How to optimize your SoundCloud tracks
If you want your tracks to be heard by the widest possible audience it’s important to make them easy to find on SoundCloud as well as the wider web. Read on for pro tips on how to get your tracks in front of the right people.
Keep your track, album, and playlist titles clean
We’re not talking about censorship here. We’re talking about all those time you were told as a kid to tidy your room. The same principle applies. A tidy track title helps fans know exactly what they’re listening to.
Avoid duplicating information that’s displayed elsewhere. There’s no need to add track numbers to your title when uploading an album.
Bad title: AllxxThexStars051418vfinal
Good tile: All The Stars
When uploading to an editorial or label account, title your tracks as “Artist Name – Track Title” to ensure the artist is identified and a track isn’t attributed just to the SoundCloud account.
If you’re a podcaster or a journalist who is sharing audio on SoundCloud include important information such as the names of guests and discussion topics in the title. This helps with searches and discoverability.
Make the most of images and descriptions
Your music shouldn’t just sound good, it should also look good. Upload artwork for your tracks and albums. The higher resolution – the better. You can zoom and reposition your artwork or images during the upload process to get the perfect fit.
The descriptions of your tracks and albums are the perfect place to share extra information: include a track’s backstory, add credits, lyrics, gear lists, or guest lists. To give a shout out to collaborators and feature artists, add links to their SoundCloud profiles.
The bottom line: be consistent with your information and your writing style whatever way you choose to present your tracks. It will look more professional.
SoundCloud genre and mood tags are important
SoundCloud uses an algorithm to recommend tracks to users so it’s important to tag your tracks with accurate genre information.
In addition to selecting a main genre, tag your tracks with a few relevant sub-genres and any moods that you think describe the track. It’s better to add a handful of relevant tags rather than go crazy and add as many as you can.
If you’re an audio creator, make sure that your first tag corresponds to one of the main audio categories in Charts. Next, work your way from general terms such as “podcast” to more specific ones such as “NPR” (if, for example, NPR is your thing). It also helps to include the names of guests or geographical places that are discussed.
Build your own SoundCloud discography
Playlists marked as an album, EP, single, or compilation will be displayed in the albums section of your profile. They will be listed in order of release date to make it easier for your fans to find what they’re looking for and save it to their own collection.
If you want to dig into your own archive and upload some old tracks they will be displayed in your discography without taking attention away from your most-recent tracks.
How to edit multiple tracks at once
We have good news if you think updating tracks one at a time seems like a drag (Narrator: It is). You can make changes – update settings, tags, and artwork – to multiple tracks at once and also create a new playlist from a selection of uploads. To update multiple tracks go to soundcloud.com/you/tracks. Select the tracks you want to change and then click Edit or Add to playlist to make your changes.