SoundCloud is one of the most popular platforms for artists to share their music, connect with their fans and get feedback from other creators. And with more than 175 million users, it’s easily one of the best ways to get your music in front of more people.
But if you want to maximize SoundCloud’s potential, you need to focus on growing your following. Because this platform is a bit different from the typical social network, you’ll need to take a different approach to building your following.
Don’t worry – we’re here to help! Here are our top tips for growing your SoundCloud followers.
Optimize Your Tracks for Discoverability
One of the best ways to grow your following organically is to optimize your tracks for discoverability. If your tracks reach more people, you will have more opportunities to get new followers.
- Start by adding relevant and descriptive tags to your tracks, like your music genre, your name, your track’s title, record labels – anything else that’s relevant to your track.
- Optimize your track title to include keywords your target followers will be looking for. Get creative with how you incorporate these keywords and create intriguing titles to get people to stop and listen.
- Optimize your description to include relevant keywords people might search for, like your genre or the vibe of your track.
An optimized track is more likely to catch the attention of other SoundCloud users, get featured on the Discover tab, and help you gain more followers.
Build a Network and Be Active in the Community
If you want to gain meaningful followers, start by being one yourself. Start following other creators on SoundCloud. Listen to their music, like their tracks, and give them honest feedback. Engage with them often and provide real, meaningful insights.
Other creators will appreciate your feedback and contribution. And they’ll likely return the favor.
Building relationships is a great way to gain more followers, fans and valuable connections.
How do you find the right people to connect with?
- First, look for other SoundCloud artists that sound like you.
- Check their profiles to see who is following and commenting on their tracks. These are the people you want to follow because they’ll likely be interested in your music, too.
- Start following, commenting and liking their tracks.
Hopefully, these users will notice you and check out your tracks.
Be Consistent and Upload Regularly
If you want to gain more followers on SoundCloud, you have to give people a reason to follow you. Post new, quality tracks regularly – but don’t rush it.
Focus on quality over quantity. Create quality music with professional mixing and be consistent. Rather than releasing a bunch of tracks at once, try spreading them out over a few months.
Ideally, you should be releasing new tracks at least once a month, whether it’s original songs, remixes, covers or anything else.
Posting new music regularly will give other people a reason to start following you.
Work on Your Profile
Most SoundCloud users will visit your profile before deciding whether they want to follow you. Make sure you’ve optimized your profile page to catch their attention and make them want to follow you.
Your profile should not only look great but also tell people what kind of music you create and a little bit about yourself.
Here are a few important elements to focus on:
- Your profile picture and banner. Make sure they represent who you are as a creator and what your music is all about.
- Your bio. Keep it simple and short, but make sure you communicate who you are and why people should follow you. Don’t forget to include a call-to-action (CTA).
- Use the Spotlight feature (Next Pro users). If you’re a Next Pro user, the Spotlight feature allows you to pin your five best tracks to the top of your page.
If your profile is on-point, more people will be likely to follow you.
Collaborate with Other Artists on SoundCloud
Artists use SoundCloud for promotion. And if you can help other artists build their followers and get more fans, they’ll be more than happy to help you, too. You can begin your collab journey by doing the following:
- Search artists with the same type of music and audience you have
- Reach out to the artists and talk to them
- Build a relationship with the artist
- Ask if they would like to collaborate with you
A great way to “break the ice” with the artist is to leave comments on their tracks. If you spend time building up this relationship, you will have a better chance of them saying “yes” when you ask to collab with them.
Try SoundCloud’s Paid Ad Program
SoundCloud has its own paid ad program, which you can use to promote your music and get it in front of new fans. Promote allows you to:
- Target exactly who you want on the platform
- Get more plays
- Experience long-term success
However, to get started, you will need to get Pro Unlimited. Many musicians opt to pay to get their first hundred or hundreds of followers. Once you have a couple hundred followers, people will view this as a good reason to listen to your music.
After all, if hundreds of people follow you, there must be a reason, right?
Promote has a minimum of $25 per promotion. You can set your budget and target market and begin promoting your track right on SoundCloud.
Be Active on Social Media
Social media is a great way to promote your SoundCloud. You have hundreds of millions of people who you can reach on the platform, but there are billions on social media.
Why not expand your reach on platforms like:
- Facebook (3 billion)
- Twitter (541 million)
- Instagram (2.3 billion)
- YouTube (2.68 billion)
- TikTok (1.7 billion)
You can use social media and artist accounts to link to your SoundCloud. Add a link to your bio, be active and start getting followers on these platforms. When you upload a new track, make a post about it on one of these accounts.
Of course, you can also drum up listens and followers by running contests.
Hold a contest where 10 people will win your album. People love contests, and if you promote them properly, they can help your post go viral and lead to tons of new SoundCloud followers. You can even make a lyric video on YouTube to promote your SoundCloud.
Conclusion
Growing your SoundCloud followers takes a lot of time and patience, but with the tips above, we’re confident that you’ll grow your account. Your music deserves to be heard, and if you promote your account, you never know the opportunities that you’ll have in the future.
A talent manager or record label may reach out to you to sign you.
