SoundCloud is introducing a new feature resembling TikTok’s discovery feed to its platform. This update, which incorporates vertical scrolling and short song clips, has been in testing since March. It is now set to roll out to all iOS and Android users in the coming days.
With this update, SoundCloud users will be able to sample 30-second song clips to help them decide whether they want to listen to the entire track. By tapping the play button during the preview, they can seamlessly transition to the full version of the song.
While artists have the option to select their own 30-second highlights from their tracks, SoundCloud has integrated Musiio’s AI technology, a startup it acquired in 2022, to automatically curate the best 30-second excerpts from songs.
The new discovery feed also features convenient shortcuts for adding songs to playlists or libraries and liking tracks for later access in the “Liked tracks” section.
Users will still have access to the traditional following feed through the “Following” tab at the top of their screens, allowing them to view posts from the artists they follow.
In a similar move, Spotify announced a vertical feed with short previews for both music and podcasts in March. Additionally, platforms like ByteDance’s TikTok Music and Resso have also adopted vertical feeds for music discovery.
SoundCloud boasts an extensive catalog of over 320 million tracks contributed by 40 million creators. While specific user numbers weren’t disclosed, a blog post earlier this year indicated the platform had 130 million “engaged fans.”
SoundCloud has been actively working on initiatives to support artists in promoting their music and engaging with their fan base. In May, it introduced a suite of engagement tools, including analytics and the ability to directly message fans. Furthermore, in June, it began testing a feature called “First Fans,” which guarantees initial recommendations of new tracks to users with similar musical preferences.
Emily Lovell, SoundCloud’s head of music, revealed in a recent interview that more than 500,000 artists are now part of SoundCloud’s fan-powered royalty program, initiated in 2021. This program distributes revenue from advertising and subscriptions to artists based on users’ listening preferences rather than a conventional pro-rata system that counts total streams.
SoundCloud has made efforts to achieve profitability, including an 8% staff reduction in May, with the goal of reaching profitability in the current year. This followed a 20% reduction in workforce in August of the previous year.
