The Little-Known Secret of the Music Industry

The Little-Known Secret of the Music Industry

The music industry is hiding a big secret. Streaming platforms promise to bring your music to the world and help you build a loyal fanbase. With that fanbase, you can sell tickets, merchandise, and even your music to comfortably make a living from your art.

But the truth is… that promise isn’t reliable. Most artists find that this model doesn’t work for them. Why? Because streaming services don’t share information about your fans with you. Instead, they build a business model by selling you access to your own audience.

It’s not just streaming services—ticketing and merchandise platforms also withhold fan information. The music industry might appear to be a supportive ecosystem for artists, but in reality, these platforms expect you to provide content to fuel their profits while keeping your audience data out of reach.

SoundCloud Brings Fans Closer to Artists

At SoundCloud, they believe that artists deserve to connect directly with their fans. Since its inception, SoundCloud has built a platform to help artists share their music and build a community. They understand that creating a loyal fanbase and being able to activate those fans is the only sustainable way to turn music into a lasting career.

That’s why SoundCloud launched Fans, a new product on SoundCloud for Artists. Fans helps artists identify their most valuable listeners by leveraging proprietary data from Fan Powered Royalties, interaction behavior, and audience reach. You can even sort fans by metrics like comments, listening habits, or sharing activities.

Engage and Grow with Your Fans

Knowing who your fans are isn’t enough. With Fans, you can easily send direct messages to thank them, share previews of new music, sell tickets, or simply chat. Regardless of where you are in your career, you can bring fans along on your journey and let them help you succeed.

SoundCloud is expanding the beta version of Fans to over 50,000 Next Pro artists. This is just the beginning, so stay tuned for more updates. In the meantime, some artists have already tested Fans and experienced incredible results:

• Armani White used Fans to invite his top listeners to a special meetup at the SoundCloud LA office, where he performed new tracks and connected with his fans.
• Dot Cromwell boosted his streaming numbers and engagement by personally interacting with fans, leading to higher revenue through Fan Powered Royalties.
• Jordan Hawkins leveraged Fans to promote his shows and share new music directly with his audience, building strong, personalized connections.

Fans empowers you to find and engage with your community from day one. When you have the ability to identify and connect with your biggest supporters, the possibilities are endless.

If you’re a Next Pro artist, visit SoundCloud for Artists to learn how to access Fans today. For additional information, check the Help Center. Moreover, since not all songs on SoundCloud can be downloaded, ScloudToMp3 provides a free service to download your favorite tracks in high quality easily.