[Cawproductions]

Hi all,
I frickin lothe Soundcloud...IMHO its a lot of people adding generic comments, even seen reported that these guys with thousands of followers and comments that have been bought are nothing else but AI bots just adding generic musical one liners.

Ok so is there anyone here that could convince me that having to pay for soundcloud would be worth the benefits which i think are very minimal.

Any thoughts?

[cowparsleyman]

@Cawproductions - what do you recommend? If you loathe it why are you considering it?

[pompeyjazz]

For me the benefits are that I can upload an unlimited number of tracks and update songs when there is a new version. Also I can make them downloadable which is really useful when working on collaborations and allows me to listen to work in progress in an easy way. Plus, yeah of course there is the AI bot stuff but I think Soundcloud is a genuinely friendly community and I've met some great people on there. Apart from that I think its s**t 

[Cawproductions]

Hi all,

Thanks for the input, wasnt considering upgrading but our free account has reached its limits so just got me thinking, also wondered why others had gone Pro.

Cheers
Andy

[MichaelA]

@Cawproductions, you probably don't like it that people don't pay to listen to your tracks. Soundcloud nearly went bust a while back. So why wouldn't you pay a small amount yourself to keep them going if that is the primary platform on which you share your music? Why do you think you are entitled to use it for free, when their advertising income stream is insignificant? They don't make any money out of you that's a fact, but they do need money to continue.

Benefits are as @pompeyjazz says. I like the stats function, plus the ability to repost a track without losing likes and comments is nice. Plus the ability to spotlight your current fave tracks is worth the subscription in itself.

All the spam, well that's the internet in 2020. If more musicians paid Soundcloud they'd be able to afford a bigger team to sort that out. Basically, you get what you pay for.

[cowparsleyman]

@Cawproductions - you also get access to all the songs, such as bowie, mc cartney etc. There are some fantastic albums being released that i never heard of by bowie in particular, brilliant remixes, original demos etc.

As @MichaelA says the replace feature is great, along with monetisation, repost, distribution, soundbetter and now mastering beta... i can live with the spam.

All in all it does a lot for 30 p a day.

I also use DistroKid for distribution but I’m now considering SC

Worth a punt ...

[CaliaMoko]

People don't pay for music as much these days, it seems. And when they do, it's the same as it's always been: they pay for music they've heard many times already and know they love. One thing I like about SoundCloud is that it is one way for people to hear my music so they can decide if they like it enough to buy it. When I have a new album, I make a playlist in SoundCloud with the same songs and the same name as the album. Then when I promote the album, I always point out it is possible to listen to the album as much as desired and provide the link to the album on SoundCloud. I also provide the link to the album on BandCamp, too, of course, in case they decide to buy it.

[Cawproductions]

Hi all,

Thanks for comments and thoughts on SC, Its not that we want anyone to pay to listen, in fact, our website and other websites offer our tracks to listen, completely free and without annoying adverts. I just dont understand how you can repost a completely different mix and track in the same place that everyone has been commenting on, or why you would want to.

Reverbnation and Bandcamp still offers Ad free listening, Are SC becoming greedy?
Also, most people listen to music via streaming services on some sort mobile device, usually, new stuff from a followed link.
I noticed that if the link is clicked and the user does not have the SC app loaded, the user gets asked to install the app, therefore, probably ditching the whole idea before they hear the track. This is the reason why we ditched SC as a main source of distribution.

Anyway, dont beat me up over this, just my thoughts, great to hear others.
Cheers
Andy

[CharlieSmith]

I tried it for a month for free but then took the gamble and invested for a year  It take 3 months to get your revune so I'm yet to see if its actually worth it in that sense. However I have pretty much easily managed to actually get my stuff on spotify, deezer etc. Other sites I have tried have rejected me or just not worked.

If you want more genuine follows and engagement you really have to talk to people. Find people from here and search up some music. You be surprised for example how many people I check out. With pro I can see who is listening to my music and I tend to check them out. Out of genie interest haha.

But like comments and repost track you like is the best way to grow I feel. It will take you loads and loads of time though.

[MrBouzouki]

I've recently upgraded to SoundCloud Pro from the Free version.

The distribution mechanism intrigued me as it's attached to a platform I understand and it seems relatively painless.
Soon I will have my first ever instrumental distributed without too much pain.

The improved stats compared to Free are interesting

I like the idea of not having to limit the number of tracks you can upload. 

I like the idea of supporting the platform... giving something back I guess.

Whilst SoundCloud isn't perfect, I did like the idea of Groups for example, it's allowed me to make creative links with people who have become musical friends and confidants whilst engaging in my hobby. I regularly chat with some people who I would otherwise never have known and I feel richer for it.

If you are in the 'business' of making a living out of music there may be better ways to connect but for people like me who do it for the joy of creating stuff then I think it's well worth the investment to keep it up and running.

[CharlieSmith]

Just an update I thought I would add to this thread. I got my first months revenue back from SoundCloud. I received $17 cents lol. Soundcloud listens pay absolutely terribly you need 80k plays just to break even really which I doubt anyone who does it part time will get and thats just to break even .

My plays have been amazing some weeks where I remember i was getting 300-400 a week. But now I'm slumping at just over 100. It kind of bad I invested for a year and now I have to put a ton of effort just to break even.

Its not so bad that aren't spinning a massive profit but it has to be sustainable you know. Loving all the features like tons of space to download and scheduled releases. If they just paid you better could be a really viable option.