There are various ways and opportunities for individuals, small businesses, or large enterprises to monetize in the music streaming industry. However, the deal is not as easy as it seems. For example, for any rising singer or artist, increasing audience reach without a third party is simply challenging. They would need a platform that helps to make their business viable and earn money from their passion.
One popular online streaming platform for artists to share and distribute their music is SoundCloud. There is a premium version of the service that can function without advertisements, and the free version supports advertisements.
According to statistics, the global market value of the music streaming industry is projected to reach $46.9 billion by the year 2027. With such huge traction and increased demand for digital music platforms, the industry will continue to expand significantly.
So, let us explore SoundCloud, the popular player in this market, how it evolved, its ways of monetization, and how hiring trustworthy web development services can help build a similar platform to SoundCloud.
Overview of SoundCloud
SoundCloud, founded by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, is an online music-sharing and distribution platform. The goal of introducing such a platform was to provide musicians with a medium to reach a wide audience, interact with them, and share their work. Users in 190 countries have listened to over 190 million music from 20 million creators on it.
The platform enables users to record and upload audio to share privately or publicly on the web. In addition, the creators or the artists can monitor their performance and engage with the listeners, thanks to the availability of the comments box.
How Does SoundCloud Work?
To get started with SoundCloud, you need to:
- Visit Soundcloud.com from your device and create an account. You can do this via the existing credentials of Google, Facebook, etc.
- Go to the homepage menu – Upload your own – Upload your first track. Also, you can click on the option ‘Start uploading today’ on the top right corner of the page.
- Add relevant description, title, genre, and other information to the track.
- Click on save and you are done setting up the account.
Upon the account setup, you can choose from a range of subscription options available. These are helpful when your account is well established and your business starts to expand.
How Does SoundCloud Make Money?
SoundCloud makes money in a few different ways. Let’s dive in to explore.
Advertising
SoundCloud earns money based on two models: Per-impression basis or Cost-per-thousand. Advertisers can choose between an Advanced (higher CPM) campaign or a Simple (lower CPM) campaign. Additionally, there is a $25 minimum ad spend per promotion. From here, the creator receives a piece of the advertising revenue, which helps in providing the platform for listeners free of cost.
SoundCloud Go and Go+
With SoundCloud Go, listeners can enjoy the tracks and can help artists grow without listening to ads. There are two premium subscriptions available, and both allow listeners access to additional benefits. These include:
- SoundCloud Go: Listeners can listen to music without advertisements and save an infinite number of songs for offline listening at $4.99/month.
- SoundCloud Go+ ($9.99/month): Listeners get all the access to the aforementioned features plus access to the full SoundCloud music catalog at just $9.99/month. Users can also mix tracks with DJ apps and get access to high-quality audio.
SoundCloud Pro Unlimited
SoundCloud Pro Unlimited is another revenue-generation premium subscription option available to artists. This enables them to:
- Get money for each time one of their tunes is played.
- Gain access to listener insights.
- Access track’s stats even after its replacement.
- Take advantage of an infinite upload time.
Here, SoundCloud bills musicians $16 if they are invoiced monthly and $12 if they are billed annually.
Track Mastering
In addition to all the revenue generation techniques, SoundCloud charges $4.99 per track for mastering services rendered to artists. It assists them in getting their audio ready for release. Furthermore, a SoundCloud Pro Unlimited subscription allows artists to master three tracks for free each month. After that, each additional track can be purchased for $3.99.
Events and Collaborations
SoundCloud is a community as well as a medium to share and promote music. SoundCloud facilitates communication and collaboration among artists through its events and collaborative capabilities.
In addition, SoundCloud organizes several international live events and fests where musicians may play live and connect with other artists and industry experts. These gatherings offer beneficial chances for development, visibility, and possible collaborations.
How much does it cost to build a SoundCloud-like Platform?
The cost to develop a platform like SoundCloud requires sufficient investment. However, various factors impact the cost such as the need to hire offshore mobile app developers, the platform complexity, and the required feature set.
For example, the platform complexity including whether it will facilitate high-quality audio streaming, advanced analytics, and more or not will influence in analyzing the pricing. In addition, the features and functionalities like user profiles, social sharing options, and monetization ways, all add to overall development time, efforts, and expenses.
In addition, the need for ongoing support and maintenance significantly impacts the cost.
Conclusion
To sum up, the SoundCloud experience has a lot to benefit from. The platform continues to be a good option for both artists and listeners.
Are you also planning to build a similar platform SoundCloud? It could be a great deal
for your business to make money from such a music streaming medium. For this, you can partner with Orion eSolutions, a reputable software development company bringing various advantages that can enhance the overall project’s success. We utilize our expertise in custom software development, providing high-quality, innovative solutions that help meet end-user expectations.
