Get your music on SoundCloud

Two ways onto SoundCloud

SoundCloud is an open platform. Anyone can make an account and upload tracks to it, and fans comment, repost and follow. It is also a streaming service with free and Go+ tiers, used worldwide and popular for hip-hop, electronic music and new artists.

Because of that, there are two ways a song can get there. You can upload it yourself, or a distributor or label can deliver it through SoundCloud's supply chain, the same way music reaches Spotify or Apple Music. SoundCloud calls the second kind rightsholder-managed tracks.

SoundCloud uses delivered tracks for monetisation, for its Go subscriptions, and for content matching that protects the recording from copies.

Which route to choose

Uploading yourself suits things that are not releases: demos, previews, works in progress, a track you want feedback on. You control it fully and can replace or delete it whenever you like.

Delivery suits finished releases. The song reaches SoundCloud with the same ISRC, UPC, artwork and release date as every other store, and what it earns arrives in one wallet with your Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube money.

Choose one route per song. If you upload a track yourself and it is also delivered, the same recording can appear twice — on your profile and on the profile it was delivered to — and the two copies split the plays.

Getting delivered tracks onto the right profile

The distributor's delivery decides which profile a track lands on. When SoundCloud cannot match a delivery to an existing profile, it creates an auto-generated profile to hold it, because it has to host the content it receives.

If that happens, there are two fixes, and both go through the distributor rather than SoundCloud:

• Merge the profiles. The distributor asks SoundCloud to fold the auto-generated profile into your real one. SoundCloud warns that the plays and social signals on the auto-generated profile are lost.
• Take the tracks down. The distributor sends a takedown, and the release can be delivered again correctly.

SoundCloud only moves delivered tracks to another profile on written confirmation from the rightsholder. So if your release lands in the wrong place, tell us and we raise it with SoundCloud — writing to SoundCloud yourself will not move it.

SoundCloud for Artists

SoundCloud for Artists is SoundCloud's set of tools for musicians, sold as two paid plans, Artist and Artist Pro. They include more upload time (unlimited on Artist Pro), Amplify, which promotes a track to new listeners, the option to replace a track without losing its stats, mastering, monetisation of your own uploads, and SoundCloud's own distribution to other services. Artist Pro adds audience statistics and community tools.

You do not need either plan for tracks we deliver: they earn through us. The plans are about your own uploads and your profile.

Monetising your own uploads

SoundCloud's own monetisation has its own rules. It is for original material you fully own — remixes, unofficial covers, mashups and DJ sets are excluded — and tracks must run between 30 seconds and 10 minutes. Artists who monetise this way are paid under Fan-Powered Royalties, which SoundCloud describes as paying you from your own listeners rather than from a pooled average. It applies to plays on SoundCloud only.

Releasing on SoundCloud, step by step

1. Apply and set up your artistAccounts are opened by application — tell us about your music and we usually have you ready within one working day. Use your artist name exactly as it appears on your SoundCloud profile.
2. Add the release detailsTitle, artists, genre, release date and territories. Credit featured artists as artists rather than in the title.
3. Upload artwork and audioSquare artwork of at least 2400 × 2400 px (3000 × 3000 is ideal) and lossless WAV, FLAC or AIFF. Both are checked on upload.
4. Pick SoundCloud and the other storesEvery plan includes every store at no extra charge. We deliver approved releases within 24 hours; how fast SoundCloud publishes is up to SoundCloud.
5. Check where it landedOnce the release is live, find it on SoundCloud. If it sits on an auto-generated profile or someone else's, tell us and we raise it with SoundCloud.

Set your release date two to three weeks ahead, so SoundCloud and every other store go live on the same day.

How SoundCloud pays you

Tracks we deliver earn from SoundCloud's advertising and subscription income, which SoundCloud pays to us for your plays. There is no fixed amount per play, and we do not quote one.

Stores report in arrears — most about two months after the month the plays happened. SoundCloud's earnings land in your TempoDigital wallet in US dollars, and above $70 you can withdraw by Payoneer, PayPal, Wise or bank transfer.

Mistakes to avoid on SoundCloud

• The same song by both routes. Two copies split the plays and confuse listeners. Delivered releases and your own uploads should be different songs.
• Trying to edit a delivered track in SoundCloud. You cannot. Change the release with us and we send the update.
• Ignoring an auto-generated profile. The longer it collects plays, the more you lose when it is merged. Check where your release landed on day one.