soundcloud promotion

[Dannyc]

any exclusive tracks i’ve wrote so far for libraries i’ve asked them do they have a problem with me uploading them to my soundcloud page and they haven’t. i guess alot of libraries feel different about this issue. i like my tracks to reach people and hidden away in a library somewhere is not an ideal way.

does anyone have any good tips for driving more people to your soundcloud page? i get some emails through soundcloud from companies claiming they help drive listeners to your page, are these things scams? i have my stuff up about 2 years now with have about 30 tracks up with nearly 7,000 plays in that time but i see other composers with 100,000 plays, how did they manage that?

[NY Composer]

There are about 30 CL ads that claim they can hack your viewer count.

IMO, I think the quality of your tracks are more important to a library than how many plays it gets.

[Dannyc]

yes you’re right but its more from the want of reaching more people out there who might like my music. its not just for the benefit of the libraries i was thinking.

[Mike Marino]

There are a lot of factors at play here but some factors that come to mind are:
* How long have the other people been at this?
* Is your music the type of music that people would normally listen to? What I mean is that if you’re writing (for example) reality tv dramedy cues it’s not a particular style that most people would listen to by itself. If you’re writing trailer/cinematic promotional style music you need to find where those people flock and direct from there.
* Where else are you posting your music for people to hear and do those places target more composers or the general public? And to that point, who is your end consumer for your music?
* Try not to get caught in the comparison of numbers for other peoples’ SC pages or FB pages, etc. Some things aren’t truly as they appear. On the flip side though be really honest about what you’re hearing. Is it possible that their music is that much better (written, produced, attractiveness of genre, etc).
* Check out some of Gary Vaynerchuk’s content on youtube. He’s got some insight into music industry marketing. Sometimes you’ve gotta be part of a conversation before you can start your own.

Just some things off the top of my head. I’m not saying they’re right or wrong or better or worse than what you’re already doing. Just hoping it spurs a better idea or result for what you’re after. You don’t have to answer those questions here either. Just things to think about in your mind.

[Dannyc]

thanks mike some good points. yes up to now the only open places were i link to my music tend to be composer forums. other than that its just friends and family so i suppose it makes sense to have that many plays. the point you make about how long others have been posting their music is also a good one. i’ve been uploading about 2 years and i can see that others have been posting for 5 or more. anyway this is not anything to do with popularity but more to do with finding my audience for my music. libraries are great but only if they’re placing your music. if not your music is just sitting hidden from the world and as a composer who might be proud of certain tracks they have written doesn’t sit well with me. i just feel soundcloud could do more to help composers connect with those listeners that like that genre hence why i thought there were tools or methods in place to help people connect with their listeners. at the moment it just seems that its based on if somebody happens to come across your page by chance or by using your own method of social media.

btw i presume if you have exclusive tracks in a library you cant post them on youtube is that correct? i’m not even overly sure i should be posting them on soundcloud.

[NY Composer]

Danny,

When you sign with an Exclusive, the contracts states that they have the right to use your track for usually “All media”. I have never seen a clause where you can’t let people listen to your track as a demo, etc. You just can’t let another publisher use it for media.

[StevieBlunder]

This is an interesting topic to me. I came here today to get opinions of my website I’ve built for the very reason that I cant stand Sound Cloud. I set up a page and even bought the Pro version just to be able to drive Music Supes and such to a place to hear my music. I was stunned to see that SC is set so that when my song ends another FROM A DIFFERENT ARTIST starts to play. This is exactly the opposite of professonal to me. Their response is that they see SC as a music community and were oblivious to the idea that sync composer would not want their page to be a springboard for someone else’s page.

Also, I didnt care about # of views at all , just getting decision makers hearing my music. For some reason SC takes it upon themselves to post comments like “it looks pretty empty here” on a song that hasnt gotten many plays. Thats just stupid to me and at least there should be an opt out.

I know SC is very popular but I cant see why for songwriters

[Mark_Petrie]

I can’t even use SoundCloud for some library tracks – ones published by Universal are recognized and blocked from being uploaded.
It’s definitely not perfect… anyone got a better alternative?

[Mike Marino]

This might help:

[StevieBlunder]

…also switch to a decaf as time permits

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