8 tips to get more plays on Soundcloud
As a music artist, you are likely aware of the importance of reaching a broader audience with your tracks. This is why many artists choose Soundcloud, a platform with low entry barriers, to gain recognition before their music lands on Spotify or iTunes. Despite this advantage, it can be difficult to stand out and attract more plays due to the intense competition on the platform. To address this issue, we have compiled eight tips that will help you gain more plays on Soundcloud and enhance your visibility in the music scene. Our strategies include leveraging existing audiences, making use of Soundcloud plans, and much more, ensuring that you have the necessary tools to advance your music career. So, grab a pen and paper, and be prepared to take notes on these crucial tips for getting more plays on Soundcloud.
Optimize Your Profile
To enhance your Soundcloud presence, it's crucial to optimize your profile. Start by selecting an eye-catching profile picture that aligns with your brand and the type of music you're promoting. Additionally, write a compelling bio that introduces yourself, your work, and the reason why people should follow or subscribe to your account, using relevant keywords! Finally, don't forget to add links to other social media accounts so people can find more of your work on those platforms as well.
Release Quality Tracks
Quality content is the most important factor in getting plays on Soundcloud. To get more plays, it's essential to create unique and exceptional music that people will want to listen to. Consistent posting is also crucial to keep your audience updated on your latest tracks. Furthermore, ensure that your music is mixed and mastered correctly, so it meets professional standards. Take time to listen through the track multiple times and get feedback from artist friends to ensure that it's at its best.
Engage with Your Audience
Reply to comments and messages. This is one of the most important things you can do for your fans, and it's also very easy! If someone leaves a comment on one of your tracks or asks a question in their message inbox, make sure you respond as soon as possible (and don't forget about replying back later on). Replying promptly to comments and messages on your tracks will demonstrate your appreciation for your fans.
To increase involvement, post polls and quizzes on your social media pages, which are entertaining and effective ways for listeners to participate in your music on Soundcloud. Consider asking your listeners about their favorite tracks from an album or what genres they believe suits your music best, providing you with valuable feedback for future work.
Use Soundcloud’s plans and promotional tools
One of the best ways to get your music in front of new listeners is by creating ads that target Soundcloud users. You can use these ads to promote new releases or drive listeners directly to your profile. Soundcloud offers advertising options such as Promote on SoundCloud that allow you to target specific genres or locations and use retargeting to reach people who have already listened to your music. On top of that, your promoted track will have increased visibility, appearing at the top of your targeted audience's homepage on both mobile and desktop, allowing for a greater chance of your music being discovered by listeners If you're looking for a quick way to boost plays on Soundcloud, this is it!
Another great option is taking advantage of Soundcloud for Artists and their Next Pro Plan. This plan offers features such as custom profile control, track management tools, advanced fan insights, and custom listening reports, as well as the ability to promote and pitch your music to Sirius XM. These tools can help you optimize your Soundcloud presence and reach a wider audience.
Collaborate and Engage with Other Artists
One of the best ways to gain more exposure and plays on Soundcloud is by collaborating with other artists. When two or more artists come together to create a track, they can leverage each other's networks and reach a wider audience. Plus, the final product is often unique and different from what each artist would create on their own, giving listeners something fresh and exciting to discover.
But collaboration is one of many ways to engage with other artists on Soundcloud. By actively engaging with other users on the platform, you can build a following and create meaningful relationships within the community. One way to do this is by leaving comments on other users' tracks, showing your support, and providing valuable feedback. Reposting their music to your profile gives them more exposure and potentially leads their fans back to your profile.
Lastly, don't forget to follow other artists on Soundcloud. Doing so lets you keep up to date with their latest releases and collaborations, and they may reciprocate by following you back. Building these connections can lead to more plays, followers, and opportunities in the future.
Leverage Your Existing Fans
One of the best ways to get more plays on Soundcloud is to leverage your existing fans. If you already have a following, encourage them to share your music with their friends and family. You can do this by creating a hashtag that relates back to your brand or project name, which will help increase the visibility of each post when users search for the hashtag in question.
If you don't have many followers yet but still want some extra plays on Soundcloud, try asking people who do follow you if they would be willing to share one of your songs with their own audience - and then thank them! This strategy works especially well if someone has recently listened to or commented on one of your tracks. It shows them how much value they've added by engaging with what you're doing as an artist!
Optimize Your Metadata
Another step in optimizing your music for Soundcloud is making sure that all of the metadata associated with it is correct. This includes:
Artist Name - Make sure you have the right artist name, because this will be what people search by when they're looking for new music to listen to. If someone searches "David Guetta" and finds a song by some other artist named David Guetta, they won't be happy!
Album Artwork - It's important to have high-quality artwork that represents the mood or feeling of your track so listeners can get an idea of what they're going to hear before even clicking on it. You should also make sure each track has its own unique title so people don't get confused about which song is which when browsing through your profile page, especially if there are multiple versions.
To get your music featured on Soundcloud's 'Discover' tab, optimizing your metadata is crucial. Correctly labeling your genre, using relevant track tags, and giving appropriate titles will definitely help.
Use Playlists
Playlists allow you to group together your own tracks or other people's tracks that you love and share them with your followers. By doing so, you can increase your visibility on the platform and attract new fans.
There are two ways to use playlists to promote your music on SoundCloud:
Create your own playlists: Use your own tracks and other tracks you like to create playlists that showcase your music and your taste. You can also add commentary or descriptions to each track to give listeners more context and insights into your creative process.
Add your music to other people's playlists: Look for popular playlists in your genre or related to your style, and reach out to the creators to see if they would be interested in adding your music to their playlists. This can help you reach new listeners who may not have discovered your music otherwise.
All in all, getting more plays on SoundCloud can be achieved by using a combination of the tips we mentioned above. Just like anything, it takes effort and persistence, but with these tips, you can grow your audience and ultimately achieve success on SoundCloud.
If you’re looking for tips on how to push your music on playlists and get more streams, we’ve also got an article for that. So give it a read and take those streams to new levels!
