SoundCloud: The Lifeline of Up-and-Coming Musical Artists
For many new up-and-coming musical artists SoundCloud is the first streaming plaform they release music on. Unlike premium streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music, artists on SoundCloud do not have to pay to upload their music on the streaming platform. This makes SoundCloud the ideal platform for up-and-coming artists who are either making music for their enjoyment and the enjoyment of others, or who are looking to gain a following of fans who would listen to their music on premium streaming services.
Benefits of SoundCloud for Artists
Since most artists do not make money off of the music they post on SoundCloud (unless they pay for premium) they do not have to own the rights to the lyrics or beats that they use. This allows for musicians to demonstrate their talent even if the work is not completely original. For many new artists they may not have access to someone who can create beats or write lyrics for them so they do covers of popular songs or take beats from popular songs and add their own lyrics. Doing this can help up-and-coming artists be noticed by new fans, other artists, music producers, and even record labels. In an interview with SoundCloud rapper RJ Hutch, he explains that he uses SoundCloud because “It’s a free service that allows you to get your music out to thousands listeners. I also really like it because listeners don’t need to have a subscription or the app like Spotify or Apple Music, all they need is access to internet and they can listen to any music on SoundCloud.”
In the blog, The biggest mistakes artists make on Soundcloud, by Budi Voogt he discusses the importance of liking, commenting on, and sharing other artists music. By engaging with other artists music you can get them to check out your page and hopefully gain some new followers. If someone comments on one of your songs be sure to take the time to comment back, fans love to interact with artists and the more you interact with your fans the more likely they are to share your music with friends and become regular listeners.
Benefits of Using SoundCloud as a Listener
Using SoundCloud as a listener allows you to explore and discover new artists based off of your previous listening history. The blog How Artists Find Success Through SoundCloud explains that SoundCloud’s listening algorithm finds similar artists to the one you are listening to after the song or album that you played ends. This helps discover new songs and artists who you may have never known existed. The blog also explains that SoundCloud does not restrict listeners to artists in their region. This allows for people all over the world to listen and connect with your music.
You can never have too much music in your library, and for listeners SoundCloud provides an endless supply of new music in all genres. In the article Three Reasons Why SoundCloud *Is* Helping Artist Careers… by Jeremie Varengo, explains how we live in an age where music is all around us. We listen to it at the gym, in the car, we hear it on t.v. and in video games. It seems wherever we turn music is surrounding us. SoundCloud also offers music that you can’t listen to anywhere else. Even well known artists like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar have music on SoundCloud that cannot be accessed on any other streaming platform.
SoundCloud provides great opportunities for both musicians and listeners. It provides a chance for people to be discovered all around the world and to find new artists. SoundCloud can be what takes an artist from having 10 fans to 10,000 fans; if your music has what it takes.
