SoundCloud Launches ‘Artists Shortcuts' Feature To Help Artists & Fans Connect
Earlier this month, SoundCloud announced a new partnership with Twitch that allows subscribers to fast track Twitch Affiliate status and earn money from Twitch Streams.
Now, SoundCloud is back with more news. In a recent blog post, it announced a new feature called Artist Shortcuts that is aimed at helping artists and fans connect. Available via the iOS mobile app, Artist Shortcuts enable fans to see updates such as new track uploads or reposted tracks from artists they follow as soon as they open up the app via a Story-like feed that displays at the top of the app.
As explained by SoundCloud, artists can utilize Artist Shortcuts in various ways:
“You can use this momentum to build your relationships even more by responding to feedback, asking questions or tossing early adopters a “thank you” in the comments – and most importantly, reminding your fans to hit that orange Follow button if they haven’t already. Because more followers means more fans will see your latest updates and drive up your plays.”
Additionally, the streaming service says that the new feature can help increase engagement by more than 25%.
Insights & Analysis:
SoundCloud doesn’t get the credit it deserves especially when compared with streaming front-runners Spotify and Apple Music. But over the last two years, I’ve been impressed with the various new features and tools that it has rolled out that has been beneficial to artists as well as fans. These features and tools have covered everything from improving the user experience (i.e. relaunching the comments feature for its mobile apps) to empowering artists (i.e. expanding its monetization program).
Artists Shortcuts is a feature that should be embraced by artists and fans. The feature will help artists expand the reach of their content and get in front of their fans much easier since fans will be able to see what new tracks they have posted or reposted as soon as they open up the SoundCloud app. This is also helpful for fans as it makes it easier for them to keep up with music from the artists they follow.
Look out for SoundCloud to continue to roll out more updates in the near future.
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SOURCE: SoundCloud