SoundCloud started as a platform for musicians to upload their music or find new artists, but it has since transformed into more of a Spotify. Despite the downgrade in user experience, SoundCloud is still one of the best tools for up-and-coming musicians.
Landscape Changes in 2023
A few major issues have been holding back SoundCloud from being more successful. If they want to stay relevant, they need to find a way to either lower their costs or increase revenue to support the features that their users are used to having access to. The main issues surrounding their costs are that they have a high revenue cost and do not charge users to access the platform, which makes them unable to make enough money for it to be sustainable. They need to find a way to make enough money from ads or other sources in order to keep up with competitors like Apple Music and Spotify, who are already making money hand-over-fist.
Make the most out of SoundCloud ‘s features
If SoundCloud does not want to go down the route of having to increase revenue, they also need to find a way to make its platform less costly. They can only do this by decreasing or limiting the number of users who can upload simultaneously. They have already started putting in place steps like this, but they need to go further than that. What is perhaps their most significant step, though, would be introducing a subscription fee. By charging users $5 per month for accessing the platform instead of allowing it to remain free, SoundCloud followers could make their platform more sustainable and raise revenue simultaneously.
What major moves will they need to make to stay competitive in the future, and how likely will they execute on the changes? What is their biggest threat right now, and what can they do? SoundCloud is more than a streaming service, but they need to be careful not to lose their focus on the music. What will it take for artists to stay relevant in 2023? It is hard to say, but one thing is certain; if they don’t make some changes soon, they may not have enough time to fix the course before it’s too late.
