Mind-Blowing Strategy to Make Money on Soundcloud in 2024

SoundCloud stands next to Spotify, Amazon Music, and other platforms where artists can publish their songs and become recognizable. Today, this is one of the most popular platforms, with 175 million monthly users. People keep coming to SoundCloud to build their careers. This is a very competitive platform where everyone wants to get more attention to increase engagement, but now everyone knows how to do it.

SoundCloud offers plenty of options for content monetization, including a special program for artists (SoundCloud for Artists) and other methods. Most users don’t uncover them and lose opportunities to monetize their content on the platform. We are going to break the silence and uncover the most effective strategies for making money on SoundCloud. Keep reading to find out what to do.

How Does Monetization on SoundCloud Work?

Unlike Spotify, Amazon Music, and other platforms, SoundCloud has a different approach to monetization. For example, artists can select the content they want to monetize. Musicians remain the content owners and only give the platform temporary permission to use it. Moreover, when you share rights with Soundcloud, they become non-exclusive. It means you can distribute content using cross-platform promotion.

Revenue received by artists is calculated according to the SoundCloud Premier Monetization terms and conditions. They receive 55% of net advertising and subscription revenues that arrive on the platform. Payment will be received every month during your subscription period.
To understand how does the soundcloud algorithm work read our article.

How to Get Paid From Soundcloud?

If you are a newcomer to this platform, you can join SoundCloud Partner, which is free. It provides basic stats and feedback about your songs as listeners review and evaluate tracks. This is a good option to learn the basics about SoundCloud and get used to it. Later, when you are ready to move on, you can join SoundCloud Pro Unlimited, also called SoundCloud Repost. This is a paid service that costs 7,5 dollars per month or 92 dollars per year. It offers several additional features, including:

• An ability to save an unlimited number of tracks.
• Access to advanced insights and detailed stats. 
• Advanced promotion capabilities.
• An option to replace tracks without losing current positions.

One of the most impactful features is that you can distribute your music across other platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc.). Also, you will receive exclusive partner offers to increase your income even more.

In the video below, you will find more information about the SoundCloud music distribution for artists. The author reveals how the platform actually appeared and how it works, and shares the personal experience.

Now, to the basic monetization. The platform has several paying options for creators. You need to ensure you live in a country that supports SoundCloud monetization. Depending on the location, your SoundCloud monetization rate stays in the range of 0,0025 to 0,004 dollars per stream, which is not much. It’s approximately the same rate you have on Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms. If you are an indie artist, your stats will be better - from 2,50 to 4 dollars. You can monetize your music this way by joining SoundCloud for Artists This is a platform where creators can share their tracks and get paid fairly. Submit your tracks via SoundCloud Radio and start getting revenue for your tracks. Use this feature for artists,  combine it with the methods we show, and you will start making money on SoundCloud more effectively. 

Start Earning on SoundCloud - Create Your Profile

A proper profile is as important as the quality of the songs for musicians. Your profile should be impressive and recognizable.

Music is a key to earning on SoundCloud, but you won’t earn as much as you want without building a strong presence. To make people recognize you, check your profile, and actually listen to your tracks, you need to create a profile that draws attention and makes people click on it. 

If you already have profiles on other music platforms, ensure you have the same nickname on SoundCloud, so your audience will find you there. Also, keep the profile photo the same or select one similar to the one you have on another platform. You have a header photo, which is a bigger version of the profile photo, and you can select a brand-new image for it. Ensure it matches your current style and represents you as an artist.

In the video below, musician Jacey Flames shares a detailed guide about SoundCloud profile creation. He also shows how to upload a song, and add genre tags, and metadata.

Bio is the next important step in the profile creation. Don’t try to copy someone’s description because it could be overdone or cringe. Instead, keep it simple and short. Provide the main details people should know about you and your creativity. The description is an essential element, especially if you are at the beginning of your path. Artists who have conquered the industry and are well-known don’t need to introduce themselves. You are an unknown artist for now, and people who see your profile first time might want to know who they listen to.

You won’t be able to make money on SoundCloud unless your profile is not recognizable and people won’t see you among other musicians. You need to work on your presence and present yourself from the best angle. 

Publish Tracks Consistently to get Money from SoundCloud

As a musician who only begins adapting to a new platform, you need to stay active and constantly post new content. You will build credibility with your audience as they will know what to expect from you. 

You spend a lot of effort to make your music excellent quality. This enables you to target your main goal: make the song reach as many people as possible. That’s where timing matters. You need to know when most of your audience is online, so they will see the new song almost immediately.

These are average timeframes based on overall users’ habits. Consider analyzing your audience before creating a personal posting schedule. For example, listeners with busy mid-week schedules remain active early in the morning (7 AM - 8 AM). On the other hand, hours of a lunch break (12 AM - 2 PM) are also good for posting your songs. People want to have a break from work and stay productive after lunch. When they see your song in their feed, they’ll consider this an opportunity to relax. 

The option to post during the weekends is in the early evening (5 PM - 7 PM) when people want to chill and refresh themselves ahead of the new week. There is no right answer on when to post (Weekdays or Weekend) because it’s mostly an individual preference. You should look at your audience and create your schedule. You can learn more about effective timing strategies to know when to post. In addition to the correct posting schedule, you can use SoundCloud Organic Push. With a huge variety of promoting options (from 1 to 40 days long), you can effectively implement it in your promotion campaign. Specialists trigger the SoundCloud algorithm to bring organic likes, views, and reposts to increase visibility.

How to Earn More on Soundcloud: Effective Methods to Consider

In addition to the monetization methods we presented earlier, we also reveal some effective steps you can take to increase your income from SoundCloud. 

Add a Buy Link

You can add a link for donation or to the paid songs or playlists. If listeners want to support you or listen to additional songs, they should proceed with the link and pay. You don’t need to name this link exactly as “Buy Link”. If you subscribe to SoundCloud for Artists, you can change the name.

Still, this step will be effective if you already have a large audience. Once you only build your presence on the platform, it may not be a good time for a buy link. Invest in the promotion to build a strong presence and increase the listener count. Purchase a SoundCloud promotion package to increase the number of listeners.

Use Adds to Earn More

Every time listeners hear ads, creators get paid. Since the pay rate per 1000 streams is not high, artists find ways to earn more. Adds allow you to earn more. Since the price rate per advertising depends on several factors (listeners count, average number of listens, etc.), you will have an individual price rate per advertising. Revenue from fan-powered royalties is a powerful source of income, and you should take advantage of it.  This is another reason to work on increasing the follower count because it depends on how much you will earn in the future. 

Unlock the full potential of social media to promote your music. Still, what’s meant by “unlock full potential”? We’ll explain using 21 Savage's profile again. He has his link tree, where people can find links to all social media and platforms, including SoundCloud, Spotify, and others.

Link Tree of 21 Savage

Also, he uses social media to promote the upcoming tour. It’s made in a unique design and shows the dates for concerts across the USA.

Connect SoundCloud to Sellfy Store

Here’s another option for getting paid on SoundCloud. You can connect your music profile to Sellfy and sell your songs as digital products. To do that, create a profile with an email address and password. After that, select a subscription plan (the first 14 days are free) and start adding products.

Sellfy is simple to operate. Create a profile, select the plan, and start sharing your products.

Tracks belong to the category “digital products”, so you need to add a link to the track or album and a description. Mention the product name, provide information for the clients, and add the price. Also, add an image for the preview, it will be easier for users to spot your music among similar products.

Another advantage of Selly is its customization. You can create unique designs with Store Customizer, changing patterns and background colors and adding images to make your profile stand out. Finally, before promoting your products on Sellfy, ensure you add your payment details to accept payments. Select between Stripe and PayPal.

Remember to link the Sellfy profile to the Profile description in SoundCloud. Once users see it, they know there is an option to get exclusive songs on another platform. 

Promote Services With Ads

When artists join SoundCloud for Artists, they can get revenue for streams and ads. When users start listening to your songs, they hear ads, bringing you additional revenue. Moreover, if the song has an embedded add inside, it will make your income even bigger. Later, when you will become recognizable as an artist, you will start getting offers from advertisers. It means you will have more ads in your songs and your income will keep rising. 

You can decide what to promote depending on the taste of your audience. If people enjoy the products or services you promote, you can expand your cooperation with the brand and offer discounts for your regular listeners. For example, those who have followed you for more than 3 months have additional discounts for brand products.

Earn More on Soundcloud by Using Promoting Services

Musicians with huge audiences get thousands of listens in several minutes. They share their content and immediately get solid engagement. They don't need additional promotion or distribution as the content share is synchronized across all social media and music platforms. An effectively organized promotion campaign expands your reach and makes more people hear your songs. It means your content will be presented to people with similar listening habits.

Musicians who only start their activity on SoundCloud or other platforms should invest in promotion to become recognizable and expand their audience. An effective way to do it is to purchase a SoudCloud promotion package from a specialized platform, and Artist Push is one of them. By selecting the wanted package, you will receive high-quality promotions to receive organic engagement and increase the follower count. Your songs will appear at the top rankings, so you will get much more attention. Select the package that meets your current goals and capabilities: a small one for the powerful start or a bigger one to build on success.