taste matched with your creations.

• Lack of Online Engagement

It goes without saying that SoundCloud is not just an online music streaming platform but is also an active community of global music lovers. The listeners on the platform are quite active, and they actively show their fandom for their favorite artists. If you do not appreciate the support offered by your fans, ignore their comments or never reply to their messages; it is quite natural for them to feel that you do not care. Artists should not fail to acknowledge the feedback offered by their fans, as without fans, no artist can gain success in their career. Always try to foster more human connections rather than a one-way stream of content.

• Technical and Security Issues

SoundCloud is quite strict with its guidelines and user policies. The platform occasionally removes accounts that are inactive for too long, have bots, or are spammy. This can also lead to a massive reduction in follower count. There are diversified technical issues reported by the users, such as “Verification successful waiting,” where the profile gets stuck in the process of verification. Similarly, some complained about the Ray ID and security checks. There could be other technical issues with cache, login, and profile updates. These technical glitches can take place rarely, but it is not your fault. The platform also cleans up

• Not Meeting Expectations

‘Expectations hurt,’ and it hurts the most when an artist fails to meet the expectations of the fans. If you are building anticipation before the launch of your music and then fail to offer what you promised, your fans can lose trust in you. For example, if you claimed to offer free downloads or free merchandise before and then fail to offer that, a lot of followers might unfollow you for your false claims. Therefore, be the person of your word and always try to keep your promises for the fans who look forward to you.

• Platform Cleanup

Other than spammy artist profiles, SoundCloud can also have not-so-genuine listeners and bot accounts that spam the artists and the overall platform. When platform cleanup takes place, you can witness a sudden drop in the followers count if there were fake accounts. It is not always the artist’s fault, but the fraudulent promotional companies that utilize bot-generated plays and streams.

How to Troubleshoot Technical Issues on SoundCloud?

As mentioned before, it is not always about your creativity in your musical content, but also technical glitches that can reduce a hefty amount of followers from your SoundCloud profile. Let’s find out how to troubleshoot the tech issues.

• Cache and Browser – When your follower count does not appear consistent, you should clear your cache and refresh the page, because sometimes data can be stored in cache.

• Verification Error – If you are not receiving the verification mail for SoundCloud, check the spam folder or continue the process from a different browser to check it works.

• Ray ID and Security Block – The Ray ID appears when SoundCloud flags an issue or unusual activity. This can cause a security block, and you will not be allowed follow, comment, or repost. For this case, check your connection again, disable VPN, and try again later.

• Account Removal – If the user account is removed from the platform, there is nothing you can do.

• Bot and Spam – Try not buy promotional packages from any shady sites or cheap packages, as they can offer bot views, which will be removed soon in bulk. Try to invest your money and time in organic and genuine engagement.

Effective Strategies to Retain Followers on SoundCloud

Retaining your followers on SoundCloud takes much more than your musical talent. It requires smart promotion, consistency, community engagement, and organic activities to gain long-term growth with an improved number of followers without losing the existing ones. Here are some simple but effective strategies to help.

• Consistent Uploads – Fix a schedule and decide the maximum limit for staying inactive. Irregular music uploads are neither attractive nor predictable. Make a schedule and try to stick to it, as consistency can help bring more engagement.

• Community Interaction – Try to actively engage with your music community by replying to their comments, liking them, and also replying to their messages through DM. Tell them thanks for reposts, and it will show how much you care for your fans. When your community feels valued and appreciated, it will stay.

• Collaboration – Collaboration is the oldest trick that still works to engage more listeners. By working with other independent artists, you can tap into a new follower base and improve yours.

• Optimize Profile – As mentioned before, your SoundCloud profile creates a visual brand for your music, and it should reflect professionalism and authenticity. Make sure to add proper profile pictures, cover image, and cover art for the singles and albums, along with a clear artist bio. A clean, informative, and legit profile can retain more listeners as well as followers.

• Free Downloads – Offering free downloads can attract a lot of listeners, and it also attracts DJs to use your music for the mixes. You can post the remix and retain more listeners with new versions and creative angles.

• Cross Promotion – Cross promotion is one of the common marketing and promotional trends that is utilized in every industry. So do not just rely on SoundCloud, but also promote your music through other platforms. You can utilize social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, X, Spotify, and YouTube for improved exposure and more followers.

Final Thoughts  

Retention of the followers and listeners is definitely a crucial concern for most music artists in the modern era. But it is not easy to focus on everything when you have to look after your craft as well. It is recommended to hire a professional agency for music promotion that helps to improve your follower count while you focus on making your next music project.