SoundCloud is testing a new feature on its iOS and Android apps that aims to improve music discovery for its users. The feature is a vertical feed that highlights clips of songs based on the user’s listening history and musical taste. The app will also show a line explaining the reason why a particular song is showing up in your recommendations. These captions will look like “Because you follow A” or “Because you liked B.” SoundCloud is rolling out 30-second previews across both Discover and Following pages. Artists can select their own clip to highlight or rely on Musiio’s AI tech — a startup SoundCloud acquired last year to improve discovery.
If you think the song matches your taste, you can “like” it to add it to your “Liked tracked”. If you want to listen to the full version, you have to tap on the play button, which will also show you the information about the track on a new page. The revamped page design also makes it easier to comment on the track or add it to a playlist. SoundCloud is not replacing the like button with a plus button like Spotify.
Given how TikTok and short videos have played a part in uncovering new artists, many platforms are now drawing some inspiration from the vertical feed method. Spotify has been testing it for a few years now, but it hasn’t fully rolled it out yet. ByteDance-owned Resso, which operates in India, Brazil, and Indonesia, relies on a vertical feed — but it makes you listen to full songs rather than short clips. Other music discovery apps like Smores and HotDrop have also relied on a mixture of AI and short clips to help users find new tracks.
SoundCloud wants to be the first major platform to bring all these ingredients together to fuel discovery. The company didn’t specify how many listeners visit its platform per month. In a recent blog post, SoundCloud said it has 130 million “engaged fans.” Besides that, the company said that it hosts more than 320 million tracks from over 40 million creators.
The streaming service slashed 20% of its workforce last August due to “a significant company transformation and the challenging economic and financial environment.” In the last few years, the company has introduced programs for fan-powered royalties, which lets smaller artists earn money from user subscriptions or ad revenues only based on artists they listen to. This eliminates the model where established artists would get paid more on a pro-rata basis because of a higher number of total streams.
SoundCloud Tests TikTok-Style Feed to Enhance Music Discovery Experience for Users
SoundCloud, one of the most popular audio distribution platforms in the world, has recently announced its new feature to enhance music discovery for its users. The company is experimenting with a new TikTok-style feed to help its users stay up to date with the latest and most popular tracks of SoundCloud.
Music discovery has always been the leading point for SoundCloud as it is considered to be one of the best places for aspiring artists to post their music and get it discovered. In addition, the platform has always provided a great user experience to its audience by offering them a massive collection of tracks and plenty of ways to search for music. To take it a step further, the company is now testing a new feature, which is designed to enhance music discovery experience for its users.
SoundCloud’s new TikTok-style feed is a new tool created by the company to keep its users captivated and interested all the time. As we all know, TikTok is one of the most famous social media platforms, where users can watch videos in a feed format, and it has been a massive hit among teenagers and young adults. With this new feed feature, SoundCloud is keeping its eyes on the younger generation of music fans.
The TikTok-style feed works by showing short clips of popular tracks that are trending on the platform. Users can scroll through the feed and tap on the track to listen to the whole song. According to SoundCloud, the new feature will give users a fun, easy and hands-free way to discover new music.
As with any new feature, there are always critics. Some people believe that this new tool is not a good idea because SoundCloud will be losing its unique personality and catering to the masses. However, SoundCloud says the new tool will still allow users to discover new talents while providing a more interactive way of discovering music.
The new feature is not yet available to all SoundCloud users, as the company is still testing the technology. However, once it rolls out to the masses, it is expected to increase user engagement and grow the platform. The TikTok-style feed feature will undoubtedly bring SoundCloud up to the level of the rest of the audio streaming industry.
In conclusion, SoundCloud’s testing for a TikTok-style feed will revolutionize how people discover music on audio distribution platforms forever. SoundCloud is a much-loved service, and it’s great to see the company trying new things and testing innovative ways to keep their users engaged. As always, time will tell whether this new feature will be a massive hit or not, but for now, we can’t wait to see what SoundCloud has in store for us in the future.
