SoundCloud Review

History

SoundCloud was originally set up in 2008 as an online audio distribution platform that enabled its users to upload, record, promote and share their originally-created sounds. Recently it has split its subscriptions into a ‘listener’ Go channel which targets users who want music streaming and downloading and its ‘creator’ Pro channel which follows its original focus allowing the uploading of content, downloads for fans and reporting of interest in downloads and streamed tracks. A DJ subscription plan has been added allowing DJs to mix sets both on and offline using SoundCloud’s complete catalogue.

SoundCloud claims 175 million users worldwide in its advertising rate card and recently announced its 200 millionth track upload. Web traffic statistics show some 31 million daily unique visitors with 104 million page views. Over 1 million websites from the smallest to the largest use SoundCloud to distribute their audio content. A recent example is Pandora’s ‘The Lookout by SoundCloud’ which features songs heard on the SiriusXM show of the same name.

In January 2020 SoundCloud received a significant investment from SiriusXM and in March 2021 the company launched a new payout model for artists called ‘fan powered royalties’. Artists income is directly related to the revenue that SoundCloud receives from listeners rather than allotting a certain portion of the total ‘pool’ of revenue earned by SoundCloud to each artist based on streams.

As a way for startup bands to distribute their content or for websites wanting to host audio content then SoundCloud is a worthy contender. It also contains a truly eclectic mix of music and provided the start for some of the biggest names around such as Billie Eilish, Post Malone and Bad Bunny. If your need is for high audio quality streaming of commercially available tracks then one of the other mainstream streamers such as Spotify, Apple Music etc would be a better option.

Services

Go Subscriptions

Streaming subscriptions for normal users

SoundCloud Free Free – Ad supported

Very Low Quality Streaming 64kbps Opus/Ogg Vorbis

SoundCloud Go £5.99/month 7 day free trial

Very Low Quality Streaming 64kbps Opus/Ogg Vorbis

SoundCloud Go+ £9.99/month 30 day free trial

Access to 30 million premium tracks

Standard Quality Streaming 256 kbps AAC (when the original has been uploaded in a lossless format)

SoundCloud Go+ for Students £4.99/month 30 day free trial

SoundCloud Go+ for Students is available to full-time students at an accredited college or university and full details can be found here. SoundCloud Go+ for Students has the same features and functionality as the full price Go+ subscription.

Standard Quality Streaming 256 kbps AAC (when the original has been uploaded in a lossless format)

Pro Subscriptions

Designed for artists, podcasters, or labels to share music and grow their audience.

SoundCloud Basic Free – Ad supported

Upload Quota – 3 hours with a maximum file size of 4Gb If your file exceeds these criteria you will have to split it into separate uploads.

Repost by SoundCloud $30/year

A full-service marketing and distribution engine allowing you to distribute unlimited tracks to all major music services like Spotify, Apple Music, Instagram and more.

SoundCloud Pro Unlimited £10 /month (billed monthly) or £7.50 / month billed annually 30 day free trial

Includes access to Repost by SoundCloud.

Get discounted access to SoundCloud Go+ for £4.99/month (normally £9.99)

Upload Quota – Unlimited

Unlimited downloads per track

SoundCloud DJ £19.99/month

DJ anywhere – even offline

Mix and save unlimited tracks for offline playback within select DJ apps

Availability

SoundCloud Go is available in Australia, the US and its territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas, Virgin Islands), UK and its territories (Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man), Ireland, France and its territories (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion), New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway.

Audio Quality

In October 2018 SoundCloud  reversed its trend of reducing streaming quality by upgrading its SoundCloud Go+ subscriptions with 256 kbps AAC streams when the original file has been uploaded in a lossless format such as WAV, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC or a high bitrate. All other subscriptions including the ad-supported free services are streamed in Very Low Quality 64kbps Opus/Ogg Vorbis.

Uploads in Pro subscriptions can be AIFF, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, Ogg, MP2, MP3, AAC, AMR, and WMA files with a maximum file size of 5GB (or a maximum of 6 hours 45 minutes). Downloads (where the uploader has allowed this) will be at the original quality of the uploaded files without any transcoding.

Content

150+ million tracks inc luding original tracks, DJ sets, remixes and more, from 20+ million emerging and established creators.

Music Discovery

The usual search, playlist and favourite functions are available. Listeners are able to follow artists or genres of music.

SoundCloud enables individuals, bands and small labels a very cost effective way to make their music available to a wide audience. Creators have a range of statistics available to them to monitor how many users have listened, liked and downloaded the tracks they have uploaded. As a result the content on SoundCloud encompasses an enormous range of material with new and experimental artists rubbing shoulders with more established names.

Features

SoundCloud is available on Web, iOS, Android, Sonos, AirPlay, Chromecast, and Xbox One.

The usual search and browse features such as tracks, playlists, people and groups are available.

Offline Playback is available via the ability to download playlists, albums and liked tracks.

Sharing tracks to social media is possible with Snapchat and Facebook joining Instagram in Autumn 2020.

DJs can access SoundCloud’s library to mix sets both on and offline using the following DJ apps:

• Pioneer DJ rekordbox and WeDJ
• VirtualDJ
• Serato DJ Pro and DJ Lite
• Algoriddim djay and djay Pro
• Native Instruments Traktor DJ 2
• edjing Mix and edjing Pro
• Denon DJ PRIME Series
• Mixvibes Cross DJ
• DEX3

SoundCloud can also be used for hosting podcasts.

There are also options in SoundCloud Pro to monetise plays on both SoundCloud and other music services.