Wednesday 26 February 2014

The Rise Of SoundCloud

SoundCloud has fantastic UI experience, for example, when it comes to the visualization, you can comment on a single note.

There are now over 40 million users on SoundCloud, who are using this platform to create and promote the sounds online.

There is a strong base of DJs and electronic music but it's also being used by universities for releasing lectures, radio shows, comedy and even reviews.

It's very easy to use SoundCloud. You can start within minutes by signing up for a free account. You are then introduced to a 'dashboard' which alerts all the activities like incoming tracks, followers, comments and new followings for example.

Most audio file formats are accepted. You can make the file private or public and you can also send it to your contacts via email. It's also great for music collaborations because you can give your fellow band members a secret link to use when developing an un-mastered track.



When you sign up to SoundCloud, you can also personalise statistics and make customisations.

By paying for a Pro account you can remove the limits of how much you can upload. With the Pro account, you get many more features like Quiet mode for example where you can hide comments. It’s a great platform for self-promotion.

A lot of people are moving from Youtube to SoundCloud to listen to music. So if you're promoting your music, it's important to keep this in mind. Users also like to jump from Twitter to Facebook to Youtube.

When people go to SoundCloud, they want to listen to a track whereas on Youtube only 20% of the visitors are listening to music. Most of them are there to watch random stuff. If you're a musician, the traffic is much more targeted as well than it is on Youtube.

Once you are part of the SoundCloud community, friends on SoundCloud will help promote your music. Actually, this was the original purpose behind soundCloud. This is one of the ways to increase SoundCloud plays. A way you can do this is to show genuine interest and add value to the community. For example, you can ask them how they made their music or repost their songs. Find ways to help them out. The investment will pay off if you invest in this approach.

SoundCloud is set to keep growing at a rapid pace so it's smart to hop on board before it really explodes.