SoundCloud – Drinking Music

October 17, 2022
SoundCloud – Drinking Music

SoundCloud is a multifunctional online service focused on listening to music, distributing sound information (tracks, podcasts, compositions) and social interaction between community members who decide to share “tastes” and opinions, and at the same time agree on a visit concerts and festivals.

Work on SoundCloud has been going on since 2006 – the authors tried to invent a special platform that would reduce the distance between musicians and fans.

SoundCloud: Play Music & Songs
SoundCloud: Play Music & Songs
SoundCloud
SoundCloud: Play Music & Songs for AndroidSoundCloud: Discover New Music for iOSSoundCloud for Windows

But already the launch of the site (in 2008), the powers of the service were reincarnated – in addition to communication between “fans and idols”, there was also a functionality related to music distribution and streaming. Since then, SoundCloud has never left the popularity ratings and has always evolved with the times.

Distribution and musical immersion

Developers offer to enjoy such extensive functionality of the service both on iOS and Android mobile platforms, and in the browser, using the built-in audio player and a number of additional features, such as communication and recommendations, and even on Xbox One and Chromecast.

SoundCloud

The difference between the ways to interact with SoundCloud is serious – somewhere you can’t save songs in “memory” and listen to them without access to the network. And on some platforms – like the Chromecast – there will be obvious problems with communication. An additional important feature is the user status.

The following profiles are provided:

  • Guest. Anonymous can freely navigate the music library, search and listen to songs, interact with playlists, and follow community activity and comments left. Of the restrictions – you can not download music to memory, chat and receive personalized recommendations that depend on recent activity and search queries.
  • A registered member. Those who have completed their profile will be able to upload music (but with a volume limit!), make friends, and repeatedly share their opinions and ideas with the community. Registration on SoundCloud is free and will not take even five minutes, the main thing is to provide an e-mail, enter a password twice and come up with a nickname.
  • Pro Account. A premium account increases the maximum amount of downloadable content (and this is not about megabytes or the number of songs, but about the total duration of songs!), helps you customize the profile design (as an option, there will be a chance to place your “favorites” at the top of the list) and expands the statistics. A special platform will tell you which genres are favorites and which tracks have received the most streams. The cost of such a solution is $7 per month. If you pay for the year at once, you will be able to save 21 bucks.
  • Pro Unlimited. An option for those for whom even premium space for compositions is not enough. Here the restrictions are lifted once and for all. And at the same time, it becomes possible to receive extended statistics about your own tracks added to the service. The cost of Unlimited is $15 per month. If you pay for a yearly subscription, you get a $45 discount.

Functional content

The SoundCloud service has slowly but surely grown in capabilities.

SoundCloud

The developers experimented, changed concepts and ideas, but eventually settled on the following features:

  • Subscribe to friends, commentators and musicians. As a result, there will be a chance to follow the activity of each virtual ally and immediately learn about upcoming concerts or recent releases.
  • Lightning fast search through an endless library of tracks. Of the benefits – the ability to use not only the names of songs or authors, but also genres and even tags. Searches will no longer take long hours and will be reduced tenfold!
  • It’s easy to enjoy music on SoundCloud over a wireless network or mobile Internet, but even without access to Wi-Fi or 3G and 4G-LTE. It is worth registering and immediately there will be a chance to transfer half of the publications offline.
  • By the way, you don’t have to worry about listening statistics – immediately after returning to the network, the service will upload information to statistics, update recommendations and help you focus on finding similar musicians.
  • The SoundCloud client for mobile platforms is fully integrated into the iOS and Android operating systems, and therefore the tracks here are switched through the headset, and you can skip music from the lock screen with a few taps.
  • Registration of new members takes just a few seconds – the developers offer to use accounts from social networks Facebook and Google Plus and immediately join the battle of commentators who have something to talk about.
Spotify: Music and Podcasts
Spotify: Music and Podcasts
Spotify AB
Spotify: Music and Podcasts for AndroidSpotify – Music and Podcasts for iOSSpotify for Windows

SoundCloud is a platform where everyone can share their creativity. And it’s not about adding tracks of other artists found on the network that you wanted to pass off as your own, but about really author’s “inventions”. Sounds, podcasts, music – it has never been so easy to gain popularity.

You can forget once and for all about labels and recording studios, finding distribution platforms or collecting royalties for “managers” who can promote the music product.

The situation has changed a long time ago – it is worth preparing a song and you can immediately upload the new product to the network. And to increase the reach – use tags. Those who often use the search will definitely stumble upon a novelty.

YouTube Music
YouTube Music
Google LLC
YouTube Music for AndroidYouTube Music for iOS

And finally, the last important advantage is playlists. Yes, a similar function has long been found in Google Music, and Apple, and even Yandex. But on SoundCloud, it’s easy to share themed “sets” with the world and even get feedback and comments for such work. Finally, there will be a chance to show the talent of mixing and musical crossing!