Zero plays on a track you’ve worked hard on is tough. That’s why we’ve updated our algorithm to help your music get discovered.

Newly uploaded tracks are now recommended to listeners who are most likely to enjoy them, giving your music the exposure it deserves during the critical post-release period.

This feature is available now for all Artist and Artist Pro subscribers. Learn more here

Which uploads are eligible?

• A public track
• A music track (no podcasts, ASMR, or spoken word)
• Under 10 minutes in length, but over 1 minute
• Uploaded or made public within the last 14 days

We recommend up to 30 tracks per day per subscriber. If you upload more, only the first 30 will be considered.

If your track is available to Go+ subscribers only, meaning your rights-holder has only made it available to these subscribers, it will not be eligible for our algorithm. Additionally, while our goal is to recommend every track uploaded by a subscriber, we do take into account things like track quality when surfacing to new fans.

How do I get my eligible tracks heard by more fans?

To opt in to this feature, view any track page for a track which is eligible based on the criteria above. Below the track's banner and waveform, you'll see the option to enable here:

How many people are you going to be surfacing these new uploads to?

This update was designed to give your music the best chance possible. We start by recommending your tracks to around 100 people with listener profiles that align with your sound. Note that while we can recommend your track to people, we can’t force them to listen all the way through. So this does not mean every track is guaranteed 100 listens.

Who are my tracks being surfaced to? Are these plays coming from bots?

We’re not showing tracks to random accounts - we’re matching them up to listeners who are likely to love them based on their use of autoplay, user activity, and listening history. This naturally weeds out bots, which typically don’t have this type of data available.

Creators are limited to a total of 30 uploads for recommendation per day.

How does the “autoplay” algorithm work?

Our autoplay algorithm helps connect fans with similar taste based on indicators from their user activity and listening history. So, for example, if a user is a huge fan of digicore, your digicore tracks could show up in their autoplay. Find out more about autoplay here.

What if I don’t want my track to be heard by lots of new fans?

If you don’t want your track to be discoverable, you can always upload a private link and share directly with fans and collaborators. Publicly uploaded tracks have always been and will continue to be eligible for inclusion in SoundCloud’s autoplay and recommendation algorithms.

Who will be able to see these tracks?

Publicly available tracks on SoundCloud are available to everyone, and can be seen by anyone. This change just means that your track will be suggested to more listeners (and more potential fans) through autoplay.

How will this impact my listening experience on SoundCloud?

Making sure that autoplay remains a fun and valuable way to discover new music will always be a top priority. As we test this initiative we will be making adjustments based on listener behavior to make sure we’re recommending the right tracks to listeners they will resonate with. 

Can you turn this on or off as a listener?

Our recommendations are tailored to your listening behavior and can help surface tracks you might be interested in. If you don’t want to listen to autoplay recommendations, you can always hit the skip button, queue up songs, create a playlist, or actively choose what tracks to listen to. You can learn more about autoplay here.

To get started, sign up for Artist Pro today!