SoundCloud’s 4 new updates to get small artists heard
SoundCloud are revving up for their biggest year of artist opportunities ever with another month of exciting new content.
SoundCloud are pushing a new generation for getting artists heard on their platform. They’ve been serving an open platform for artists of all sizes to share their music for years, but now they’re ensuring those artists can grow once they’ve uploaded.
This year we’ve seen SoundCloud emphasise the importance of initial listens for a track. Too many tracks go unheard, never having the chance to grab listeners’ attention and grow. SoundCloud’s First Fans is fixing that, ensuring their Next Pro artists find their first 100 listeners and using AI to reach the most likely fans.
SoundCloud aren’t slowing down in their efforts to get every artist heard and another month passing sees more new launches from the music website. Let’s take a look at what SoundCloud has done in July to get artists more exposure.
New Buzzing playlists get traction for more genres of artist
Earlier this year, SoundCloud launched their Buzzing playlists. These are genre-based playlists for smaller artists whose tracks are on the rise. They help to push them to lovers of that genre to get discovered and gain more traction.
Now, SoundCloud have added three new genres to their list of Buzzing playlists. Indie, Rock, and Metal join the group to help artists in those genres to get discovered once their tracks have started to make moves with their first listens.
Buzzing playlists work cohesively with First Fans. First Fans ensure that every track has a chance to start gaining traction with its first listens, and if they do well then the artist can gain more exposure through Buzzing playlists.
SoundCloud say that since starting their fight against the “Zero-Plays Problem”, they have analysed and recommended more than 4.8 million tracks. First Fans and Buzzing features are available to Next Pro subscribers.
SoundCloud takes your First Fans mobile
First Fans is now available on iOS, allowing artists to boost their tracks wherever they are. From the SoundCloud app, Next Pro artists can now select First Fans on their new upload to reach their first listeners.
SoundCloud say: “When you upload a track, you’ll be instantly prompted to opt in to our First Fans algorithm, which will analyse and showcase your music to a minimum of 100 genuine listeners who enjoy similar music.”
Connect fans with your concerts through SoundCloud
SoundCloud have teamed up with Resident Advisor to promote artists’ shows. Artists can now display their next 3 upcoming shows, events, and concerts from Resident Advisor on their SoundCloud profile.
Fans can click through from an artist’s SoundCloud profile to buy tickets directly from the page. Artists can easily display their events by linking their Resident Advisor account to their SoundCloud profile.
SoundCloud say: “We believe this integration will strengthen artists’ connection with their audience by making event discovery more visible and accessible than ever.”
Your chance to perform live with Kaskade and win big
SoundCloud are offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for artists in a new competition. They’ve teamed up with AI music generator Soundful for an innovative songwriting competition with world-renowned DJ and music producer Kaskade.
The winner will have their track completed and released by Kaskade, perform live with him, get a two-year Soundful Pro plan, one-year of SoundCloud Next Pro, $1,000 in cash, and up to $1,000 for travel expenses.
There’s even a second prize for a one-year Soundful Pro plan, a release on Kaskade’s label Arkade, and a $500 cash prize.
Contestants can use AI to generate tracks in Kaskade’s style and must then customise it to make it their own. The best will be selected as the winners of this competition.
Hopefuls can create a track from Kaskade’s Collab style at Soundful.com. All submissions must be made via SoundCloud by August 12th here.
