SoundCloud has been behind many prominent musicians’ early careers. Since its inception in 2007, the platform has gradually expanded its reach and influence. The fact that it is the starting point for many music aspirants also means that it’s hard to get more plays on your music because of the competition. So, how to get more plays on SoundCloud?
To get more plays on SoundCloud, you need to apply different strategies such as creating better music content, sharing your work, attractive album art, email marketing, correct tagging of your music, and more. This article explains all these strategies in detail. Please read the article body for a better understanding.
SoundCloud is a popular platform among music lovers too. The combination of creators and audiences on the same platform is what makes SoundCloud an attractive tool for aspiring artists and musicians. To understand how you can get more plays on SoundCloud, you must first understand how the platform works. Getting more plays on SoundCloud is also not enough, so this article also explains how you can monetize your plays on the platform.
How Does SoundCloud Work?
SoundCloud is a very simple platform that is accompanied by a greatly designed app whose UI is universally understandable.
The sole purpose of the platform is to give a place for music lovers to listen to the music created by new and starting artists and musicians.
The mobile application of SoundCloud and its web version are free to use for anyone from anywhere in the world. The company’s business model is based on the ‘Freemium’ model where the basic services are free to use and additional features require you to pay for it. This is a common practice among companies that they provide free services and let customers pay for more premium features.
Any person is free to upload their music for up to 3 hours with a free account. If they want to upload content for more than 3 hours, they have to upgrade to the premium package of SoundCloud.
SoundCloud Pricing
The platform has subscriptions separately for both creators and listeners. Creators can have either Pro Unlimited for 144/year or Repost by SoundCloud for 30/year.
The Pro Unlimited gives creators various features like unlimited uploads and deep insights into their performance on the platform.
The Repost By SoundCloud is a distribution system that helps creators to distribute their content on several other platforms and make money out of it.
Similarly, Audiences who like to listen to music can go for SoundCloud Go and Go+ packages.
SoundCloud Go gives them ad-free listening experiences and also the option to download and listen to music offline. Whereas, SoundCloud Go+ includes all the features of SoundCloud Go and some other features like access to the full catalog to SoundCloud, high-quality audio, and DJ tools integration.
All creators of SoundCloud can monetize their content through a SoundCloud Program called SoundCloud Premier. To be eligible for this program, one needs to be above 18 years and should have 500+ streams in the previous month from SoundCloud monetizable countries.
Once the creator is qualified and has been accepted into the program, the creator can earn from $0.0025 to $0.004 per stream. This makes $2500 to $4000 per million streams.
SoundCloud also lets creators put buy links on their content so that they can make more money by selling the music to their audiences on other platforms such as Spotify and Apple music.
What Are SoundCloud Plays?
SoundCloud lets all its users submit music on its platform. Users can also upload their podcasts on the platform for their audience to listen to. So, every time any audience plays any of your content on the platform, it will be counted as plays.
SoundCloud Plays is the number of times people have played your music or content on the platform.
Also Read: How To Verify Your SoundCloud Account?
Upload On SoundCloud The Correct way
Correctly uploading on SoundCloud optimizes the content for the system and helps you get more plays on SoundCloud. Placement of correct titles, album covers, and tags is as important as creating music on the platform.
Correctly optimized content can be picked up by the system easily and hence, gets promoted easily which results in your content reaching its intended audience and getting more plays.
To Upload Your Content correctly On SoundCloud, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Open SoundCloud App
Open the SoundCloud app on your device and log into your account if you haven’t already.
It is always better to subscribe to the SoundCloud Pro or SoundCloud Pro Unlimited package. It will give you more functionalities such as high-quality sound upload, unlimited upload, and better insights.
Step 2: Click The Upload Button On The Top Right Corner
On the home screen of the SoundCloud app, you can click the upload button in the top-right corner of the screen. The button is represented by an upward-facing arrow.
Step 3: Select The Track
Next, the app will open your gallery or files manager. You can now select the track that you set to upload. Make sure you are uploading the correct file with the correct filename.
Step 4: Add Title, Descriptions, And Tags
After you click done, the app will upload the file and let you add the title, descriptions, and tags for the track. Add those details correctly. Also never forget to add the album art to the top section.
Step 5: Click Save
Next, click save to save the upload onto your profile.
Step 6: Wait For The Upload
Finally, the app will start uploading the track onto the SoundCloud server. Wait for the upload and it will show it in your uploads section.
After you upload your content on the platform, you can start applying strategies on how to get more plays on SoundCloud. These strategies may vary depending on your audience and the genre of music content you make.
It is vital to first identify what your audience type is and how you can maximally make music those audiences like.
The following strategies are identified to help you get more plays on SoundCloud and hence monetize your content to an extreme extent.
Also Read: Why Is SoundCloud Not Working?
Get More Plays On SoundCloud – 7 Strategies For 2022
If you are a creator of SoundCloud, it is a must that you understand how the platform functions and how you can reach maximum audiences with your content. It is always important to first make a strategy on how you will promote your content and reach more audiences to get more plays on SoundCloud.
SoundCloud has been a kickstart platform for many prominent music creators from its inception. It is a platform strictly for music creators and music producers and creators. So, if you have good music and have a solid strategy on how you will promote the content on the platform, it may not be very hard for you to get more plays on SoundCloud.
The following points are identified that can help you create a strategy for promoting your content to get more plays on SoundCloud.
Better Content To Get More Plays On SoundCloud
As it is said ‘Content is King’, it is always the first thing that determines how you will perform on any platform. So, if you have great music content, it may not be hard for you to get a huge number of plays on SoundCloud.
Since SoundCloud is a music platform, it is very important to create good music first. You can also take feedback from your friends and families first to make sure you are uploading the best you got on SoundCloud.
After you are sure that the music is the best you can produce, then only you can proceed to upload the music on the platform.
Use Comment To Tell Story To Get More Plays On SoundCloud
This is one of the features that distinguishes SoundCloud from other platforms. In SoundCloud, you can tag your comments within the timeline. This can help you tell a story of how you created the music.
This feature helps you to tell a story and engage your audience more with the content. Similarly, the audience can also comment on a specific point of the track timeline to give you feedback on your music. You can use this feature to its maximum extent to help you improve and engage your audience. This will ultimately help you get more plays by increasing your engagement ratio.
Great Album Art To Get More Plays On SoundCloud
Album arts are often the first thing that an audience sees before listening to your music. Great album art also helps attract people to listen to your music. So you must have your album art designed to attract audiences and also represent what type of music you produce.
Various factors go into designing great album art. So you should find a designer who can design you a great album art that can represent you as a music creator and your music.
Even if you are designing your album art yourself, you can take a cue from other creators first who have great album art on their music. You can also consult with a designer which can give you an overall idea of what type of design will be great for your music.
If you are successful in creating great album art, it may result in getting more plays on SoundCloud.
Tag Your Music Correctly To Get More Plays On SoundCloud
Tags are keywords that you can place on your music while uploading. These tags help the SoundCloud algorithm to sort out your music according to the keywords.
Correct tags in your music help audiences find you when they search for some specific music. So when you put tags on your music, you can do a bit of research on what are the keywords that your audiences use to find their music. Make a database of these keywords and use them as tags on your music when you upload your music.
This may not seem much but in reality, most people go on to search to find their music. This can result in your music being found easily and getting more plays on SoundCloud.
Social Sharing To Get More Plays On SoundCloud
Social sharing is another thing that is a great way to get more plays on SoundCloud. Since anyone can go to SoundCloud and listen to music without creating an account when you share your music the link can be used to listen to your music without any obstacles such as account creation.
After you successfully upload your music with great album art and correct tags, you can use your other social media accounts to share the music on the platform.
Note: Always share the link of the music and not upload the music to other platforms.
Also, ask your friends and family to share it so that you can get more reach and ultimately get more plays on SoundCloud. This is a great way to increase the plays and also attract more audiences to your music who may also follow you on SoundCloud and listen to your music in the coming days.
SoundCloud Communities To Get More Plays On SoundCloud
SoundCloud communities comprise other creators and music enthusiasts. Being active in these communities gives you a potential reach and also more plays on your SoundCloud. It also offers a feedback loop that will help you improve your music.
These communities can be found on various websites and social media platforms. There are various Facebook groups and subreddits that you can join to meet with fellow creators on SoundCloud. Actively engaging in these communities will also help you create clout and ultimately goes on to get more plays on SoundCloud.
You can also choose to create your community and ask your audiences to join. This will help you be in constant contact with your audiences and relay any information about your music such as new releases and uploads.
This can also be used as a place for feedback on your music. A proper feedback loop will ultimately increase your quality of music and get more plays on SoundCloud.
Use Email For Networking And Promotion To Get More Plays On SoundCloud
Email marketing is one of the oldest ways you can promote your content digitally. If you have built a community, you can ask for the email of your audiences and send emails to remind them of your new music uploads.
This is also an effective way of promoting and getting more plays on SoundCloud. This also increases your clout and helps you elevate as a musician or music producer.
First, you need to find a way you can ask your audiences to provide you with emails. You can create a community on social media or directly give them the option and link to subscribe to your newsletter. Then, you can send them information and feedback about your music and upcoming plans.
Get Into Repost Chains To Get More Plays On SoundCloud
SoundCloud repost is a service offered by SoundCloud that can be used to get your audiences to your music from other platforms. This service costs you 30/yr but is an effective way you can increase your plays on the platform.
This is a music distribution service that can increase your reach and audiences which can ultimately be monetized using the SoundCloud premier program.
Add Buy Link To Get More Plays On SoundCloud
Adding a buy link to your music can help you monetize your content by letting audiences buy your music from other platforms. SoundCloud allows you to place buy links on your music which is a great thing.
Apart from monetizing your plays on the SoundCloud premier program, you can also use these buy links to sell your music. This ultimately will help you retain your audiences and get more plays on SoundCloud.
Expand Your Platform To Get More Plays On SoundCloud
As great as SoundCloud is, you cannot only rely on one platform to improve your content and get better at music. You also need to get onto other similar platforms and get to more audiences to increase your audiences and income.
Expanding on other platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, etc should be considered alongside SoundCloud. Most music creators and producers use various platforms to maximize their reach. You can signup for Spotify and Apple music and start uploading your music on those platforms too.
With all of these points in mind, you can create an effective strategy for how will you promote your content on SoundCloud. This strategy can be tweaked and applied if necessary. But having a strategy will allow you to consistently produce music, upload them, and get more plays on SoundCloud.
Also Read: How To Download A Podcast From SoundCloud?
Can I Make Money On SoundCloud?
Yes, you can make money on SoundCloud. SoundCloud launched a program called SoundCloud Premier Program in 2014 to let creators on the platform make money by uploading music on the platform.
Although you need to fulfill some requirements to apply for the monetization program, you can successfully do so if you have a huge number of plays on your music.
Some of the requirements to be eligible for the SoundCloud Premier Program are listed below.
- The creator should be above 18 years old.
- Creators should have above 500 plays in the previous month from SoundCloud Monetizable country.
- The content should be 100% original and not a recreation of any existing music.
- Podcasts and other sounds cannot be monetized yet on the platform.
If you fulfill the above criteria, you are eligible for monetization through SoundCloud Premier Program. You can now apply for the program and be approved for it.
Often times the mobile version of SoundCloud lacks functionality for you to do some major tasks. And you would not have access to a computer at that moment. To solve this issue for you, we have written an article that can help you get the desktop version of SoundCloud on your mobile phone.
How To Get SoundCloud Premier Monetization?
SoundCloud Premier Monetization is a simple process. If you are sure you fulfill the requirements mentioned above, you can follow the below steps to apply for monetization on the platform.
Step 1: Open SoundCloud Website/App
Open the SoundCloud website on your computer or App on a mobile device. Log into your account if you haven’t already.
Step 2: Go To Your Tracks Page
Next, go to the tracks page of your account.
Step 2: Select The Desired Track And Click The Pen Icon To Edit
Choose the track you want to monetize among the list of your tracks. And click the 3-dot button or pen icon to get more options.
Step 3: Choose The Monetization Tab For The Track
Now from the options, choose the monetization tab option.
Step 4: Enable Monetization
Enable the monetization from the page.
Step 5: Select Your Username For Each Territory
Next, Select your username for each territory you want to monetize your content.
Step 6: Enter Necessary Details On The Metadata Tab
Click the Metadata tab and input the necessary details.
Step 7: Save Your Changes
Finally, you can save the changes and the monetization will be reviewed and approved by SoundCloud.
With the above steps, you will be able to monetize your track. Since you can only monetize tracks and not the whole account, you have to repeat this same process for every track you want to monetize on the platform.
How To Link PayPal To SoundCloud Using PC?
You can also add a payment link where your audience can donate your money. Payment systems such as PayPal can be linked to your SoundCloud profile which is a useful feature to get extra income from your music.
Your audience can go to the link and pay you their desired amount to support your music production and creation.
To link PayPal to SoundCloud, follow the below steps.
Step 1: Open SoundCloud Site
Open the SoundCloud website on your computer. Login to your account if you haven’t already.
Step 2: Go To Your Profile
Next, go to your profile by clicking the profile icon on the top-right corner.
Step 3: Click Edit Profile
Here, click the edit profile button.
Step 4: Input The PayPal Link On The Add Support Link
On the edit profile page, you will see the ‘Add support Link’ at the bottom of the page. Click it and add the PayPal link to the input box.
Step 5: Save Changes
Now you can save the changes. Your PayPal is now linked to your SoundCloud account. And will be shown to your audiences when they visit your profile.
This will let your audiences donate to support your music and increase your income from the SoundCloud platform.
Also Read: What Are The Requirements To Verify On SoundCloud?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Some frequently asked questions related to ‘How to get more plays on SoundCloud‘ are taken from the internet. Please go through the questions and their answers to understand the topic and platform more.
Is Posting On SoundCloud A Good Idea?
Yes, posting on SoundCloud is a very good idea considering it is a platform strictly for music creators and music lovers. Many prominent musicians and creators have started their careers on the platform.
SoundCloud also allows monetization of your music on the platform. With all its benefits, it is a very good idea if you are thinking about posting on SoundCloud.
Can You Monetize Mashups On SoundCloud?
No, mashups and recreations cannot be monetized on SoundCloud. SoundCloud only allows monetization for 100% original music.
How Much Money Do You Get For 1000 Plays On SoundCloud?
SoundCloud pays $0.0025 to $0.004 per stream after monetization. So, if you have 1000 plays, SoundCloud pays $2.5 to $4.
Conclusion
Therefore, to get more plays on SoundCloud, you can apply a strategy comprising of various ways of increasing plays. The strategy can constitute uploading the music on the platform correctly. Also, using attractive album art, sharing on social media, active participation on SoundCloud communities, etc. With this strategy, you can successfully increase your plays on SoundCloud.
This article also explains how the platform functions and how you can upload on SoundCloud correctly. The monetization process using the SoundCloud Premier is also explained in this article.
If you have any more suggestions and ways you can maximize your plays on SoundCloud, please feel free to comment below.
