The music industry is very crowded. New artists emerged, new songs are made, and new albums are released almost every day. So, if you’re a newbie, no matter how talented you are, you’ll never make it. You should know the “whats” and “hows” in the industry.
Why? Today’s music is not just about talent and skill; it’s also about the brain. Not just sing or write songs, but you also know how to sell your music. If you want to be successful, you should get on Soundcloud.
What is SoundCloud?
Soundcloud is a great place for new artists and professional musicians to promote their music online. It’s a music promotion and distribution platform that lets you discover potential talents and great indie songs and music. Soundcloud has around 175 million users every month.
Hence, it is the perfect avenue to explore new music and be discovered through your music.
Below are the five guaranteed ways to succeed on Soundcloud:
1. Set-up a Professional Soundcloud Account
It maybe is the first step to getting into Soundcloud, but this is among essential parts of your success. However, for most people, the profile is not as important as the song you’re uploading. However, it’s the frontline for users to go to your track list. If you don’t do good in presenting yourself, then, users will snub you and your songs will never be played.
So, to avoid this dilemma, consider the following:
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Email Address
Make sure to have an active, if possible, the email address you are using in your social media. This information is needed for the internet to know that you are active. It’ll able to track your activities on social media and who your connections are. If you’ll be making a new email exclusively for your Soundcloud account, it’s fine. However, it’ll take time for the web to prove you are a real person with real connections.
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Profile picture
For some, this is just a small thing, but it means a lot. What’s the first thing people want to know, aside from the name of the artist is how the artist looks like. So, make the best pose and upload the best picture that you have.
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Profile URL
Make sure to include your name in the profile URL. It’s better to use your name as your username. And, it’s also helpful to use the same username on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the like. This will help you become more discoverable.
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Personal description
Sell yourself and give your best shot. You are describing the best person on earth and his best works. So, take time to make the best description for yourself and for your songs.
2. Be Picky. Only Upload Your Best Songs
Soundcloud is not about uploading a lot of songs every day, it’s about producing great songs. Like any music platform, Soundcloud has millions of users and artists. So, if you want to be recognized and step up through this platform, be picky. Below are some of the ways you can exploit to have your songs played and loved:
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Upload your music correctly
There is no other beneficial step to uploading your music than to do it correctly and accurately. Don’t just upload your song and leave it there, thinking it can generate followers itself. Make it appealing, so users need to dig into your profile and look for your recently added tracks. So, take time and add the following:
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Song Title
Your song comes with a title, so add it there. The more appealing the title is, the greater is the chance that your song will be played.
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Song URL
Make sure to update the URL of your song. Use the title, plus words like “download” if it’s available for download, or, “mp3” if it’s in mp3 format. This is a proven SEO strategy to make your song more searchable.
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Song Description
In Soundcloud, you can only upload audio files for your songs. You can’t show its story through video. Thus, it’s very important to write the best and most comprehensive description of your track. This is the only way you can communicate with users and convince them to play and like your song. Not only that, this is your chance to share your inspirations and the story behind the song.
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Song Genre
Proper tagging of your track is very important so that Soundcloud can categorize your song for possible top charts. For new artists, you can use “INDIE” as your primary tag. This will not only help you find your spot in the top charts. It can pave your way to be discovered by labels and agencies who are looking for new talent using these charts.
You can also update the Medata and permissions of your music. This is essential, especially if you are releasing your songs through digital distributors like TuneCore, Distro Kid, and the like.
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Do cover songs
You don’t need to produce original songs at first. Doing cover songs of the most popular songs at the moment will help you earn a spot in the industry. But, you can only do it if you personalize the song with your own unique style of singing.
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Select only your best tracks
It’s very challenging to produce the best recording. However, you really need to go through all the hassles before reaping the fruit of your success. Working your way up is the best way to garner the sweetest victory. So, make sure that you’ll only upload the best you have. No matter how diligent you are to observe the first few guidelines, if you don’t have the best tracks, then, listeners will just walk away.
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For Pro account, use Spotlight feature
For those with Pro or Pro Unlimited account, you can use Spotlight. This feature highlights your new tracks at the top of your profile. Of course, you’re only uploading your best recordings, right? So, Spotlight helps you promote your new singles.
3. Don’t Pay for Soundcloud Followers or Plays
Number speaks. However, real listeners think. No matter how many plays your songs have, if you got lesser re-posts or comments, they will surely doubt you. It’s not wrong for paid promotion as it might actually attract people to play your songs. But, think about how you keep your visitors and encourage them to spread your music.
Though this strategy may help you, but it’s not worth the money. Diligence and sacrifice still pay. After all, you want real followers and real people who’ll embrace your music not because you pay them, but because you inspire them.
4. Be Friendly with Bloggers and Get Featured
Music blogs love to help you because, in return, they can also benefit from you. You can get more credibility and reliability by being featured in blogs and get more plays.
In the same way, you can help blogs have more visitors, especially those who are following you. But, these benefits could mean nothing if you don’t pay much attention to the first three ways.
5. Interact with Fellow Users and Social Media Sites
To prove you’re human, you should make interactions. Don’t just sit and wait for followers to flock in and begin loving your songs. Comment, like and play songs by other artists. Support fellow artists and this act of kindness will surely be given back to you.
Not only on the Soundcloud platform, be active on most popular social media sites. Try to be present on all the social media platforms that fit your target audience, if you can. Nowadays, people are very active on social media. So, you should at least, exploit these channels to promote your songs. Add as many links as possible to your Soundcloud account.
My Final Thoughts
It’s quite exciting to imagine one million followers on your Soundcloud account. But, the road towards that can be daunting. The first two ways seal the deal and can get you the first 10,000 to 100,000 followers, perhaps. If you want to reach millions of real followers, you need to exploit all the five ways. They’re proven and tested. So, you might want to apply it right away!