Here’s how to get more followers on Soundcloud.
We all know that building a following on Soundcloud has become an important part of promoting music online. Every day millions of people discover new music on Soundcloud but how do you become one of the artists who gets discovered?
Here are five easy to follow tips for building your Soundcloud following. Keep reading and grow your fanbase today!
1. Get Your Branding Right.
Want to be taken seriously as an artist? Make sure you look the part. Work with a professional designer to make sure that your cover image and profile photo look great. It’s also worth thinking about the artwork for the tracks you are uploading. Music with good quality artwork that draws in visitors attention will get more plays and more shares. Having a consistent brand image is super-important.
Finding a designer is easy and cheap, check out platforms like 99Designs or 48HourLogo where you can source designers quickly and easily. If you want to know more about the importance of branding for music click here to read a recent article we wrote on the topic.
2. Fan-Gating / Follow To Download
The fastest and easiest way to give your numbers a boost is to use “Fan Gates“. This is where users are forced to follow your Soundcloud account and share the track before they can download it. It might seem like a bad idea to give away your music for free but one track is a small price to pay for a big return in terms of fan-base, who may go on to buy or legally stream your music in future. Setting up a follow-to-download page is easy, there are several online tools to do this. Check out our full list of services offering this function by clicking here. Personally I recommend Hypeddit and ClickDJ. Thats not to say they are any better or worse than their competitors, they just happen to have worked for me in the past.
You can also use fan-gates to lock tracks to your Spotify account or other social networks.
Once you have created a gate you can add it to your Soundcloud player instead of a ‘buy’ link and drive new fans to follow your page.
3. Spread your music via Blogs
Bloggers can help you reach a far bigger audenice and if they write about your music they will usually include the Soundcloud player with your track. This will help your music spread and may earn you some new plays and fans. If you are using a fan-gate it will encourage more people to download your music and therefore follow you. Reaching out to blogs can sometimes seem like a tough task, we suggest using SubmitHub where you can send your music to relevant blogs and get guaranteed feedback on your music. If you want to push even harder, check out this list of music PR companies who may be able to help you.
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- SubmitHub
Some blogs like Soundplate.com also have ‘user submitted music‘ sections where you can add your own music. Do your research and make sure you only contact blogs that write about the type of music you make.
4. Be Social & Get Networking
Soundcloud is more than just a place to upload your latest music. It is also a huge social network so make sure you are being social. Thank people for commenting on your music or re-posting, contact larger Soundcloud pages and offer to trade re-posts or ask them nicely to support you by sharing your music if they like what they hear! Remember to always be polite and not pushy and please, don’t spam everyone. Only contact relevant accounts who might like your music.
5. Use your other social networks & Email list to grow your Soundcloud Fanbase
Once you have your Soundcloud page looking good and full of great content be sure to hit your Email list and ask them directly to follow you on Soundcloud (use a download gate if you would like to offer them something in return for following). If you have not yet started a mailing list, there is no time like the present. Pick a newsletter sending tool from this list and get cracking, your Email list will become a vital music marketing tool as you grow your fanbase.
You should also be sure to post your latest Soundcloud uploads to your Facebook page and Twitter account. Be sure to write a personalised message about each track you share on as this will highly increase the chances of you getting some plays and follows. Don’t be shy about directly asking your existing fanbase to follow you on Soundcloud. They are fans because they like your music so they are likely to want to stay up to date with it by following your page!
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- Get sharing!
Finally, make sure you post the link to your Soundcloud profile and embed your latest tracks on your artist website. If you do not already have an artist website we suggest checking out this guide on how to start one.
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