Introduction

In a groundbreaking move for independent musicians, SoundCloud announced a new, budget-friendly plan for artists, aptly named "Artist." This exciting development comes alongside a rebranding of its existing Next Pro plan to "Artist Pro." The changes promise to make professional music distribution and monetization more accessible than ever before.

Details of the Artist Plan

Starting at just $39 per year, the Artist plan provides essential features tailored to budding talents while imposing certain limitations. Artists subscribing to this plan will have access to a familiar 3-hour upload limit spread across any number of tracks—matching the constraints of the platform's free offering.

Visibility and Monetization Benefits

With the new Artist plan, musicians can amplify their visibility, ensuring their new tracks reach over 100 listeners. This feature sees SoundCloud positioned as a valuable tool for distributing and monetizing music on other popular platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and TikTok. Notably, artists will retain 100% of the royalties generated from their plays on SoundCloud and will also keep earnings from other streaming services, although these privileges apply to up to two tracks per month under the basic plan.

Managing Your Tracks

In addition to these advantages, artists can replace three tracks monthly without losing accumulated stats, plays, likes, or comments—a crucial feature for those looking to refine their portfolios. Moreover, each subscriber will receive a credit for mastering one track using SoundCloud's built-in tools each month, ensuring professional quality.

Artist Pro Plan

After successfully piloting the plan in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, SoundCloud is excited to make it available to a broader audience. For those seeking even more extensive features, the Artist Pro plan is available at $99 per year. This higher-tier plan includes unlimited track uploads, enhanced amplification options, monetization capabilities, and community management tools, along with three AI mastering credits every month.

Conclusion

This initiative follows SoundCloud's earlier introduction of an in-house merchandise store designed to empower artists with creative control over their merchandise designs. In a heartfelt statement, SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton emphasized the platform's commitment to fostering musical talent, saying, “At SoundCloud, we believe great music can come from anywhere, and it shouldn’t be held back by cost or complexity. That’s why we created the Artist plan—to provide emerging musicians with pro-level tools and distribution at an affordable price.”

As SoundCloud continues to evolve and cater to the needs of artists, this new offering is bound to turn heads in the music industry. Don’t miss the chance to elevate your music career—sign up for the Artist plan today!