SoundCloud has announced a new ‘Artist’ subscription tier “to help emerging and aspiring musicians get their music out into the world easily and affordably.”
The music streaming platform describes the tier as “bridging the gap” between Basic and the Next Pro tier for professional artists – a tier that has now been renamed Artist Pro.
“We’re renaming Next Pro to Artist Pro to better reflect the evolution of our offerings and our commitment to supporting artists at every stage of their careers,” SoundCloud said in an announcement on Tuesday (December 17).
At $3.25 per month in the US, or $39 per year, the new Artist tier offers many of the same services as the Next Pro tier, but at a considerably lower price than the $8.25 for the newly renamed Artist Pro.
It comes with three hours of uploads per month (versus unlimited uploads on Artist Pro), offers distribution of two tracks per month to SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, TikTok, and more than 60 other platforms; monetization on SoundCloud and other platforms; and one credit per month towards AI mastering.
The new Artist tier also allows promotion and playlisting for two tracks per month, compared to unlimited tracks on the Artist Pro plan.
“Whether you’re recording your first track or starting to build a fanbase, this new plan offers the tools you need to succeed – without the heavy costs typically associated with professional music distribution,” SoundCloud said.
“By lowering the cost of entry, we’re giving more artists the opportunity to break into the music industry, find their audience, and start monetizing their work.”
SoundCloud said it piloted the program in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand “with promising results. We’ve heard from thousands of artists – confirming our belief that emerging artists are eager for affordable access to professional tools and distribution.”
“By lowering the cost of entry, we’re giving more artists the opportunity to break into the music industry, find their audience, and start monetizing their work.”
SoundCloud
SoundCloud rebranded its artist services platform as SoundCloud for Artists in 2022, having built it on the Repost platform that SoundCloud acquired in 2019.
Since then, it has been working on its offering for artists with new monetization tools, merch stores, and other features. Earlier this year, SoundCloud launched ‘Ascending,’ a new global artist development program that aims to identify and promote breakthrough artists globally.
SoundCloud said the program has been in pilot mode since early 2023 and has already helped break artists like Kenya Grace, Shaboozey, Barry Can’t Swim, TiaCorine, Teezo Touchdown, and Odetari.
Earlier in the year, SoundCloud launched Buzzing Playlists, a series of playlists based on fan engagement with music from Next Pro (now Artist Pro) artists. The First Fans program analyzed 3.5 million Next Pro tracks to make recommendations to potential fans. The platform said the average Next Pro customer saw a 400% increase in listens.
The program is meant to address the “zero-plays problem” faced by many new artists today: A large percentage of the music uploaded receives few or no plays, lost in the sheer volume of music being uploaded – about 120,000 tracks per day, at last count.Music Business Worldwide