THE 2 BEST SOCIAL NETWORKS FOR MUSIC SOUNDCLOUD VS MIXCLOUD

Back in the online world explaining the 2 best music social networks – Soundcloud and Mixcloud, I really like them, and I find them very interesting to distribute music and make themselves known.

I remember when I was growing up and becoming interested in music, the only way to distribute your musical selections or your creations was TDK tapes . The first music social network I met was Myspace , and with it came the way to interact, meet people with similar tastes, discover new worlds, sounds and finally give visibility to the work of musicians and producers. It was released in 2003 .

From 2005 to 2008 , Myspace was the most visited social network in the world.

Several bands became famous in those years thanks to the social network, the first music group that exploited their talent publicly through the Internet was the band Artic Monkeys

The musicians only had to make a MySpace profile for singers (since there were different types of profiles) where the artists could upload six music tracks in MP3 format which could be added to the User’s profile as background music.

In April 2008, Myspace was overtaken by Facebook . Since then, the number of Myspace users has been declining steadily despite several redesigns. As of September 2011, Myspace was in 91st place in total web traffic.

Not forgetting to name the ever-present last.fm or radio services like Spotify or Pandora.

SOUNDCLOUD

It is a social network aimed mainly at musicians , in which it is possible to spread their music through distribution channels. You can both upload and record audio.

It was created by sound producer Alex Ljung and artist Eric Wahlforss in August 2008, both Swedish but based in Berlin ( Germany ). The capital invested to date is 12.5 million dollars and it already has more than three million users

The idea is to disseminate the finished work, ready to be heard. The intention is to promote the music in a simple way, a link is sent with the song to be broadcast, and the contacts will receive it in the form of a player, so simple, that it does not even have a volume control, but it is possible to stop playback or go to the next track.

The simplicity of its operation meant that in just 4 years it had 10 million users .

SoundCloud analyzes the song and its sound wave, with the aim that anyone who is listening to it can leave their comment at a certain point in the audio and thus know exactly what part of the song it is referring to. The file can also be shared and, in some cases, downloaded.

The genres that we can find in SounCloud is music: Electronic and underground.

It is also a social player , since it can be inserted in web pages or in other social networks , those sites that link the player, every time the SounCloud profile is updated, either by adding or removing music, all linked sites will be updated. simultaneously and automatically.

The way to distribute music on SoundCloud is through the use of applications and widgets . It is available for IPhone and for Android ; there are already more than 100 applications. It also includes a Dropbox where musicians may share audio files with their fans.

The platform is developed with Ruby and has a powerful API on which more than 100 applications have already been developed.

You can also download music from SoundCloud with this site: Soundcloud Downloader.

Pros

• A very powerful player that allows users to leave comments on the sound wave that makes up the music.
• 100% social . It allows us to easily viralize our music on Social Networks.
• Integration of apps . It has a robust API that has encouraged the creation of more than 100 linked apps.
• Mobile . Applications for i Phone and iPad that are at the height of the web platform.

Cons

• Expensive . The free version only gives to host 120 minutes (with a mix you already spend the free account) and the rest of the plans are too expensive for the little space that it allows to publish.
• Problems Copyright . Something that had to happen sooner or later as things are getting … SoundCloud removes those songs that are under copyright coverage.

MIXCLOUD

This is a London company , created by Nikhil Shah and Nico Perez born in 2008It’s a social media site that allows you to upload songs to the cloud and share them, but it’s focused on DJs and radio producers from start to finish. as the name suggests.
In 2012 they had more than 3 million active users and more than 500 thousand registered by the Facebook application .

It allows all users to browse and stream audio content uploaded to your site. Registered users can upload content such as programs Radio , mixes DJ and podcasts , as well as promote and distribute their content via the widget of social networks of Mixcloud

It is a music and entertainment service with a wide variety of categories. Digital projects that are in podcast format can be shared.

The genres that we can find in Mixcloud are the most varied: Lounge , Minimal , Trance , Indie , Hip-hop …

The website technology uses Python and relies on Amazon S3 and relies on the large volume it handles

Pros

• Product very focused on electronic music. The user knows that he will find what he is looking for.
• Free . There are no pricing plans, all accounts are the same, and you can publish unlimited music.
• 100% social. Ease of posting on Social Networks.

Cons

• The SoundCloud player is light years away.
• Less functional and pleasant to use than SoundCloud.
• The iPhone app is pretty lame.

As a music lover and music selector in my spare time, I declare myself a fan !! Of the two best music social networks. SoundCloud has a very nice interface, it is easier to use, the best iPhone application impossible, and how the player is inserted in websites and blogs is great, but the price is excessive . That makes users bet more on Mixcloud , who see in this platform a ” free ” alternative , it is not so cool, but in the end it gives us the service we want …

So, what is your choice? SoundClod or Mixcloud?