SoundCloud Logo
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5.4

Overall Score

Author: Kaitlyn Short

LAST UPDATED: October 13th, 2023

SoundCloud is a Swedish audio distribution platform currently based in Berlin, Germany and available around the world. SoundCloud allows its members to record, upload, promote, and share their original content. According to the company’s data, users upload about 12 hours worth of audio onto the site every minute, and the content is evenly split between music superstars and lesser-known artists. Over half of the songs uploaded to the site are played within the first thirty minutes, and the vast majority of uploaded music is listened to at least once. Since its creation in 2007, SoundCloud has challenged the dominance of virtually every other audio distribution platform available on the web. 

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The Good

SoundCloud is known for its impressive array of features:

  • SoundCloud allows users to upload their music to a personalized URL. Sound files are also easy to embed, which means that SoundCloud can be combined with Twitter and Facebook to spread music farther and faster.
  • SoundCloud users may create and join groups with common interests, where they can collect, rate, and share relevant media amongst themselves.
  • For no charge, SoundCloud users may listen to as much audio as they want, upload up to 180 minutes (three hours) of audio to their profiles, create playlists, "Like," "Repost," and "Share" music, and "Follow" other users. The free package also lets users make downloads of their audio complimentary.
  • With SoundCloud PRO, which costs $6 a month or $55 a year if purchased all at once, users may upload six hours of audio content, view stats that include plays by country, and pin tracks and playlists to the top of their profiles.
  • With SoundCloud PRO UNLIMITED, which costs $15 a month or $135 a year if purchased all at once, users may upload limitless audio, view stats that include plays and traffic by city, and view the web pages and apps where their music is being played.
  • Both subscription plans include a 30-day money back guarantee and users can gift subscription plans to other artists.
  • All music that a user likes is saved to their "Collection," which is accessible from any page. A user's Collection is divided into four sections: Overview, Likes, Playlists, and Following. Artists that users choose to follow will appear under "Following." Users can also shuffle the music in their Collection by toggling the "Shuffle" button.
  • Users may choose to upload a file saved on their computer or record through the SoundCloud website itself.
  • SoundCloud offers apps for different mobile operating systems, including Android, iOS, and Firefox OS.
  • Users may add comments at any point along a song, and those comments display automatically when the track reaches that point.
  • SoundCloud offers an in-house messaging app that lets users communicate with one another through the website.
  • Unlike most other websites that stream music, SoundCloud features keyboard shortcuts to navigate music, search the catalog, and change the audio volume.
  • SoundCloud has mobile apps available for Android, iOS, and Amazon.
  • Users don't have to select a particular playlist in order to listen to music continuously; SoundCloud will play songs with similar sounds after users choose a single song, whether from the main page or their Collection.
  • Prior to registration, SoundCloud's homepage automatically populates with new and popular music in the network. The recommendations change with every refresh. After registration, the homepage becomes a user's feed, which displays new content from artists and labels they follow.
  • With most songs on the site, clicking the song name will bring users to an expanded content page with a description of the content from the artist, recommendations for additional listening, and space to leave comments. Selecting the artist's name brings users to the artist's page, with all uploaded content listed.
  • All content is tagged, and users can use these tags to sort their own content and others' and explore new music. Examples include: #beethoven, #future, #deephouse, and #hiphop.
  • Users can explore new music through the "Explore" tab. It is divided into two categories: Trending Music and Trending Audio. Music is further divided into genres.
  • Whatever music is currently playing will continue to play while users upload their own music, unless they are recording. The music does not automatically shut off, which provides for a fairly seamless listening experience.
  • As SoundCloud is a distribution platform and not an Internet radio service, there is no skip limit. Users may skip songs as often as they like.
  • In addition to music files, SoundCloud hosts content from speechmakers, comedians, poets, and authors.
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The Bad

  • Single sound file sizes are limited to 2GB and total upload time per week is limited to 30 hours.
  • SoundCloud is among the more expensive audio distribution services.
  • SoundCloud does not offer censor options for explicit lyrics.
  • SoundCloud does not display lyrics to most songs.
  • Song quality is variable, because users compress their own audio and upload it independently. However, songs' bitrates are usually displayed as they stream.
  • Users cannot "unlike" a song without playing it first.
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The Bottom Line

SoundCloud's popularity is well deserved, as it is among the most accessible audio distribution services available. Its features are wide in scope, but simple to use. The service is ideal for new and veteran artists alike to share their music with a well-established audience. Its inclusive and ever-growing collection of music is well suited for anyone looking to discover new sounds.

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Star Rating

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4.2

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276 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

50%

4 grade

26%

3 grade

18%

2 grade

5%

1 grade

2%

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Mike Tomancik Prairieville, LA

How about updating your clunky interface? A -30 seconds and a +30 seconds button would work so much better than that slidey-thing that sometimes freezes and sometimes decides to jump back to the beginning as soon as you touch it. I have a Note 5 and didn't always do that. It's still clunky though and uncomfortable to work with, especially while driving.

8 years ago

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jakira johnson Tallahassee, FL

Soundcloud is a great app for listening to music. They are a lot of artist variety on Soundcloud and you can even find music that may not be on apple music. I love that Soundcloud allows anyone to upload music no matter how big or little of a content creater you are. My only issue with Soundcloud is that they have so many advertisements in between music changes.

4 years ago

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Olivia Hardy Olney, MD

Regarding profanity, there is lots of it even in songs that don't have it, because people post comments on different parts of the song. Don't know if there is a way to turn off those comments yet. The fact that Soundcloud itself uses profanity in their Rules page shows that, whatever their rules about profanity, it wouldn't be my rule. I have chosen 17 because I wouldn't want to subject myself to the language in the posts.

4 years ago

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Hannah Thompson South Jordan, UT

Sound cloud can have a lot of music that isn’t good because anyone can upload anything, but it is a great platform for non signed artists or DJs to get their music out and there’s music that you can only find on SoundCloud. I have friends that upload their beats and raps that are really good! It’s sometimes hard to look up an artist but it’s still a good app.

6 years ago

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Anoushka Ahuja Tallahassee, FL

Soundcloud is a great way to stream artists for free and is also a great way to listen to songs that aren't always on other streaming platforms. Sometimes the app can be hard to use though and it does have its glitches which can make it hard to use.

3 years ago

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Christyan Bennett New Orleans, LA

I recently downloaded Sound Cloud but I didn’t really enjoy it. They didn’t have many songs to offer and the songs they do offer all seem to fall under the same genre. So if you’re looking for an app that has a large variety of songs I wouldn’t suggest this one.

5 years ago

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Sam Stewart Saint George, UT

SoundCloud is not your typical music streaming service. It is free and very popular among young, up and coming artists. If you are into the classics, or popular music, SoundCloud is not for you, but if you are into discovering new artists and helping them grow in popularity, SoundCloud is a great option for you.

6 years ago

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Garrett Mingus Provo, UT

Sound cloud is not my favorite way to listen to music. It is all about discovering new artists, remixes, creating music. If that is your scene then you will probably like Sound Cloud, but if not and you are wanting to listen to more well known music then go with something else.

6 years ago

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Liana Colorado Springs, CO

You would think that a site that revolved around supporting indie artists would let you discover those artists easier. Search functions are almost nonexistent, but if you get linked there by an independent artist, it's pretty simple to use. Kind of a pain in the neck to build a collection of music through it, though.

6 years ago

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Dasha Directo Provo, UT

Soundcloud is great when it comes to underground music. There are other albums like Chance the Rapper's on it that isn't on other streaming platforms. However, I think it's rather limited. It's not my favorite music streaming company.

6 years ago

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Katie Howard Pleasant Grove, UT

Soundcloud is a great way for people to post their own original music so others can hear it, but beyond that there's not much there. I like its accessibility, but there's no quality control in the uploads (which is as it should be if you want it to remain accessible to everyone). Basic service, but very useful.

6 years ago

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Nathan Glade American Fork, UT

Soundcloud is great because you can listen to songs for free, but it's more... of a low quality music library in my opinion. Great for new artists to make their way into the music industry, but not the cleanest layout and structure for listeners.

7 years ago

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Lailapuga Mesa, AZ

Soundcloud allows for a lot of music content to be attainable for free but at the cost of listening to constant ads which are always the same. The platform also just included the chance to see comments on your phone meaning it is barely keeping up.

7 years ago

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eunj ,

I have used Soundcloud for podcasts in the past and it has exceeded my expectations in availability and user friendliness. A very easy service to use in all categories.

5 years ago

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Simone Harris Tallahassee, FL

SoundCloud is a decent streaming app, and they seem to be great about supporting smaller artist. This makes it difficult to navigate through the app as there are a lot of random songs or edited versions of well-known songs.

4 years ago

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Nazjah Yates Jacksonville, FL

Soundcloud is a decent music streaming service. The only thing is the ads are frequent and even when I did play for Go+, the did not have all the recent music from my favorite artists available to stream.

4 years ago

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Randi Nelson San José, SJ

Sound cloud is nice because you can get your own music uploaded and published for others to listen to. I like SoundCloud and the variety of music you can find on it. It wouldn’t be my first pick for music however

5 years ago

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Jasmine King New Orleans, LA

SoundCloud, although very accessible and easy to use, does have it's fair share of flaws. The premium subscription is very annoying, and not having a majority of popular songs available for free is quite irritating as well.

5 years ago

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Ariyana Miller Riverview, FL

This platform has potential that it hasn't quite reached yet. There are way too many ads on the free version as well as slow loading times for the music. The music selection is okay.

6 years ago

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Alex Shirley Pleasant Grove, UT

Soundcloud is not as easy to use as other apps such as spotify and apple music. But, it is a good way for artists in the community to connect together and publish original music.

6 years ago

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Whitney Stanko Smithfield, UT

Doesn't always work the best for me when I attempt to use it. It is nice to be able to listen to my friends music that they have put up. Other then that not my favorite way to stream music.

6 years ago

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Alyssa skinner Gilbert, AZ

I used sound cloud for a few months and didn’t love it. I felt like they have a very limited variety of music and my app often didn’t work. I ended up using Apple Music and have loved it.

6 years ago

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Katie Marz Orem, UT

I like Soundcloud but I have only ever used it because I wanted to listen to a specific artist that is only on that app. They don't have a ton of options with music, but I do like how the app works.

6 years ago

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Brinly Harward American Fork, UT

Sometimes the connection is spotty, but I like being able to find hole in the wall artists. And a lot of my friends have made songs and downloaded them onto SoundCloud so I can listen to their music.

7 years ago

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Hannah Cummins Gilbert, AZ

I love the content on SoundCloud but the actual function of the app needs to be approved. Its hard to search for music easily and the way the playlists are set up are not easy to use either.

7 years ago

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Derrick Martinez South Jordan, UT

The only place to listen to your friends mix tape. If you want real music look else wear. One of my least favorite music sharing a apps.

7 years ago

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Cindy R Tallahassee, FL

I think SoundCloud is a good source of free music but you need wifi to listen to the music for free and they don’t have every single song on this app.

4 years ago

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Ben Knight Salt Lake City, UT

For me, SoundCloud has some music that is not on Apple Music or Spotify. It is reasonably priced, but would prefer other music apps before SoundCloud.

4 years ago

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Jacobrobot321 Pearl River, LA

I upload all my private tracks to soundcloud to listen to, though i never find any good artist there and there is a pay system in place after so many uploads

5 years ago

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Breanne Stanko Logan, UT

Not great for streaming music but it is a good place to listen to music that your friends have made and put up there. Hard to work and get other music to stream.

6 years ago

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ally blackhurst Pleasant Grove, UT

Soundcloud is great in a lot of ways. It has a lot of songs and artists that Apple music and Spotify just don’t have, but it is kind of hard to run and not very convenient.

7 years ago

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Jazmyne Tallahassee, FL

Despite the number of ads that pop up, SoundCloud is very convenient and gives local artists the chance to voice their music on a platform.

4 years ago

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Jarrett Ingram Newport News, VA

The version I've always used is free, but they seem to not have many of the artists/songs that I would like to listen to.

4 years ago

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Karina Aguilar Managua, MN

sound cloud has been so good to me, it provided easy access when I was uploading my own recorded music for my friends to hear!

5 years ago

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hmarashi Newark, NJ

The constant ads and offers have killed this service for me, which is unfortunate as this is a haven for up and coming artists.

5 years ago

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Antonio Jupiter, FL

I listen to SoundCloud occasionalky as it’s feee to use and contains many genres of music. I like more than most other services for many reasons.

6 years ago

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matthew Logan, UT

nice to be able to listen to music that my friends make and then post via Soundcloud but other then that its not a good streaming music place.

6 years ago

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Myah Smith American Fork, UT

I actually was not the biggest fan of SoundCloud. It was kind of hard to find the music that was not as popular. But it was still nice.

6 years ago

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Autumn Kallunki Provo, UT

I use SoundCloud to listen to podcasts I like for free. The downfall to it is that you can't listen to a lot of music that I'd like to.

6 years ago

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Vy Ha Birmingham, AL

Not all my artists are on SoundCloud so it makes for frustrating listening experiences trying to search for a song

4 years ago

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jaci finch Corpus Christi, TX

I would not recommend SoundCloud for music steaming in general, but I use it to identify songs sometimes.

5 years ago

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Cori Jacobsen Ollerton Alpine, UT

Not easy to follow or get into. It is not a site I choose to search for music. It is usually a last resort.

6 years ago

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jordan cummins Gilbert, AZ

Good music but seems hard to search for songs sometimes. Also songs just disappeared out of my playlist sometimes.

7 years ago

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Trent Provo, UT

I have not had a lot of success listening to sound cloud. It seems like there is usually a problem or something.

7 years ago

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Lee Saint Jean

I liked SoundCloud better adless but any song I can’t find on Apple is most likely on SoundCloud

4 years ago

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Valentino Chanel South Jordan, UT

Good place to listen to all kinds of artists and remixes. The site is a bit messy.

5 years ago

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Scotlynn Blair Phoenix, AZ

Love the option that this gives to new artists but it really is kind of difficult to use

6 years ago

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Gabrielle Civil Chapel Hill, NC

Great for undiscovered artists. Huge selection of music with limited adds.

4 years ago

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Heather Chen Ithaca, NY

Good app but too many ads so please limit ad amount

4 years ago