Think of SoundCloud as an open stage and online community where listeners can enjoy tracks and musicians and indie artists can submit and promote their music with the help of various tools and features. Here are 10 practical suggestions to double your play count and build the reputation you deserve.
- Set a profile that stands out
Your page should be consistent with your other online accounts. You can create a banner for your account that adheres to your unique colour scheme or style. Listeners should recognize you even before they ever press play, so make sure all of your links are live and include a photo or cover image.
- Don’t be afraid to share
There are situations when you may not be completely sure if your song is ready for release. In this case, share an unfinished version or a demo to let audiences in on the backstage of your creative workshop, even share with them the rough parts of the process. You can always set a track to private later if you decide it’s not up to expectations.
You can take advantage of SoundCloud’s option that lets fans leave comments on your waveform. Talk about your song and comment on particular parts: “I’m not sure if this is where the drums should sound. What are your thoughts?”. In the “Permissions” page, you may always disable comments or restrict them to just you.
- Use Play Boosting Platforms
Tracks on SoundCloud are ranked by the total number of plays and frequency of plays. When you buy SoundCloud plays, your music’s exposure is boosted by algorithms, which begin to show your tracks in more searches.
- Follow the principle “the more, the better”
Each track on the platform has a unique URL — it can be published on social networks, websites, and blogs. It can help independent artists distribute new music, connect with a publisher or producer. SoundCloud also gives valuable statistics and feedback from listeners, has a feature to post your tracks in thematic groups, or share in various social media accounts.
- Saves matter
One of the key indicators for the algorithm is the metric of tracks saved to the listeners’ playlists. The more users save your track, the higher the probability of its promotion. Remind fans to save your work and interact with it.
- Be constant with your schedule
Regular uploads keep your art relevant to the algorithm. To maintain interest, release singles or EPs even if you are not yet ready to launch an album.
Speaking of regularity, spend as much time as you need to be proud of the work you have released. Look at how many days or months it takes. If you are able to release interesting tracks every 2 weeks or once a month, then you can continue in this rhythm, but do not forget to feed the interest of fans with cool posts and photos. If you lack something more global, then start taking breaks between track releases.
- Verification
The blue check mark next to the artist’s name does not directly affect the algorithm, but it increases your authority. More people will be interested in your work as a result.
- Play around different styles and collaborate with other artists
Even after becoming famous, musicians continue to use the platform as a platform for experiments: they post unpublished tracks, freestyle, demos and snippets. As a rule, rappers and authors of electronic music use this. The platform has soft moderation: you can upload covers and remixes that will attract attention to original works. You can also look for partners for cooperation on SoundCloud – for example, beatmakers and remix artists.
- Vertical Content
Each artist has a chance to start a trend on TikTok with their track. Of course, there is no way without trial and error, since any advertising is about testing and a cumulative effect. But at the moment, this social network is the main springboard for artists of any level.
If your track is picked up by the audience on TikTok, this will be a powerful boost for the growth of your audience on all streaming services.
You can also pay attention to regular vertical content engagement in social networks such as YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, which remain equally effective tools. It is important to understand that this is absolutely free, and the views you get at the start give you an idea of how much your content engages the audience.
By analyzing engagement indicators, you can experiment with content in order to increase the reach of your videos in the future. Do not forget that maintaining such content does not give an immediate result, as this is a story about the cumulative effect.
- Apply SEO techniques
When posting a new track, be sure to fill out all the information fields. During the upload or update process, select the “Metadata” tab and enter information such as the artist’s name, songwriters, and label. Choose the tags, so that your fans do not miss your new music. Selecting the right tags can occasionally be hard, so try to play with a variety of them, after spending some time reviewing your metrics to determine which ones work best for you. But make sure the tags are concise and pertinent.
Using social media analytics on a regular basis enables you to monitor the success of your tactics and modify them in response to the shifting tastes and interests of your audience. You will notice a change if you monitor your analytics and use these tactics into your marketing strategy.
