Best Promotion Strategies for Soundcloud
(2011)
1. Create and Upload Audio2. Make Authentic Connections
-Find music you like and make connections. Search by parameters that interest you, by genre, by location, by keyword describing your style, by who a band you like is following.
-Listens won’t get you noticed, comments and favouriting does. The more you invest in a comment, the more you’re likely to get a response.
Pro: making friends, collaborators and real connections with fans
Con: takes time3. Make use of the groups
-On a free account, you can post each track or mix to one group. There are tonnes. The more followers on there, the more exposure you will get. Also a group is a great place to find like-minded individuals. Are you really into the LA beat scene? Soundcloud groups are the best place to find the hottest unbroken tracks of that genre. (Well, maybe future producers, or if you live in LA… but for the rest of us.)
-Paid accounts add a lot of return: unlimited posting to groups and 1000 downloads at the lowest pay bracket. Not too expensive, just think of how much you’ve spent on tapes and CDs over the years. You can also create your own groups, which draws people in to show you the type of music you’re looking for.
Pro: genre-targeted but with wider appeal
Con: need to pay to get the most out of groups4. Get Soundcloud to work off Soundcloud
-Not everyone has soundcloud, so you’re not going to convert all your fans into followers on the site. Make sure people know about it on social media. Get in touch with music blogs, big twitter personalities, forums dedicated to your style of music, local promoter websites, etc.
-There’s great flash & HTML5 widgets ready for immediate customization and embedding on other sites or even in email. Make the listening experience convenient for people. Listens on embeds will still be tracked.
-Go old school and have flyers, business cards or other art to draw in fans from the real world. Leave mixtapes in subway stations, whatever! Show your personality to help fans find that authentic connection.
Pro: appeal to everyone, not just the full-time music nerds
Con: easy to get stretched thin trying to connect over many different sites
-Find music you like and make connections. Search by parameters that interest you, by genre, by location, by keyword describing your style, by who a band you like is following.
-Listens won’t get you noticed, comments and favouriting does. The more you invest in a comment, the more you’re likely to get a response.
Pro: making friends, collaborators and real connections with fans
Con: takes time3. Make use of the groups
-On a free account, you can post each track or mix to one group. There are tonnes. The more followers on there, the more exposure you will get. Also a group is a great place to find like-minded individuals. Are you really into the LA beat scene? Soundcloud groups are the best place to find the hottest unbroken tracks of that genre. (Well, maybe future producers, or if you live in LA… but for the rest of us.)
-Paid accounts add a lot of return: unlimited posting to groups and 1000 downloads at the lowest pay bracket. Not too expensive, just think of how much you’ve spent on tapes and CDs over the years. You can also create your own groups, which draws people in to show you the type of music you’re looking for.
Pro: genre-targeted but with wider appeal
Con: need to pay to get the most out of groups4. Get Soundcloud to work off Soundcloud
-Not everyone has soundcloud, so you’re not going to convert all your fans into followers on the site. Make sure people know about it on social media. Get in touch with music blogs, big twitter personalities, forums dedicated to your style of music, local promoter websites, etc.
-There’s great flash & HTML5 widgets ready for immediate customization and embedding on other sites or even in email. Make the listening experience convenient for people. Listens on embeds will still be tracked.
-Go old school and have flyers, business cards or other art to draw in fans from the real world. Leave mixtapes in subway stations, whatever! Show your personality to help fans find that authentic connection.
Pro: appeal to everyone, not just the full-time music nerds
Con: easy to get stretched thin trying to connect over many different sites
5. Follow Everyone
-There’s a limit to how many people you can follow on soundcloud: 2000. I guess this is to prevent people from adding everyone to their network in the style of myspace/twitter/G+ and expecting your fanbase to grow through sympathy. Well, it happens anyways. I guess it works, because people are constantly doing it. My followers is currently around 1400 and fluctuates about 10 followers up and down every week that I don’t add new material.
-You can target who you are following by searching by genre, or you can even pay others to do the work for you: http://soundpromo.net/
Pro: fast turnaround of exposure
Con: some fans will ignore you based on the fact that you are not being authentic
6. Sharing tracks
-So, you’re following 2000 people you think will like your music, but how can you be sure that they are actually listening to your tracks? Well, you can share exclusive tracks with people. This feature was originally meant for sharing with labels or other producers exclusive works, in progress, demos, or unreleased, but can be used as a sneaky way to have your track show up in targeter’s users feeds with a special notification.
-On the track page, click the share button, and then add your followers. Add a personalized message or target it to a specific list of people for more congenial sharing options.
Pro: a hard to miss notification of your tracks
Con: risk of being considered spammy, and subsequently muted
7. Comment Blitzkrieg
-We are social creatures, we want validation. The best way to make connections is to let people know you are listening and invested. As with #2 above, making authentic connections, you can also minimize your investment per the time and spread it out a bit and still take notice. I’ve done this on days when I’m lacking caffeine, but still going through all the new tunes. Simple comments like “Nice” “Good Job” “cool” “love this tune” aren’t saying a whole lot to go on, and you might get a “thanks” if anything at all in response. But, they’ll be noticed as they add up over time. You may get a mix opportunity out of it, or someone wandering into your profile through the comment.
-Alternatively, you can use something like the Cloudkillers service to turn commenting into a high-speed process and get something back more immediately. The way it works is you submit a track, then listen and comment to a bunch of other tracks submitted, and in return get points earned from your commenting turned into comments on your track.
Pro: less investment in detail, and more spread out
Con: the risk of being superficial in an attempt to game the system
8.Tagging
-Make sure people can find your music! Each song can have up to 30 tags, and there’s an autofill function, so explore what genres and keywords suit your style. Even descriptive tags like “dreamy” are appropriate for people looking for tracks of a particular mood. Tag any and all similar genres and styles to what you have made. Someone may disagree if a tag is appropriate, but they’ll still have found it.
-Can’t think of anymore tags? Ask your social network how they would describe your track when you post it to facebook. Or, look up a similar track/artists on last.fm and copy all the top tags from them.
-Maybe this should’ve been higher on the list, but in terms of promotion I think it’s getting yourself out there less than actual connecting with other users first.
Pro: targets your music to those who are interested in that genre
Con: it’s easy to run out of ideas after a handful
9. Buy Plays Directly
-Yes, it is possible to convert money directly into people listening to your music.
Here’s some sites that I found, but have not tried them so cannot vouch for them. Soundcloud may have terms of service that are violated by some approaches, so do your research before you invest.
Pro: you can get what you want
Cons: are they legitimate plays or bots?
10. Play Shows
-Okay, this one was purposely saved to the end. But if it was number two, maybe you’d think I was trite and not made it to ten?!
-Nothing makes fans better than interacting with them in the way you do best: performances. This can be anything from an art installation, coffee shop lecture, noise show in a grungy Texas diner, house party, mega-rave, basement jam, living room acoustic concert, whatever.
-Having the chance to see your face, your personality and interact with you… it’s a no brainer.
-Make sure you remember to tell them about your soundcloud address.
Pro: People are cool
Con: You have to get away from your computer once in a while
There’s your Top 10 best promotional strategies for increasing your soundcloud presence. I cannot say that I’d recommend all strategies for all purposes, but you can weigh the options which will work best for you. The strategy of a an independent electroacoustic musician would be much more personal than someone trying to make a massive push on a big-room house remix they’re hoping to win a competition with.
The more authentic connections you make, the more there will be turnaround into True Fans. But there’s room in this musical ecosystem for many. Personally, I am taking it the slow route and want to be known as an authentic individual. This might mean I’m never destined to play Ibiza, but that’s not really my audience anyways.
Hope you’ve found this article useful, if so, please share it around.
Did I mention one of your sites? I’d be happy to do a review
