SoundCloud.com

Ryan    Uncategorized     Independent Music, Music Distribution, SoundCloud.com

It is kind of interesting to think about how personal publication has evolved over the last 10 or so years. First it was writers and their websites and blogs. Who would have thought that anyone and their dog could become widely read writers or authors in a day where national publication meant real success? I remember classmates of mine being overly excited because their poem was going to be published in a book chock full of hundreds of other poems just like theirs. Then came video. With the mass publicity YouTube generated along with the easy to use interface and the chance at YouTube stardom, people began pushing home videos left and right. But what about music?

There has always been music sharing and peer-to-peer networks since the dawn of age.. but we never really utilized these outlets to publish our own works. Sure there were some that tried this.. but there was really no way to market your junk unless you put a ‘Britney Spears’ in the title. Then people just hated you.

Podcasts came about and gave people the obviously clear opportunity to distribute whatever audio they wanted, but the use of the technology as a means to publishing original music never really caught on to artists and bands. So whats the deal?

Music, I think, is a touchy subject especially with record labels. Pirating music was, and still is, a major issue labels face. Does this mean that new and coming artists need to plan their success around this money dilemma? I suppose that all depends on what musician you talk to.

SoundCloud.com was founded in 2007 in Berlin, Germany and is one of today’s most utilized music distribution networks. If you haven’t heard of it, its basically a resource bands or artists can use to upload, collaborate, promote and distribute their music to an audience worldwide. With popularity of the service blossoming, its worth a comparison to that other social sharing network, Vimeo. Does this look promising?

This  basically shows that SoundCloud has gone from nothing to a search index of over 2.0 in just about 2 years. As a comparison, Vimeo went from nothing to a search index of over 2.0 in over 3 years! While I know this is not saying much, I do have to think that there could be some big things coming from SoundCloud in the near future. While more and more artists and bands learn about the simplicity SC has to offer, along with the opportunity to truly distribute their art in way where they have complete control… who knows.

In the mean time, go check out some new music at SoundCloud.com. If you like it, tell your neighbor, or heck.. stick it straight in your blog! Maybe we can start a trend.

The World is my idea, by AEHaller

Andy Haller is a friend of mine.. check him out.

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