Being an independent artist isn't easy, but having control of your music can have great rewards. When you want to publish and promote your music, it’s best to find a platform that’s most suitable for your career.
SoundCloud and Audiomack are both very popular streaming and audio discovery platforms. For years, there’s been an ongoing debate regarding which service is better for artists.
Since they both offer similar features, choosing the right platform can be tricky. In this article, we’ll provide you with information to help you decide which one is better for you.
Why Artists Can Benefit From Using SoundCloud or Audiomack
Both Audiomack and SoundCloud are great platforms for upcoming and experienced artists. On both these platforms, you’ll find tools designed to enhance your reach as an artist.
SoundCloud and Audiomack both understand that not all artists can release music on large platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify. With this, they’ve included features to allow artists to do more than just release music. Here are some of them:
Artist Monetization
Both platforms require authentication before you can monetize your music. To become authenticated on SoundCloud, you are required to be a SoundCloud Pro or Pro Unlimited subscriber, have at least 500 plays in the last month, and be located in one of the countries listed by SoundCloud. This means that if you're a SoundCloud artist with millions of streams from an unlisted country, you still can't monetize your music.
On the other hand, Audiomack does not restrict monetization to specific countries. The Audiomack Monetization Program allows artists around the globe to generate revenue. But, you're required to have at least 25 followers and two original uploads. Unlike SoundCloud, Audiomack does not require a premium subscription for monetization.
In addition, both platforms include a feature that allows fans to help artists monetize through donations. Audiomack allows fans to purchase support badges for specific songs or albums, whereas SoundCloud lets you add a direct link to your profile for donations.
Winner: Audiomack
Pricing
SoundCloud offers a basic free plan where you can listen to music and upload music for free. However, if you’re an artist looking to distribute your songs to major music services, you’ll need to pay a monthly fee of $2.50. Alternatively, if you want to grow your audience, SoundCloud offers a pro plan for as low as $12 per month, when paid annually.
On the other hand, Audiomack is completely free for creators. In fact, this streaming service does not have any premium accounts, which means all users have full access to its features. You can also upload as many songs as you’d like. Audiomack also has an artist dashboard wherein you’ll receive stats on your music’s performance.
While SoundCloud is also a good platform for creatives, Audiomack seems to make more effort to provide creatives with free tools to enhance their music careers.
Winner: Audiomack
Audience Reach
While Audiomack has useful features for artists, it has its limitations. With SoundCloud's premium plan, you’ll have advanced features available to help you grow your audience.
Both Audiomack and SoundCloud allow you to pitch your songs to top playlists, which helps your music get discovered. Both platforms can provide you with insights to help you track your growth, such as total plays, comments, and more. These insights will update you on your music stats and allow you to track your audience.
However, SoundCloud includes extended features such as Repost by SoundCloud, which is listed as one of Spotify's preferred music distributors. With this, if you’re ready to take your career to the next step as an artist, then SoundCloud seems like a solid option.
Winner: SoundCloud
Music Discovery
While Audiomack was initially targeted at a specific genre, the streaming platform has become a lot more like SoundCloud, where anyone can release music, regardless of the genre.
However, Audiomack is still largely dominated by hip hop and electronic music. Comparatively, SoundCloud has a wider variety of artists across genres.
If you’re looking to compete with new music from other upcoming artists, SoundCloud is the best place to do that. But, if you want the challenge of building your niche audience in a smaller community, Audiomack might be the platform for you.
Winner: Tied
Choose the Best Streaming Platform for You as an Artist
While both SoundCloud and Audiomack understand the importance of helping independent artists through online resources, the points mentioned above should help you understand how they are different. Depending on what you’re looking for, both SoundCloud and Audiomack have their strengths as music sharing platforms.
For example, if you’re a creative looking to make the most of developing your career at no cost, Audiomack has your back. Alternatively, if you’re an independent artist who doesn't mind sacrificing some money, then SoundCloud is the way to go.