Soundcloud is one of the world’s most used platform by creators and music listeners. Anyone can still listen for free and anyone can still upload tracks, as long as they own all the rights.
Soundcloud has exposed lots of unheard talents to the world. Right here in Ghana , current big names in the music industry like Kwesi Arthur , Tulenkey , Medikal , La Meme Gang and a few others used this platform to push their agenda.
One of the greatest concerns of creators is how to make money off their content. With soundcloud’s free to listen feature , one of the frequently asked questions by not just creators but also users is how musicians can make money off the platform.
Yes , one can make money off soundcloud just like other streaming platforms (Apple Music , Spotify , Deezer , Napster , Amazon , etc). The technical know-how to set up a revenue generating profile is what most creators have no idea of. We will in details , take you through the process of monetization on soundcloud.
Similar to YouTube’s Partner Program, Soundcloud Monetization will allow artists to monetize the content they upload to SoundCloud through paid advertisements. The paid ads will appear on either the SoundCloud player or within a streaming audio file.
One really cool thing about SoundCloud’s platform is that since the company has always been an artist-centered community, we can expect that the revenue generated will support the artists and not just the brands and publishers paying for the ads. Another cool feature is that SoundCloud offers a tiered services structure, so each account holder can subscribe for the specific features they want.
Here are 4 tiers that help make up the SoundCloud revenue:
Partner – This tier is free, but it only allows you to upload 3 hours of content. It also comes with online support and basic reporting and statistics (play counts, likes, comments and downloads).
Pro – This tier will cost you $6 per month (or $55 annually) and you’re upload limit is bumped up to 6 hours of content. The Pro tier allows you to enable Quiet Mode, which allows you to manage comments and stats for your tracks. This tier also lets artists “Spotlight” their best work, by pinning your top track(s) and playlist(s) to the top of your profile.
Pro Unlimited – This tier gives artists unlimited uploads – hence the name – and it costs $15 per month (or $135 annually). In addition to all of the aforementioned features, you also get some advanced analytics perks. With Pro Unlimited, you can see who’s playing/downloading your tracks, which countries/states/cities you’re most popular and which social networks are providing the most traffic or engagement.
Under this same tier as well , you can distribute your song to numerous streaming platforms. Soundcloud manages the collection of data from these platfroms and display it on your creator dashboard. Musicians can also pitch their songs for possible playlisting on some of the world’s most subscribed to playlists.
Premier – The premier level is available by invite only and this is the tier where artists can start making money from the tracks they upload.
It will be interesting to see where this all leads. SoundCloud has made it abundantly clear that it’s a service for artists – not consumers
Before making money on SoundCloud, your account need get the huge exposure. That is core.
