Save Your $, Don't Pay Big Sites: ADVICE

OFF TOPIC: Man I get so sick of coming on this forum and seeing "Desire Inspires" pick his arse hole and troll all day, find anything else to do with your time...really. I don't care how long you've been here, you more than any one on this site would put me right off it if I wasn't already a registered member.

ON TOPIC: Ace, firstly I wouldn't trust a play counter on a random site (I haven't checked the website, it could be dope, but just as a precaution)

Secondly, SoundCloud is merely a platform to which you may upload your music and share it digitally from there. It is not the kind of site where your music will be found by itself. Your stats will rise if your music deserves it, and if you share it in an effective manner (a potential listener pressing play.)

Nobody else can compete with the big labels either, so how do new independent artists and producers manage to break through year after year?
 
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zoo said:
OFF TOPIC: Man I get so sick of coming on this forum and seeing "Desire Inspires" pick his arse hole and troll all day, find anything else to do with your time...really. I don't care how long you've been here, you more than any one on this site would put me right off it if I wasn't already a registered member.

ON TOPIC: Ace, firstly I wouldn't trust a play counter on a random site (I haven't checked the website, it could be dope, but just as a precaution)

Secondly, SoundCloud is merely a platform to which you may upload your music and share it digitally from there. It is not the kind of site where your music will be found by itself. Your stats will rise if your music deserves it, and if you share it in an effective manner (a potential listener pressing play.)

Nobody else can compete with the big labels either, so how do new independent artists and producers manage to break through year after year?
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lol don't argue or fight with crazy people man. its a life lesson all are tested to learn lol. anyway, I have to trust their counter just as how I trust all others. in the end all we have is our numbers because you're not going to get every person to leave a verbal comment. the biggest videos on YouTube tally upwards to hundreds of millions of plays and only accumulate hundreds of thousands of likes/dislikes and tens of thousands of comments. you have to be able to show people what you've done and those counters can only be accessed by the site creators so I'm not going to worry if half of them are true or not. what matters is that nothing was done to forge them on your end. so I'm content with that.

the unknown site isn't something I would trade SoundCloud in for though. they don't even have an app and they've been up and running since the late 90s if I'm correct smh. there are none out there better that I know of. which is a shame to because they need a run for their money. I would like something well put together.

my theory on new artists that make it up the ranks? not even a theory really but facts. they had money from their previous ventures or "investors" lined up and were able to use that to promote the talent they already had. some people were even in development and had time (years) to perfect their styles under some sort of solidified management. to name a few; Nervo, Avicii, LMFAO, unconfirmed rappers who dabbled in drug peddling, ghostwriters, ghost producers, a handful of models turned singers, Drake, etc. point is everybody didn't just do a show and became an overnight success. they were already here. just not known yet. some back stories boggle my mind though. like iggy azelea. she came her as at 16yr old in 2006 and now? pop star. crazy lol.

so I'm not saying do not use big sites such as SoundCloud. because you can use those sites and gain attention for free which won't be easy but its doable I'm sure. I'm saying don't continuously spend money if you haven't seen any results that you yourself are paying for any longer. try something new. seek an alternative.
 
off-topic: I have to say that desire's input on this one has been spot on, neither trolling nor gushing but honest, if somewhat brutally so

on-topic

I have 11k+ plays at soundcloud without one iota of real promotional effort over the last 4 1/2 years (just a link in my sigfile); without effort I am getting 80+ plays a week and attracting new followers all the time, mostly new members from here, I guess. 2014 saw 4126 plays at an average of 343 plays per month.

Some folks who go and listen are looking to find evidence that I do not know what I am doing and because my music is not what they want to hear feel justified in saying I have no clue, which only goes to show that one man's sweet is another man's sour.

without working to promote your efforts either by doing blog interviews or paying for advertising the reality of your view numbers are going to stay as they are; my advertising is what I write here at fp
 
I am not saying that what he is posting is not factual or useful in broad terms, but the manner in which he posts, for me, is more telling. A forum should encourage discussion and activity, not discourage it with sarcasm, a purposeful intention to misconstrue OP's motives and what I can only hope is an incredibly dry and recycled wit.

A good teacher is not praised for the knowledge they possess, but the methods by which they use to share the same.

"Hey, come to my class...I give the right information...but in a way that will seriously discourage your attendance, but still, come!"
 
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bandcoach said:
off-topic: I have to say that desire's input on this one has been spot on, neither trolling nor gushing but honest, if somewhat brutally so

on-topic

I have 11k+ plays at soundcloud without one iota of real promotional effort over the last 4 1/2 years (just a link in my sigfile); without effort I am getting 80+ plays a week and attracting new followers all the time, mostly new members from here, I guess. 2014 saw 4126 plays at an average of 343 plays per month.

Some folks who go and listen are looking to find evidence that I do not know what I am doing and because my music is not what they want to hear feel justified in saying I have no clue, which only goes to show that one man's sweet is another man's sour.

without working to promote your efforts either by doing blog interviews or paying for advertising the reality of your view numbers are going to stay as they are; my advertising is what I write here at fp
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I think what people are saying is that he (Desire) takes information the wrong way. I mean I started this thread just to say "wow look at the comparisons between plays on a well known site and an unknown site featuring the same song I produced over the course of 3 days. maybe I should seek opportunities elsewhere that are not so crowded". he thinks that I'm trying to promote it and want to make big thing about it but no that wasn't my intention. my intentions were to tell folks to not spend money on huge sites or third parties claiming to get you somewhere if you don't have the money to do so year round. find an alternative whether its self promote or a good site with great potential. nothing more that I can remember.
 
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I wish I thought his misunderstanding was so simple. However he seems to believe that you trying to get more plays on a track, in a potentially time & cost effective manner, is somehow you just simply feeding your own ego.

It seems to me he believes (from his posts within this thread) anyone who has the natural desire to increase their plays (a want of any music business hopeful), which results in an increase in data to analyse for your online business (a desirable goal for any music business owner) which would hopefully lead to an increase in fans/subscribers/clients/listeners/promoters for your brand is simply trying to feed his/her own ego and nothing more.
 
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zoo said:
OFF TOPIC: Man I get so sick of coming on this forum and seeing "Desire Inspires" pick his arse hole and troll all day, find anything else to do with your time...really. I don't care how long you've been here, you more than any one on this site would put me right off it if I wasn't already a registered member.
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I think that Desire's posts are full of truth sometimes, and he just say it with a clever sarcasm, even acid humor. To be honest, I like when I give moe laughs with his posts. FP is too serious, imo.

On topic: for real, whatever floats your boat. We have people here saying it's not worth the money, other people defending the use of money to boost plays, likes, etc, etc, etc. This won't change. you'll always have people trying to "fake it until I make it" and you'll always have people who don't.
 
Off Topic: I've butted heads with Desire and his toady Yokuzin numerous times and often disagree with everything the cats say...but 95% of the time I get a good laugh and can appreciate their opinions however different.

On Topic: I like SoundCloud.
 
wildinout8 said:
Off Topic: I've butted heads with Desire and his toady Yokuzin numerous times and often disagree with everything the cats say...but 95% of the time I get a good laugh and can appreciate their opinions however different.

On Topic: I like SoundCloud.
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Off topic: I bet Desire is feeling pretty good right now, with everyone talking about him.

On Topic: I used to like soundcloud more. After realising that it didn't contributed whatsoever to generate views and listens and downloads on my bandcamp page, I decided to use it as a secondary platform and maintain bandcamp as my main.
 
If you're going to pay for any sites, start with purchasing your own domain. At least the people will be at a site dedicated to 1 person, instead of a site with millions.

Click around on my site, and you still get me. A few clicks on SoundCloud, and you're checking out any number of other songs and artists.

My favorite is when these popular songs get some thousand comments, and as the song scrolls, so do the text and profile pics from all these people at light speed. It's hysterically useless.

My point is, nobody sees you on these sites anymore. It's all too piled up with various levels of garbage from all over the world. I can't wait for the backlash to come in full-swing, and this wretched fad of "likes" and "follows" be OVER.
 
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IPM Music said:
I can't wait for the backlash to come in full-swing, and this wretched fad of "likes" and "follows" be OVER.
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Sadly it won't be over. Soundcloud "forces" you to make a pro subscription once you get to their 3 hour limit (or will you like IPM Music1, IPM Music2, IPM Music3 profiles?) and makes you believe that you need a pro subscription to be highlighted on searches, etc, etc, etc. And people will still be paying for them.
 
Ddream said:
Sadly it won't be over. Soundcloud "forces" you to make a pro subscription once you get to their 3 hour limit
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IMO, for producers, if you can't make your impression with 3 hours of music, 6 or 9 or 12 more hours probably won't do you any better. If you're an artist, you want to make your music available for sale on things like iTunes, not SoundCloud.
 
IPM Music said:
IMO, for producers, if you can't make your impression with 3 hours of music, 6 or 9 or 12 more hours probably won't do you any better. If you're an artist, you want to make your music available for sale on things like iTunes, not SoundCloud.
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And that's why I changed my main platform for releasing music from soundcloud to bandcamp.
 
Ace, I think you make a very good point when it comes to paying for sites. I have a Reverb Nation account, but I give them zero dollars. There are several other sites that promise promotion and industry contacts if you pay anywhere from $10 to $30 (or more even) every month. Not to mention all of that bonus crap they push. However, I think you totally chose the worst example. Everybody's on Soundcloud. It's pretty much like the unofficial standard. I know from my experience that it seems for people who make music and want to be heard, "Do you you have a Soundcloud?" is a question I've heard way more than, "Do you have a website?" Everybody uses SC because everybody else goes to SC. Right track. Wrong train.
 
Seriously, soundcloud to me is just a web repository of stuff I've decided to upload. I don't expect plays, I don't expect "likes". It's just something that when I get into a conversation with somebody and music comes up then I can say "you can hear my crap here".

it's Flickr for music - that's all.
 
MattyJones said:
Ace, I think you make a very good point when it comes to paying for sites. I have a Reverb Nation account, but I give them zero dollars. There are several other sites that promise promotion and industry contacts if you pay anywhere from $10 to $30 (or more even) every month. Not to mention all of that bonus crap they push. However, I think you totally chose the worst example. Everybody's on Soundcloud. It's pretty much like the unofficial standard. I know from my experience that it seems for people who make music and want to be heard, "Do you you have a Soundcloud?" is a question I've heard way more than, "Do you have a website?" Everybody uses SC because everybody else goes to SC. Right track. Wrong train.
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but that is my point lol. everybody is on soundcloud. everybody including celebrities. it was great at 1st when it was just up and coming DJ/producers and us. now it's all the majors and us. it's become another myspace and we all know what happened to myspace. side note: what is that site now a music platform? lame. back to the topic, don't get me wrong I love the idea is soundcloud but it's not benefiting me to pay them. I'm not here to produce records on the same level as celebrities. I am not saying delete your SC accounts. hell no. I'm saying hold off on paying their annual fees. $100+ for what? 50 plays? get the hell out of here lol. no I'm going to have it reverted back to the original free version until I see better from them.

Slaphead said:
Seriously, soundcloud to me is just a web repository of stuff I've decided to upload. I don't expect plays, I don't expect "likes". It's just something that when I get into a conversation with somebody and music comes up then I can say "you can hear my crap here".

it's Flickr for music - that's all.
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web repository lolol. good one. but that is why I have SC. to have people who I might bump into on the street to hear my work. you never know who's out there.
 
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