Best Promotional Strategies for SoundCloud

SoundCloud has proven to be a popular way for new and independent artists to air and share their work. The platform saw rapid growth from 15 million users in 2012 to 150 million users in 2015.

The platform now has 76 million registered users, but many more individuals use SoundCloud without registering. There are 250 million tracks on SoundCloud, and each month 175 million people visit to listen to this music.

There is a genuine possibility to be spotted on SoundCloud, but promotion is needed if someone is going to rise above the millions of other creators on the platform.

So, if you are on SoundCloud now, how can you get your music heard, and grow your brand as a musician?

Grow your SoundCloud audience

To be heard you have to have some kind of an audience. On SoundCloud, users can follow other musicians or creators. As on any social media app, growing a following can be difficult.

Organic growth through reaching out to other members, and sharing music is one of the best ways to gain a following. Developing an audience that is interested in your work will increase engagement, likes, and plays. However, this can take a long time.

There are alternative ways to grow an audience though. You can buy followers on SoundCloud, and this can help to give you a boost if your account is new. It is important to use a reputable service if you buy followers as fake accounts are very obvious, and will offer little benefit.

If you receive plays through buying followers then your music will appear to be popular, and this can attract more people to listen to your work, and start following you.

Go multi-channel

You can promote your music through more than one platform for maximum reach. Using other platforms such as YouTube, and Facebook will give you more chances of having your music heard, and increase the chances of sales and plays.

SoundCloud has already considered the potential for cross-channel marketing, and integration with various social media apps was introduced a few years ago. If you are serious about music promotion then don’t limit yourself to one platform.

Use Promote on SoundCloud

You need to use all the tools at your disposal for promotion. A report from The Small Business Blog states that there are about 20 million content creators on SoundCloud. While they are not exactly your competition in a business sense, they are all trying to be heard too.

SoundCloud has a tool called Promote that can be used to increase the chances of success. However, two caveats stop many from using Promote. One is that you must be a SoundCloud Premier member, and the other is that Promote costs money.

Nevertheless, if you have reached the lofty heights of Premier eligibility, you can use Promote to reach a targeted audience, and sell your music.

Whether you use Promote or not, when you upload your music don’t neglect the metatags and create clear titles for your work.

Share your work through outreach

Reach out to bloggers, and other artists, and get your music out there. If you want to be recognized then you need to increase SoundCloud plays, and the only way to do that is to grow your following.

Find blogs and use other apps such as Vampr to find other musicians. You can ask for opinions and advice and grow a bigger network. In turn, this will lead to more plays and likes.

You could also offer to remix other people’s work if you have a talent in this area or try to collaborate with other musicians.

Build your own website

As well as syncing your social media to SoundCloud, you should also build your online presence. Having a website of your own gives you another way to promote your music.

Create an image

The first thing anyone will see is your profile. The music is essential obviously, and there are great reasons for hiring a mastering engineer, and getting studio time. But, your image shouldn’t be neglected.

Create a logo if you can, or find someone online to do it. This is important and will help to grow your brand. You can use this artwork across social media, and on your website so it is a worthy investment.

Artwork for your music is important too. When you give off a professional image you are more likely to be noticed and taken seriously.

Summary

Gaining plays early on will help your music be noticed. You can buy plays and followers easily, but it is important not to flood your profile with fake accounts. Another way to grow a following is to ask friends and family to open an account and play your music.

There are many ways to promote your brand though. Social media is a very powerful way to promote music, and you can build your music brand through multiple channels. Don’t forget to get your image right too though.