How to Promote Your Music on SoundCloud: The 8 Tips
SoundCloud boasts a reputation as a platform for launching careers and connecting with your initial audience. Nevertheless, amid the staggering 20 million music creators on the platform, breaking through the noise and reaching your target audience remains a formidable challenge.
Merely uploading your music to SoundCloud and hoping for the best is not a viable strategy. Instead, you require a comprehensive, cross-platform approach that leverages the analytical, distribution, and marketing tools available to maximize the platform’s strengths.
But what precisely are these tools? What steps can you take to boost your visibility on SoundCloud plays? We’ve crafted this guide to provide you with a comprehensive strategy for getting started.
Learn all the tips and tricks of SoundCloud promotion to elevate your presence on the platform.
How to Promote Your Music on SoundCloud
Why SoundCloud Matters
Absolutely! SoundCloud ranks among the largest music distribution platforms globally. Offering free music access and an easy direct upload system, SoundCloud serves as a haven for DIY and unconventional music.
While mainstream acts can be found on the platform, numerous artists first gained notoriety and recognition on SoundCloud, especially in genres like electronic and rap.
Artists like XXXTENTACION, Lil Pump, and Lil Uzi Vert, who have topped the Billboard charts, began by going viral on SoundCloud. SoundCloud has even spawned its own recognized genre, SoundCloud rap. To further illustrate its importance, consider these quick statistics:
Why SoundCloud Is Important:
- 175 million users, including 76 million monthly users (more than Pandora but less than Spotify)
- A vast catalog of 180 million tracks, with 12 hours of new content uploaded every minute
- A thriving community of 20 million music creators, with 1.2 million creators featured in playlists
Given its extensive reach and established community, SoundCloud is an indispensable component of any musician’s marketing strategy.
Tips for Promoting Music on SoundCloud
1. Sync Up Your Social Media
A cohesive and coordinated social media strategy enhances your music’s performance on SoundCloud.
Building an audience across different platforms has a spillover effect: by uploading music to SoundCloud, sharing videos on YouTube, developing a visual brand on Instagram, and engaging with fans on Twitter, you can attract more listeners. Each follower you gain on one platform is more likely to follow you on others.
YouTube
Sharing your music on YouTube exposes you to new audiences, and it doesn’t necessarily require a music video. Even uploading your music with a static image can yield results. Maintaining a presence on the platform is crucial, and music video releases should be part of your marketing mix as your profile grows.
Twitter was once a significant platform for SoundCloud rappers. It enables two-way communication with your fans. Be engaging, unique, and approachable, and you might witness retweets from your followers sooner than you expect. To connect with your SoundCloud profile, share 30-second embeds of your new tracks.
Instagram plays a vital role in establishing your brand and allowing fans to associate a face with your name. Instagram Stories and Instagram Live are ideal for sharing your new songs with your followers and directing traffic to your SoundCloud page.
2. Check Out Your Demographics
Analytical tools provided by SoundCloud offer valuable insights into your audience’s demographics. Understanding your listeners better helps optimize your marketing campaigns and advertising efforts.
3. Collaborate
Collaboration is a driving force in the music industry. Partnering with other artists, whether through features or beat-sharing, introduces new audiences to your music.
4. Remix Fellow Artists
Remixing songs is a form of collaboration and interaction with other artists and their fanbases. Adding your unique touch to popular songs exposes your style to new audiences and can connect you with new fans.
5. Interact with Others
Regularly engaging with fans and other artists on SoundCloud helps establish your presence on the platform and exposes you to new listeners. Reposting, following, commenting, messaging, and participating in groups can be beneficial. However, remain selective and interact with content and people you genuinely appreciate.
6. Fix Your SoundCloud Settings
Adjusting your SoundCloud settings can boost listenership or redirect traffic to other platforms like Spotify. Setting content to stream-only limits music virality but can increase stream counts. Putting some content behind a paywall encourages fans to explore other platforms. However, not all SoundCloud followers will migrate to Spotify or similar platforms.
7. Optimize Your SoundCloud and Google SEO
Effective branding and marketing require clear identification of your music and easy discovery across multiple platforms. Ensure your music is easily searchable by using descriptive titles and tags. Renaming yourself on SoundCloud and Google can improve discoverability. Employ tags when uploading your music.
8. Go Pro
SoundCloud Pro offers valuable tools for revenue generation, marketing strategy enhancement, and music distribution. If you’re committed to SoundCloud, a Pro subscription provides access to enhanced analytics, content monetization, and distribution to major platforms.
How to Determine If It’s Working
SoundCloud is just one facet of an artist’s presence. To gain a complete perspective, you should monitor various platforms and media. Tools like Soundcharts aggregate data from across the music industry, providing a 360° view of your career. This transforms raw data into actionable, real-time insights.
Conclusion
Some of these steps, such as adjusting SoundCloud settings, are straightforward. Others, like collaborating with fellow artists, require outreach and hard work. With 12 hours of music uploaded to SoundCloud every minute, distinguishing yourself demands effort.
Ultimately, your music’s quality is paramount, but the tips and tricks mentioned above can significantly boost your SoundCloud profile.
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