Sandbox Guide: SoundCloud

Very much enjoyed having the chance to dig deep into SoundCloud’s latest developments and offerings for the latest edition of Music Ally’s Sandbox Guide, which provides a deep dive into the variety of marketing and economic opportunities that can be accessed by engaging with the platform.

A big thank you to the team at SoundCloud for sharing time and insights as to how the music industry can most effectively work with the platform and its offerings in 2023 - access the full guide via the Music Ally website.

2023 is proving to be an exceptionally busy year for SoundCloud, which continues to offer up a host of reasons as to why we should once again be paying close attention to the platform. SoundCloud has been on something of a journey in recent years, experiencing mixed fortunes as a platform and perhaps mixed perceptions as to the platform’s focus. However, after launching a number of ambitious new services and tools, coupled with a general sharpening of focus, the platform warrants a revisit to see what marketing opportunities now lie within. At the start of July, a suite of new partnerships with the likes of Discord and Squarespace was announced, offering access to an expanded array of benefits and services for those subscribed to SoundCloud’s Next Pro creators’ tier.

This added to the news of the introduction of First Fans, a function which will integrate brand new, unheard tracks into the platform’s autoplay recommendations, helping fresh releases to move from 0 listens to finding an active audience with related genre interests. And this is before we even mention the Fans feature which was revealed back in May, and gives artists rich analytics on listeners and their habits, and importantly, a way of engaging with superfans and repeat listeners through direct messaging functions.