New SoundCloud feature revolutionises connections between artists & supporters

Soundcloud has introduced a revolutionary new service called 'Fans' designed to empower both artists and fans and open communication between musicians and their most dedicated supporters.

It uses engagement data, sharing habits and listening behaviour to enable artists to identify and communicate directly with their most loyal fans within the SoundCloud community.

Tracy Chan, SVP of Creator at SoundCloud, stated, "Our company was founded and built on helping artists share and connect through music. And, let’s face it: building a fanbase (and being able to activate those fans when you need to) is the only real way to make music your livelihood. Just knowing who your fans are isn’t always enough. That’s why we’re also allowing you to message those fans easily and directly”.

One of the most innovative uses of the new product came from rapper Armani White, who invited his top fans to a ‘game night’ listening party in Los Angeles, where he interacted with them and gave an intimate performance of his upcoming album.

Speaking on ‘Fans’, White said “It’s taking all this digital data…all these numbers are humans, and it’s turning them back into humans again...where SoundCloud always wins as opposed to any other streaming platform is the community.”

Artists have already been using ‘Fans’ to promote upcoming shows, set up meet-and-greets, share unreleased music and simply thank their supporters.

The platform’s unique royalty payment system allows artists to identify the most loyal fans; Soundcloud is one of the few streaming services that adopt fan-centric royalty payments.

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Unlike the traditional “one big pot” royalty model used across most streaming services, ‘fan-powered royalties’ allocate a share of each listener's subscription/ad revenue to the artists they listen to.

This latest addition to SoundCloud's impressive repertoire underscores the company's commitment to empowering artists and fans. Last month, they partnered with Feature.fm which is an artist-to-fan marketing solution emphasising the importance of both parties.

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‘Fans’ is curently in its beta version with only Next Pro Artist users being able to access the feature on SoundCloud, but the platform has stated plans to continue developing it in the future.

Read the whole statement on ‘Fans’ by Tracy Chan here.

Henry Cooper is an Editorial Intern at Mixmag Asia. Follow him on Instagram.