How do you get your music noticed on Soundcloud?

With a music platform that has undergone monumental growth in recent years (31% more revenue between 2019 and 2020), Soundcloud is now a popular platform for artists and bands to promote their sounds and advance their musical careers.

The German music platform is a good way to make yourself known to a new audience, but also to strengthen your visibility and reputation with an existing audience.

But is it really that easy to make a name for yourself and promote your sounds on Soundcloud?

The Red Label Agency team reveals the best tips and tricks for getting your music known on Soundcloud.

Why should music artists use Soundcloud?

When we talk about sharing music, we immediately think of music platforms such as Spotify, Deezer or Soundcloud. Here we’re going to take a closer look at the latter, how it works and how it can help your music career take off.

Soundcloud is a platform created in 2008 that allows music artists to share their tracks and connect with their fans. It’s one of the most popular venues for DJs, producers and independent labels.

As you can see, it’s in your best interests to be present on Soundcloud, if you’re looking above all to give visibility to your albums and videos.

Soundcloud makes it easy for artists to publish their tracks. You can upload audio files directly to the platform or use one of the many creative tools available.

Soundcloud also allows artists to connect directly with their fans. Users can follow their favourite artists, leave comments on their latest sounds and even interact with them.

This enables artists to build up a real community, or at least build up an existing fan base around their music.

Another advantage of using Soundcloud is that it gives the artist or group international exposure. The platform has over 175 million users worldwide, including 20 million active users, so artists can reach a much wider audience. What’s more, if you’re looking for international recognition, you can target specific countries using the promotional tools available.

Finally, if your primary objective is to be visible to your target audience and on as many music platforms as possible, Soundcloud is an essential tool for promoting your music.

Our 9 tips for promoting your music on Soundcloud

Registering and starting to publish your music on Soundcloud is all well and good, but you still need to know how to go about it in order to be recognised and appreciated by listeners. Here are our 9 tips to help you stand out from the crowd and get your productions noticed on Soundcloud

Look after your profile

Taking care of your profile is the basis for a professional image in the eyes of your target audience.

In fact, your profile should reflect your personality and the image you want to project.

Whether you’re a freelance musician or a group of passionate artists, your profile should give an overview of your world and your musical style in just a few seconds.

To do this, you need to optimise your profile photo and banner. Make sure your profile photo and banner match your brand image. You have several options:

you can, for example, match your profile image to your banner in a way that is consistent with your world
you can showcase your latest releases (albums, clips) prominently on your banner

In any case, Soundcloud is a platform that favours listening to tracks, which means that it will always be your tracks that are highlighted in relation to the rest of your profile.

After all, that’s what you’re after, isn’t it?

You can also take the opportunity to write a mini-biography of 50 to 200 words to present yourself, your world and your music in an original way.

Include your community in your story

An unusual way of building fan loyalty is to include your fans in the creative process.

In Soundcloud, users can comment on the audio track in relation to a specific passage.

Based on this principle, you need to motivate your listeners to get involved in your music and your melodies, starting by placing comments on your track yourself.

How do you integrate this naturally?

For example, when certain passages of your music are played, you may be asked to comment by asking the user what they think or if they have any recommendations.

Is the mix OK?
Is the bass level balanced?

The advantage of Soundcloud is that your listeners can be more involved in your music. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by, and make sure you multiply the opportunities for interaction with your audience.

Use the right tags and insert the right metadata

Tags are keywords that make it easier for Internet users to find your music. You therefore need to choose tags that describe your music well and that are likely to be searched for by Internet users.

Try to test the waters a little by looking at musicians, singers or groups who compose music similar to your own. What tags have these musicians chosen?

We advise you to choose tags that correspond to your musical style and that are typed in by your target audience, or at least by an audience that is potentially interested in your sounds.

Add the option of making donations

What happens when you mix musical talent with marketing?

Answer: we generate revenue.

In your case, you may have to sell your sounds on third-party platforms or simply encourage your audience to send you donations in order to pay you.

On Soundcloud, you can add a “buy” link by clicking on the metadata tab when you upload your sound to the platform.

If you have the next pro package, you can change the title of the purchase link.

Instead, encourage your audience to make a donation to you by changing the title from “buy” to “donate” or “support”.

As well as effectively promoting your music on Soundcloud, this will enable you to earn a minimum fee.

You’d be surprised how many users will support your music and your talent.

Upgrade to Soundcloud Next Pro

Speaking of the Next pro package, this is available at a charge of €8.25 per month.

So it’s up to you to decide whether you’re happy with the benefits.

These benefits include

you can customise your interface, your titles and your music even more
you can add an unlimited number of songs to your account
you have access to the functionality to rename the “buy” button as explained above
one undeniable advantage of the next Pro offer is that you have access to your complete statistics on the platform

Needless to say, as a musical artist or band, these statistics are very important in enabling you to see the evolution of your audience and the impact that a particular song is having with your key listeners.

Even if this aspect holds back a lot of budding artists, performance tracking is all about numbers and you need to learn how to read and decipher them.

Be regular

A classic point, but one so important that it needs to be stressed here: be regular!

The more regularly you share tracks on your various accounts (particularly your Soundcloud profile), the more you’ll build up a loyal and growing audience.

Regularity is the key to your musical success.

To break into this ultra-competitive sector, don’t forget that today’s attention economy is overstretched, especially in the field of music.

Although it’s hard to break through these days, especially in certain musical styles, do your best to increase the number of interactions with your audience and stay regular.

Create attractive visuals

Even though it is a music platform, Soundcloud also plays heavily on visuals. When you release new albums or new songs, make sure you put forward an image, a cover that is visually representative of your world. It also has to catch the eye and make people want to listen to the music.

Create a beautiful cover for your song. You can, for example, use a photo or illustration that represents your music well, whether in a direct way showing your band or in a more metaphorical way depending on your imagination and your creation. Take a look at some of the artists’ posters we have produced:

It’s not always easy to create an elegant, original cover, especially when it’s not your core business.

That’s why, at Red Label Agency, we’ve set up a dedicated service for artists looking to delegate and supervise the creation of the cover art for their tracks. If you are interested, click on the button below 👇

Find partners and make featurings

So far, we’ve talked about ways of promoting your music on Soundcloud that only concern you and your audience.

There’s another way of getting your music known on Soundcloud: by organising featurings with another artist or other groups in the same musical style as you.

Setting up partnerships with budding artists or larger groups will enable you to reach a wider community, and perhaps a new audience.

This is the way to grow your fanbase, which is undoubtedly your main objective for your music career.

Don’t hesitate to look at the artists who are doing well on Soundcloud or other platforms, so that you can offer partnerships with many different players.

Don’t hesitate to look at artists who are doing well on Soundcloud or other platforms, so that you can propose partnerships with many different players.

This step may seem rather long to put in place and takes you out of your comfort zone, but it’s undoubtedly one of the best ways of rapidly growing your audience.

Another very interesting thing about Soundcloud is that it is as much a music platform as it is a social one. This gives you the opportunity to share other artists’ tracks and songs with your community, which can lead to a good exchange of favours later on.

This kind of trivial exchange is too often underestimated, even though it can bring you new listeners.

Interact with your community

One of Soundcloud’s strong points is its very active community. Think of the platform as a social network too: focus on interaction with your audience

To do this, be on the lookout for every opportunity to communicate with your audience, and that starts with their reaction to your music.

As soon as a user leaves a comment, don’t hesitate to reply to show your interest.

As well as raising your profile on Soundcloud, this will help you build a loyal audience and strengthen your core following.

As you can see, it’s perfectly possible to promote your music on Soundcloud, but you need to know how to go about it and be regular.

Much has been said about the relationship between the artist and his community (rather than the search for a new audience), but this is the most important point.

Soundcloud is not necessarily the best way to find new listeners. On the other hand, by mastering the platform you will be able to grow your fanbase and, above all, retain your existing fans.

As your musical career progresses, you’ll be making sounds that will be appreciated to varying degrees by your followers and listeners. Pay close attention to feedback and results.

Don’t forget that, in the end, it’s not your audience that needs to grow with you, but you who need to grow with your audience.

By following these few tips, you should be able to get your music better known on Soundcloud.

Promoting your sounds on Soundcloud: pros and cons

On the one hand, Soundcloud offers an ideal platform for showcasing your music. You can easily broadcast your sounds to a wide audience and you can also come into direct contact with professionals in the music world, which can be a considerable asset for your career.

But Soundcloud also has its drawbacks. Mais Soundcloud a aussi ses inconvénients. There’s also a paying aspect to Next Pro that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Finally, it’s important to stress that mastering Soundcloud doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, and you’ll need to work hard to establish yourself on the platform.

So before making any decisions, it’s important to weigh up the pros and cons carefully. Soundcloud can help you in your musical career, so you should publish your sounds there, even if you don’t dwell on the various tips mentioned.

But that’s not the only place to publish your music. The best way to be visible to your target audience is still to be present where they are: on the various music platforms such as Spotify and Deezer, but also on the various social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

To boost your results and reach your target audience quickly, there’s another option: using YouTube advertising.

It’s not a question of buying fake views, as we often hear from fraudulent players in the industry, but of sponsored appearances in users’ video feeds.

Given that YouTube is now the most popular platform for listening to music, it’s worth boosting your visibility on this platform.

With Red Label agency, you can easily create your adverts by delegating the technical side and the production of your advertising videos to us.

👉 For our part, we make sure your advertising clip is shown to your target audience, who are most likely to become followers.

👉 For your part, you have access to data and statistics on the results achieved, the number of Internet users reached and the various indicators that enable you to assess the impact of your clips.

If you are interested in finding out more, you can contact a member of the Red Label Annecy team or consult our offers directly by clicking on the button below.

To recap, it’s perfectly possible to get your music known on Soundcloud, but you’ll need :

of the discipline
regularity
implement a differentiation strategy in a competitive market
raise your profile through partnerships and featurings
and, of course, continue to create high-quality sounds and music that will appeal to your audience.

FAQ - Promoting your music on Soundcloud

How can I promote my music on Soundcloud?

There are various ways of getting your music known on Soundcloud. For example, you can use Soundcloud’s promotional tools, such as stories or sponsored posts. For example, you can use Soundcloud’s promotional tools, such as stories or sponsored posts.

Are there any tips for promoting your music on Soundcloud?

Yes, there are a few tips for promoting your music on Soundcloud. For example, you can use hashtags to make your music more visible, or share links to your songs on other platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. You can also create playlists on Soundcloud and share them with your friends or on social networks.

How do I know if my music is properly referenced on Soundcloud?

What should I do if I can't promote my music on Soundcloud?

Don’t despair! There are many ways of getting your music known, and it’s not always easy to find the right strategy. Try different techniques and see what works best for you. You can also ask professionals to help you promote your music, like Red Label Agency, who can help you improve your visibility using YouTube Ads.

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