Here are some tips on how to optimize your SoundCloud account and profile to get the most out of the service. As a general rule, for any type of social media, the more work you put into it, the more results you will get. Making a name for yourself on SoundCloud takes time and requires a lot of work, however it is a great way for musicians to get good exposure through sharing, collaboration and community real sound cloud plays.
1. First Impressions – Your personal profile picture is the first impression viewers will get of you. Use interesting images for each track. Try to incorporate some visual art, either your own or from a contact on another social network like Tumblr. Your biography also plays a very important role, try to keep it short and concise, usually people are not interested if you took drum lessons when you were four years old, even less if it is not relevant to your current career as a producer.
2. Spotlight – The Spotlight feature allows you to have up to 5 tracks at the top of your profile. Highlight your best work to get the most out of this feature.
3. Tags – Make sure to use SoundCloud tags so people can find your tracks. Be as descriptive as possible when applying labels. Write specific genres and try to anticipate what people are going to search for on SoundCloud.
Take note and try to emulate other successful producers on Soundcloud. What are they doing well?
4. No Spam – Always keep your comments constructive and do not generate spam. Resist the temptation to connect your SoundCloud to timed comments on other people’s tracks. Remember when interacting on SoundCloud that most of the people in the community are those who are truly interested in music, not just trying to push their own agenda. Try not to send huge unsolicited promotional blasts.
5. Keep your feed alive – SoundCloud increasingly welcomes non-musicians to its user base who use the service to listen to and discover new music. Your feed can be a good representation of your musical taste, as well as a showcase for your original tracks. Using re-posts instead of just bookmarking is a good way to keep your feed interesting and even have another producer return the favor.
6. Use comments – Consider leaving a call to action in your track description. If you’re looking for feedback or constructive criticism, just let us know in the description. This not only helps you improve, it also encourages others to interact with your music, which will leave a greater impression on them. Remember that it is always a good idea to respond to all comments. They could help build relationships and develop new collaborations.
7. Use Groups – Groups are a good way to meet like-minded producers. They are also good for discovering new tracks to mix or for pure inspiration. If you post a track to a group, consider putting it as a free download, this will create a good impression.
8. Get creative with promotions – Try to think of creative ways to get your music to more fans. Boosting one social network will boost all your social media. Constantly upload previews of your tracks, bootlegs or other material that might interest your followers.
9. Keep your audience up to date – If you are constantly having presentations, then it is worth using a service like Gigatools, this helps you automatically update all your social media pages, including SoundCloud. The interface can help you keep things coherent and organized.
10. Spread the word – Share your songs and other people’s songs on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, message boards and your blog too. If you share a friend’s track outside of SoundCloud, it will leave a big impression and maybe they’ll return the favor.