By Rohit Agarwal, Chief Product Officer

This July, we’re bringing the sunshine to your SoundCloud experience. Read on to explore new features that are sure to light up your summer sound.

Spotlight Your Tracks with Buzzing: Now Featuring Indie, Rock, and Metal

Buzzing playlists are sets of fan-powered, genre-specific playlists, featuring songs based on genuine fan engagement, meant to expose artists to even more listeners, giving them the opportunity to get heard.

Building on the success of the Pop, Hip Hop, R&B, Electronic Buzzing playlists, we're excited to announce the addition of three new genres to our Buzzing playlists: Indie, Rock, and Metal. This expansion ensures that your music reaches the right audience.

Buzzing Playlists are sourced from Next Pro artists who have opted in to have their tracks analyzed by our recommendation algorithm, First Fans. Since the launch of First Fans, SoundCloud has taken aim at the ‘Zero-Plays Problem’, analyzing and recommending more than 4.8 million tracks to potential new fans, up by more than 37 percent from the 3.5 million tracks analyzed when Buzzing Playlists first launched in April 2024.

Getting featured on Buzzing is like performing for a room filled with superfans and A&R executives, the people who can propel your career forward!

Get Heard Goes Mobile (iOS)

Connecting with your audience just got a whole lot simpler with the introduction of First Fans on iOS.  

When you upload a track, you'll be instantly prompted to opt in to our First Fans algorithm, which will analyze and showcase your music to a minimum of 100 genuine listeners who enjoy similar music.

As those listeners engage with your track—by liking, commenting, or adding it to their playlists—your song will be automatically recommended to even more fans.

This mobile update ensures that Next Pro artists have a seamless experience from the moment they upload, making it easier than ever to get heard and gain visibility from the start.

Amplify your next release by opting in to First Fans to help your music reach the right audience:

Upcoming Shows: SoundCloud X Resident Advisor

In collaboration with Resident Advisor, we’re making it even easier for fans to be in the know and connect with artists' music.

Starting now, artists' next three upcoming shows, events, and concerts listed on Resident Advisor will be prominently displayed on their SoundCloud profile. Fans can easily find and purchase tickets directly from the artists page.

If you’re an artist, and your events aren’t showing up yet, just link your Resident Advisor account to your SoundCloud profile!

We believe this integration will strengthen artists' connection with their audience by making event discovery more visible and accessible than ever. 

Check it out:

Win With SoundCloud x Soundful

Are you a songwriter or know someone who is creative and loves experimenting with new platforms?

We’ve teamed up with Soundful, a leader in AI-powered music generation, for an innovative songwriting competition with Kaskade, world-renowned American DJ, music producer and remixer. This hybrid contest uses AI to generate tracks in Kaskade’s signature style, which participants can then customize and make their own.

What’s at stake? The grand prize includes having your track completed and released by Kaskade, performing live with him, a two-year Soundful Pro plan, one year of SoundCloud Next Pro, a $1,000 cash prize, and up to $1,000 for travel expenses. The second-place winner will receive a one-year Soundful Pro plan, a release on Arkade (Kaskade’s esteemed label), and a $500 cash prize.

Seize the opportunity to showcase your creativity and elevate your music capabilities with SoundCloud x Soundful.