As a Soundcloud user, once you’ve made an account, the first thing you will see as a default on the home screen is the Stream. Soundcloud’s Stream is comparable to Twitter’s feed or Facebook’s Timeline. The Stream chronologically displays artists’ sounds, including your own, which can vary from a simple sound, to a song, to a playlist or album. You can also remove an artists’ posts from your Stream by unfollowing them. Facebook’s mission, described as, “’the default is social’ in order to ‘make the world more open and connected’”(Van Djick, Chapter 3) seemed to have influenced Soundcloud’s creators, as they followed suit in making sociality and sharing of utmost importance in their platform. This is evident in the Soundcloud interface as each post has an icon to play the sound, and underneath of the post there are icons to like, repost, share, and an icon to include the sound in a playlist or station. Some tracks have links to where the track can be downloaded or streamed from elsewhere, although not all tracks have this option. The ability to share sounds multiple ways is crucial to how artists on Soundcloud generate an audience on the site; the artists can add metadata to their posts in the form of tags that other users can search for in order to, first, increase their sounds visibility or ‘findability,’ and second, to allow users to find sounds that they like.
As an artist or a creator on Soundcloud, there is actually a physical way to track your own success. There is a Stats section in Soundcloud which displays activity over time for artists to see linear trends in their popularity. In addition to this model there is a section that shows their most played tracks, and if the artist has a Pro or Pro Unlimited plan, they can also see the top countries and cities in which their sounds are getting plays, who played the sound the most, and websites and apps that the sound has been embedded in or streamed from. Soundcloud actually created a separate app, Soundcloud Pulse, that artists use to track these statistics as well.
Soundcloud has the ability to give its’ users fresh sounds as well as their old favorites. The Stream is filled with the sounds of artists that you choose to follow, but Soundclouds’ recommendation system also displays suggestions of other artists that you should follow based on your previous posts, likes, and shares, using the data from those sounds to get a gauge on your interest as a listener. As a reminder, just below the suggestions that Soundcloud gives you, they have your liked tracks and your recent listening history. Another way that Soundcloud introduces some of its users to new content is through Promoted Tracks. Promoted tracks are used for artists/brands/labels to widen their reach, for the promoted tracks are show up on the streams of users who don’t follow the artist, which is similar to sponsored content on other social media platforms. The promoted tracks that show up on users Streams follow the same rules as the suggested artists section; Soundcloud uses the data from other liked posts in order to promote the tracks to the right users.
Finding new music on Soundcloud isn’t solely in the hands of the platform certainly. As a user you can search for artists, songs, albums, etc., but in case you don’t really know what you are in the mood to listen to, Soundcloud has a solution. Still on the home screen, you can navigate away from your Stream and look at the Charts or the Discover sections. In the Charts section, out of two drop down menus the user can select between “Top 50” and “New & Hot” from the first, and the second is where you can select the genre of interest, and Soundcloud will provide you an extensive list of songs that have been trending lately from what you’ve selected. Although most Soundcloud users look for music on the site, there are also many other options like podcasts, audiobooks, and comedy that you can search for and listen to. The remaining section on the home page is the Discover section which also utilizes Soundclouds’ recommendation system. Based on a users’ previous activity such as likes and posts, Soundcloud generates tracks that you may like. This section is more through than the brief list of suggested artists to follow as this list gives multiple suggestions for each liked song in a users’ profile.
The users’ profile on Soundcloud is called their Collection, and in the Collection there are many of the same features that are seen in other sections of the platform, but here they are all in the same place. The Collection is composed of a users’ recent plays, liked tracks, playlists, albums, liked stations, and artists that the user follows. Finally the History section shows again the recent plays and a running log that looks similar to the Stream which is composed also of the recent listening history of the user. After a thorough examination of Soundcloud, it is very evident that the founders wanted the site to empower the creators and make it easy to connect users to sounds they like, as well as make it easy to listen to your liked songs over and over again.
Another aspect of actor-network theory focuses on the users and usage. This aspect looks into how “the usage inscribed in platforms triggers explicit users’ responses” (Dijck, Chapter 3, 50). Information about how clients use the website often surface when changes are applied to SoundCloud, like when the group feature was removed in August 2016. Before the feature was taken away, a website called SoundcloudGroups was created as a grassroots attempt to maintain the communities created in Groups. One article on the website gives a platform for SoundCloud users to express their thoughts on the change: “Without ‘Groups’ nobody will ever even see or find our tracks,” says one content creator (Admin). There was mostly a worry that artists will get less likes, reposts, and comments due to the strong user engagement with Groups. The creation of SoundcloudGroups serves as an example of how users often challenge the intended usage of a platform, a move requiring “technological ingenuity and persistent motivation” (Dijck, Chapter 3, 53). Users also often try to suit social media platforms to their liking through browser plugins. One plugin adds the download feature to every sound on SoundCloud (Chrome Apps). This not only challenges how the website is set up, it also challenges the wishes of the artists themselves.
SoundClouds content consist of the distribution of audio among user profiles in forms such as tracks, demos, podcasts and more. The content style of being user-generated plays a major role in the entire structure of the social media. Users are able to create a profile to stream and share tracks which generates content on SoundCloud. Content is able to be shared not only through streaming on Soundcloud, but can be transferred and shared over multiple platforms such as Facebook and Twitter as well. Artists can publicly upload self produced tracks to display and share, while being able to see statistics and get feedback of their content. The content put into the system on SoundCloud is done by users artists that utilize the service. Every minute, hours of content are being uploaded by users to Soundcloud through personal profiles. With its user-generated content, SoundCloud combines sociality with creativity adding to Dijck’s statement that “The sharing of content enhances connectedness between people and also helps many acquire a (global) stage for public viewing” (Dijck, Chapter 2, 35).
Corporate ownership plays a part in the political economy of social media. This is an aspect not directly related to how users and technology interact like in actor-network theory. Ownership pertains to the business model of a social media platform, which often changes over time. Structures range from “non-profit, collectively owned, user-centered organizations to for-profit, corporate owner-centered enterprises” (Dijck, Chapter 2, 36). Early on, SoundCloud did not generate revenue beyond advertisements and focused mostly on being an egalitarian, user-friendly way to share sound. On March 2016, the platform released their new subscription-based service called SoundCloud Go featuring “ad-free listening, access to the entire catalog, and offline listening” (Moore). Ownership can be passed onto or shared with other companies. For example, Spotify backed out of a merger between itself and SoundCloud in December 2016. “The companies could have made a powerful couple… but Spotify was wary of destabilizing its plans for an IPO,” which would allow investors to transfer debt into equity (BI Intelligence). As music-centered social media tries to find a profitable business model, corporations continue to compete or work together as necessary.
Because “Definitions of content’s status often figure in legal clashes concerning copyright and intellectual ownership” (Dijck, Chapter 2, 35), it is important for the users to read and understand what is covered by SoundCloud’s terms of service before they generate and post content. In SoundCloud’s privacy policy, they inform users to be aware that when they make a profile, personal information such as name, photo, content category, and other personal social media account and sites visited are collected. SoundCloud also automatically collects users searches, information about the device they are engaging with, and location. SoundCloud also has community guidelines that users are expected to follow, such as offering constructive criticism to creators, not engaging in threatening behavior, and respecting privacy of other users all which if not followed, can result in a warning to the user or a user profile being terminated by SoundCloud. Users have the option to make tracks and playlist public or private to other users. Terms of service are necessary in order to “define the rights of users to access their data” (Dijck, Chapter 2, 39).
Finally, Soundcloud monetizes user interactions by placing advertisements into their services and offering subscription models. Dijck states that “the model of free user services and free content was only sustainable through advertising…” (Dijck, Chapter 2, 40).Through tracks, they are directly selling to businesses through advertisements. While SoundCloud is changing the scene of music production by offering users more freedom, they still need to make revenue from their users content. SoundCloud offers online advertising to artists through “On SoundCloud” in which artists can monetize their content with advertising on the homescreen and other users feeds. The revenues with this advertise are shared between the artist and Soundcloud. SoundCloud also offers a paid subscription service that aims to take away advertisements while listening. For users who do not choose to utilize this subscription service, SoundCloud has monetized their track streaming with ads. Placing these ads along with content makes user generated tracks into commodities for SoundCloud. Dijck also states that “It is important though, to view monetizing strategies not as static models of exploitation, but as dynamic mediators in the process of shaping sociality and creativity” (Dijck, Chapter 2, 41). With this type of business model that SoundCloud utilizes, it is up to users to determine if advertisements and subscriptions are worth the benefits of this platform.
Works Cited
Admin. "Users react to Soundcloud’s decision to remove Groups." Soundcloudgroups. N.p., 18 Aug. 2016. Web. <https://soundcloudgroups.com/2016/08/18/users-react-to-soundclouds-decision-to-remove-groups/>
BI Intelligence. "Spotify backs out of SoundCloud acquisition." Business Insider. N.p., 9 Dec. 2016. Web. <http://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-backs-out-of-soundcloud-acquisition-2016-12>.
Chamberlain, Alan, Sean McGrath, and Steve Benford. "Understanding Social Media and Sound: music, meaning and membership, the case of SoundCloud." Nottingham ePrints. N.p., 22 Dec. 2015. Web. <http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32859/1/DMRN%20_SoundCloud.pdf>.
Chrome Apps. “SoundCloud Downloader Free.” Chrome Web Store, 12 Nov. 2015. <https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/soundcloud-downloader-fre/libedajeiljdoodmokbppgapcfbignci?hl=en>
"Community Guidelines." SoundCloud. N.p., July 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. <https://soundcloud.com/community-guidelines>.
Dijck, Jose Van. "Chapter 2: Disassembling Platforms, Reassembling Sociality." The Culture of Connectivity A Critical History of Social Media. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. 25-44. Print.
Dijck, Jose Van. "Chapter 3: Facebook and the Imperative of Sharing." The Culture of Connectivity A Critical History of Social Media. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. 47-67. Print.
Hansen, Drew. "How Alex Ljung Conceived SoundCloud And Plans To Make It Rain." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 19 Dec. 2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.
Moore, Jacob. "SoundCloud’s New Business Model, and the Problem With One-Size-Fits-All Music Streaming." Yahoo Music. N.p., 30 Mar. 2016. Web. <https://www.yahoo.com/music/soundcloud-business-model-problem-one-193331377.html>.
"SoundCloud: Introducing On SoundCloud, Our New Creator Partner Program." SoundCloud. N.p., 21 Aug. 2014. Web. 19 Feb. 2017. <https://blog.soundcloud.com/2014/08/21/introducing-on-soundcloud/>.
"SoundCloud Privacy Policy." SoundCloud. N.p., 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. <https://soundcloud.com/pages/privacy>.
"On SoundCloud." On SoundCloud - Creator Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.
"Your Stream and how it works." SoundCloud. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.
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