We want everyone to be able to use SoundCloud to share and hear the world’s sounds. Which is why that we’re excited today to be announcing a new partnership that should make it easier than ever: we’re getting together with Google to help everyone to share and discover more.

Hear the news first from David Glazer, Google’s Director of Engineering:

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The integration’s happening across Google+ as well as Search. First, the new sign in function with Google+ will make it simpler to sign up or log in, whether you’re on the web or on mobile. You’ll also be able to add a Google+ logo to your profile, so that people can find you there (as always, you can manage your privacy settings here).

Launching today, the Google+ integration makes sharing on the network effortless. Look for the button next to every sound on the platform. (It’s your choice — nothing will be automatically posted on your G+ profile.) And this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for more from our new partnership with Google, all designed to make it even simpler to share your sounds.

Things have also changed with Search: Google is now displaying socially-relevant search results based on activity from Google+ users you’re connected with on SoundCloud. That means that discovering what your networks are hearing and loving will be easier than ever.

Start spreading the news: in the upcoming months, we’ll be setting up an office in the Big Apple. And we couldn’t be more excited about joining the thriving creative and tech scenes in New York.

The global creative community has always been at the heart of SoundCloud. Starting from the earliest days of our first Berlin HQ, we’ve built a truly international team, now representing 30 different nationalities. We’ve always wanted to be as close as possible to where the action is. Over the years, this meant adding offices in San Francisco in the US, London in the UK, and Sofia in Bulgaria.

And that’s why NYC is next on the schedule. We’re looking forward to working alongside the city’s hundreds of other ambitious companies: being closer to our friends at startups like Tumblr, and continuing to strengthen our relationships with New York’s major media players. We’re also excited about getting up close and personal with the rest of the city’s creatives from the worlds of media, fashion, publishing, the arts…and, of course, music & audio.

We’ll be looking out for remarkable people to be part of our first NYC team, so keep an eye on soundcloud.com/jobs for opportunities. Already in town? Drop us a line. We can’t wait to get started on unmuting New York.

Photo: Chris Brown / zoonabar, Creative Commons 2.0

When you think of audio books, you’re going to think of Audible. Audible are at the forefront of audio book distribution world wide and we’re now proud to welcome Audible Studios to SoundCloud! Why not start following them and get the latest updates on releases from their catalogue. Every day at their state-of-the-art studios, Audible Studios play host to the most talented performers, from Simon Vance to Kate Winslet and Katherine Kellgren to Colin Firth, narrating dozens of stories. They’ve been using SoundCloud to promote their latest releases on their popular Facebook page. For example the latest The Great Gatsby release narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal, which has even been getting lots of attention over on Huffington Post. Visit their Facebook page to listen to samples from the book or listen to the entire set below!

SoundCloud Voices is a weekly Community feature focusing on new spoken word creators found on SoundCloud. It might be a podcast, radio show, audio book, interview, audio messages, a poem, anything! Keep an eye out every Thursday for a new post. If you are interested in trying out SoundCloud as a spoken word podcast platform, you can sign up for via this form. Successful candidates will be emailed with further details.