If you’ve found this page, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Soundcloud – they’re one of the biggest streaming platforms online for musicians and a top choice for new artists.

Using the site as a new artist is easy enough – you upload your mp3 file, name it, add the appropriate genre tags, set your download preferences and viola! You’re done, right?

WRONG. Unless you’re okay with your song getting zero traction, this is only Step 1 of getting your music heard on Soundcloud. There is A LOT MORE work to be done if you want to start getting plays and engagement.

The easiest way to get more eyeballs and ears on your new track is to be active in the Soundcloud community. Now that you’ve uploaded your new song, it’s time to check out other people who have uploaded new songs as well. Interact with them – give them a Like, leave a thoughtful comment, this kind of thing. But let me be clear – DO NOT SPAM. Soundcloud is VERY strict with spam and they will delete your account without hesitation if you’re being too spammy.

Another cheeky way to get people clicking on your profile is to go to massively popular songs and leave a comment there. When doing this, you MUST be commenting on the song itself or something related to the song. Now is not the time to be self promotional. Do you ever click on people who drop comments like “Hey guys I’m a new rapper check me out!” … NO! People get annoyed by these type comments and they will surely leave a negative first impression with potential listeners.

PAID SOUNDCLOUD PROMOTION

Should you use paid promotion? This is something that is up for much debate amongst the Soundcloud community.

If you’ve uploaded a song in the last year or so, you’ve undoubtedly gotten a Like from a spammy account hocking some BS promotion. Unfortunately the majority of Soundcloud promotion companies are like this – spammy and don’t do anything besides padding your stats. Our advice to is to avoid these companies like the plague. STAY AWAY!

There are some reputable companies that offer legit services, but they are tough to discern from the shady ones. Maybe producers I know swear by SC SuperFans service, who have been around since 2014. I have heard another company BoostCollective does good work, but I haven’t actually tried their service. Just know that even these legitimate promotion companies can only take you so far. You don’t want to be beholding to these companies and have to pay them to promote your every release. You want to build an organic following over time so that when you release new music, you’ve got followers eagerly awaiting and ready to engage.

Soundcloud recently introduced a service called RepostNetwork and it can help get your numbers up. Soundcloud has also introduced its own promotion service as well, but at the time of writing this article, it is only offered to certain artists with sizable followings.

IT TAKES TIME

Whatever strategy you decide to use, just know that it takes time. Expect that your first few releases will not garner much interest. There is SO MUCH music permeating Soundcloud that your release will likely get lost in the static, no matter how good it is. It can get discouraging, but those who stick with it and persevere are the ones who are ultimately rewarded.