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

A

acetheface954

Active member
I just a got bittersweet rude awakening. A song I uploaded on Soundcloud only received 20 garbage little plays within the course of three days versus an unknown site called InternetDJ that earned me 460 plays...in less than 24hrs. The message is clear if you ask me. Once a good site becomes dominated by major artists and labels you're presence will cease to exist unless of course you were one of the 1st to be on that site at the beginning, consistent with putting out music, and tight with the community. But even that is up for the debate because I don't have any presence on the unknown site and still managed to get hundreds of plays without telling anyone about it. How does that happen?!

My advice is this. Anyone who is thinking about paying for a service like Soundcloud should think again. Please thing again. I have tried some at least once and it will not work unless you continuously have money to promote your name and craft. Their (Soundcloud) service does not aid you in getting noticed, it just allows you to have more storage amongst a few other amenities. You won't get popular, show up in every search, or gain more followers. Nothing will happen for you. Same goes for popular sites such as YouTube, FaceBook, Instagram, and all the others unless of course you have money and/or a promo team. Yes those sites help you get noticed if you pay. but man...you have to have money. REAL MONEY.

Lastly, If anyone knows a better site (highly unlikely because I went to Google and nothing good came up SMH) than Soundcloud please let me know because it's not a place to gain real momentum for an unknown face and name anymore.


460 plays :-)
MMXV by Arthur D

20 plays :-/
https://soundcloud.com/arthurd/arthur-d-mmxv-original
 
Last edited:
It's funny that you mentioned that you'd receive any "boost" on your plays by paying for a "pro" account on soundcloud. I don't believe they promise that, they only say, in general lines, that pro accounts CAN and MIGHT receive more attention from the listeners.

I believe, as well, that the numbers of plays is more attached to HOW you handle thing with your music than to paying for "pro" accounts. Do you tag your songs properly? Do you share your links all over your personal pages/websites? Do you know how to use the SEO approach on youtube? Do you analyze the numbers you receive from google analytics and act accordingly?

It's all about marketing and strategy. You won't get anything from sitting comfortably in your chair and wait for things to happen.
 
Ddream said:
It's funny that you mentioned that you'd receive any "boost" on your plays by paying for a "pro" account on soundcloud. I don't believe they promise that, they only say, in general lines, that pro accounts CAN and MIGHT receive more attention from the listeners.

I believe, as well, that the numbers of plays is more attached to HOW you handle thing with your music than to paying for "pro" accounts. Do you tag your songs properly? Do you share your links all over your personal pages/websites? Do you know how to use the SEO approach on youtube? Do you analyze the numbers you receive from google analytics and act accordingly?

It's all about marketing and strategy. You won't get anything from sitting comfortably in your chair and wait for things to happen.
Click to expand...

Hey Dream. I didn't say I got any boost from my pro account. Lol in fact ever since I have paid SC to maintain my pro account my numbers are like now close to zero. You must've read wrong man. But yo that's not what I'm talking about at all. True enough as you said, you won't get anywhere sitting still but again that's not what I am talking about either. What I am saying is that we unknowns need to think twice before working with popular sites to get attention if money is involved because now that major brands are flourishing on them and dropping big dollars your chances at being noticed are slim to none with none being the most likely. That is my beef with the system now.

And YouTube? Ha! I've seen brands bigger than myself with numbers as low as 8-10k. If they can't do it than I sure as hell won't be wasting my time. Side note: two years ago I posted a record on a site that no one knows of. I went to check how the song is doing yesterday and it racked up over 430k plays ?. No promo, no word of mouth, and no interference from me whatsoever. Just random people who just wanted to hear music. All my plays and 40+ songs on SC don't even amount to 1/10 of that dude. Its embarrassing.

By the way what is an SEO?
 
Last edited:
acetheface954 said:
Hey Dream. I didn't say I got any boost from my pro account. Lol in fact ever since I have paid SC to maintain my pro account my numbers are like now close to zero. You must've read wrong man. But yo that's not what I'm talking about at all. True enough as you said, you won't get anywhere sitting still but again that's not what I am talking about either. What I am saying is that we unknowns need to think twice before working with popular sites to get attention if money is involved because now that major brands are flourishing on them and dropping big dollars your chances at being noticed are slim to none with none being the most likely. That is my beef with the system now.

And YouTube? Ha! I've seen brands bigger than myself with numbers as low as 8-10k. If they can't do it than I sure as hell won't be wasting my time. Side note: two years ago I posted a record on a site that no one knows of. I went to check how the song is doing yesterday and it racked up over 430k plays . No promo, no word of mouth, and no interference from me whatsoever. Just random people who just wanted to hear music. All my plays and 40+ songs on SC don't even amount to 1/10 of that dude. Its embarrassing.

By the way what is an SEO?
Click to expand...

Ok, maybe I got that wrong. But I didn't say you were doing nothing, I just wanted to elaborate that the number of plays tend to rise following your commitment to marketing your music out there. Just that.

SEO, as boombapdame said, is a methode for optimize your content to show on as many search results as possible. You can search it on google, and you'll see some SEO directed at google search, Youtube, facebook, twitter. It can greatly improve your exposure on those sites.
 
Ddream said:
Ok, maybe I got that wrong. But I didn't say you were doing nothing, I just wanted to elaborate that the number of plays tend to rise following your commitment to marketing your music out there. Just that.

SEO, as boombapdame said, is a methode for optimize your content to show on as many search results as possible. You can search it on google, and you'll see some SEO directed at google search, Youtube, facebook, twitter. It can greatly improve your exposure on those sites.
Click to expand...

Oh is that all? I'm no stranger to it then. I've used it and have known others who have and it doesn't work unless you have money to broaden your campaign.
 
acetheface954 said:
Hmmm? Not a fan of that kind of rock music. I'm more into the hair bands, journey, stix, and groups from the 90s. What was so special about Trent? Going independent?
Click to expand...

There was this time when he was signed to a label, and after the CD started getting out on the shelves he realised that the price was too high and didn't agree with that. So he basically started a campaign releasing it for free at his (NIN) webpage for anyone to download. in fact, his approach was the same that bandcamp allow us to make: name your price.

And then he went indie.
 
Although having a ton of plays are nice, we all know that stats can be fabricated.

That said, the key to gaining real plays, genuine comments and true followers is though engaging with [and building relationships with] people.

But it seems like most don't want that...

They just want 'listens'....

:rolleyes:
 
SFTRAXX said:
Although having a ton of plays are nice, we all know that stats can be fabricated.

That said, the key to gaining real plays, genuine comments and true followers is though engaging with [and building relationships with] people.

But it seems like most don't want that...

They just want 'listens'....

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
and likes, and reposts...
 
It's about promoting locally and on the net. Messaging people, checking stats, and all that jazz. Soundcloud is not nor does it promote that it will get you some crazy amount of plays. I'd say focus on how you promote instead of relying on some website to promote for you.
 

Plays on the internet don't really mean too much. I sometimes find a song I like and lisen to it 10 or 15 times while I'm paying bills or doing other business on my computer. I listen to a lot of music online and I cannot tell you who half of those artists are. I am not going to buy any of that stuff. I just like to listen.

Go out there and get some real fans. Don't be so hungry for internet stardom. It more than likely will not translate into anything. I once had over 180,000 for a YouTube video. I just had a link for people to download the song for free. I knew I wasn't going to become famous or popular. I definitely knew that I wasn't going to become rich! I just wanted people to have access to something they liked.

Well, you'll probably ignore what I'm saying and come up with some clever reply or rant. So to heck with it. Do what you want. You guys always come on here asking for advice or tips and then get mad when people tell you the real deal. People just want co-signs and props so they can continue to live a fantasy.

Okay, I will give in. I am going to add a link to your song in my signature and I am going to send out a tweet about it. There you go brother. Your ego wants to be inflated and I am going to help you. You are awesome!

-----

Arthur D tweet.jpg


-------

https://www.futureproducers.com/for...r-ds-music-pleae-support-493575/#post49872790
 
Last edited:
SFTRAXX said:
Although having a ton of plays are nice, we all know that stats can be fabricated.

That said, the key to gaining real plays, genuine comments and true followers is though engaging with [and building relationships with] people.

But it seems like most don't want that...

They just want 'listens'....

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

if that's what they want then mission accomplished. if people care to engage its because they liked it so much that they wanted to verbally show their appreciation for it, pay to own a piece of it, etc. but the point of all this again is to seek other avenues to make a way for yourself. big powerful engines such as FB can only do so much for we little guys when they already cater to the big brands.

EDIT: Also who is going to generate fake plays on an unpopular site? No one cares about SoundBuddy.com. Fake site by the way lol
 
Last edited:
Desire Inspires said:

Plays on the internet don't really mean too much. I sometimes find a song I like and lisen to it 10 or 15 times while I'm paying bills or doing other business on my computer. I listen to a lot of music online and I cannot tell you who half of those artists are. I am not going to buy any of that stuff. I just like to listen.

Go out there and get some real fans. Don't be so hungry for internet stardom. It more than likely will not translate into anything. I once had over 180,000 for a YouTube video. I just had a link for people to download the song for free. I knew I wasn't going to become famous or popular. I definitely knew that I wasn't going to become rich! I just wanted people to have access to something they liked.

Well, you'll probably ignore what I'm saying and come up with some clever reply or rant. So to heck with it. Do what you want. You guys always come on here asking for advice or tips and then get mad when people tell you the real deal. People just want co-signs and props so they can continue to live a fantasy.

Okay, I will give in. I am going to add a link to your song in my signature and I am going to send out a tweet about it. There you go brother. Your ego wants to be inflated and I am going to help you. You are awesome!
Click to expand...

I appreciate the gesture but I am not talking about myself here. I would show your numbers if I had them but I'm just using my numbers as an example of the differences between a major platform and a smaller one. Just ask yourself this. Do you think you would gain more attention on Unknown Records or Universal Records? I'm sure you're going to say Unknown Records because they are smaller and have more of a personal rapport with their artist. big business versus little business, Small Town, USA versus NYC.
 
Last edited:
acetheface954 said:
I appreciate the gesture but I am not talking about myself here. I would show your numbers if I had them but I'm just using my numbers as an example of the differences between a major platform and a smaller one. Just ask yourself this. Do you think you would gain more attention on Unknown Records or Universal Records? I'm sure you're going to say Unknown Records because they are smaller and have more of a personal rapport with their artist. big business versus little business, Small Town, USA versus NYC.
Click to expand...

So do you want my help or what? I am trying to help you make a name for yourself! Why are you so mean and ungrateful?
 
Last edited:
Desire Inspires said:

So do you want my help or what? I am trying to help you make a name for yourself! Why are you so mean and ungrateful?
Click to expand...

What lol? Naw man I'm not. Not even trying to get famous from this track. This post is not about the song or any other. If it were I'd be in the showcase section of this site. Naw man I am talking about the music industry and marketing your brand on popular sites verses unpopular sites. Sorry if you got the wrong idea but I appreciate the support dude.
 
Last edited:
acetheface954 said:
What lol? Naw man I'm not. Not even trying to get famous from this track. This post is not about the song or any other. If it were I'd be in the showcase section of this site. Naw man I am talking about the music industry and marketing your brand on popular sites verses unpopular sites. Sorry if you got the wrong idea but I appreciate the support dude.
Click to expand...

So you are complaining about popular sites verses unpopular sites? Why would you post your music on an unpopular site? Do you want people to see your music or not? Man, you are causing confusion and trouble for no reason. Come on.
 
SFTRAXX said:
Although having a ton of plays are nice, we all know that stats can be fabricated.

That said, the key to gaining real plays, genuine comments and true followers is though engaging with [and building relationships with] people.

But it seems like most don't want that...

They just want 'listens'....

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I was just going to post this "how many ppl did you interact with on Soundcloud how many hours did you spend on the site"
 
Last edited:
Desire Inspires said:

So you are complaining about popular sites verses unpopular sites? Why would you post your music on an unpopular site? Do you want people to see your music or not? Man, you are causing confusion and trouble for no reason. Come on.
Click to expand...

Complaining? Lol dude no. It was 2yrs ago when I uploaded stuff on that site and at the time Soundcloud was not that popular so in actuality they were both unpopular. I put my music on a bunch of sites back then. I just so happen to see that I still had one track on that unpopular site and was amazed at how much plays I had gotten which prompted me to conduct an experiment to see if I would get the same effect. Long story short, yes. The same thing is happening with another track I uploaded on there yesterday which now has about 800 plays last time I checked. Sorry again for the confusion if I seemed upset, ranting, or complaining.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top