SoundCloud vs. Spotify
Music industry is revolutionized with the creation of music apps. Among many gigantic apps, SoundCloud and Spotify hold significant features with millions of active users. It has been the hot debate among many music listeners about knowing the best between the two.
We have solved the issue by providing a brief comparison between the features of Spotify and SoundCloud. Read this article to know the best one music giant.
Soundcloud vs. Spotify: General Overview
Spotify Overview
If we take a glimpse into the gigantic world of Spotify, created and run by Daniel EK and Martin Lorentzon in 2006, now has more than 381 millions of users enjoying millions of songs, podcasts and playlists in free and premium mode. Downloading songs, browsing new songs, creating your personalized playlist or enjoying daily mixes, it depends upon you how you explore this versatile app.
SoundCloud Overview
SoundCloud,Community-driven platform created by Germans, is famous among musicians as they can create, upload, promote, record and share their own music. It provides opportunities to the new singers. It also has a gigantic library of those songs which are considered unofficial and not present on any music app due to copyright claims. It has morehan 175 active users. You can discover unofficial songs, artists, their tracks and mixes.
Soundcloud vs. Spotify: A Brief Comparison
SoundCloud and spotify, both hold significant importance among the music listeres. Both the apps have given great features to the audience. Now by comparing both the apps, we can find the champion.
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: Discovering New Artists and Songs
Spotify,a gigantic music streamer, lets the users discover “Daily Mix, Weekly Mixes” and a search bar in order to know about the songs and artists. It also has a “Release Radar” which will give you access to the latest releases..
SoundCloud, another popular giant, also has such features.it has Daily Mixes and Artist Station which provide you with the latest releases keeping you aware of the new releases. It also gives you a personalized playlist “Mega Mix” which is based on your recently played songs.
In this category, there is a tie between the two.
| Music Categories | Spotify | SoundCloud |
| New Releases | Release Radar | Artist Station |
| Playlist Recommendation | Daily MixWeekly MixMade for You | Mega Mix |
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: Unofficial Songs and Artists
Spotify, an amazing music app, does not give access to unofficial songs or artists. Only the official songs are present making a vast and versatile library.
SoundCloud is a music streamer which provides you with all the unofficial songs and artists about which you have never heard of. It provides musicians to upload and record their songs which bring innovation and versatility for its users at a much bigger scale. You can find a Remix of two popular artists here.
So in terms of unofficial songs and artists, SoundCloud takes an edge over Spotify.
SoundCloud vs Spotify: Paid Plans
Spotify and SoundCloud offers paid plans with the following features:
| SoundCloud | Spotify |
| SoundCloud has Go and Go+ plans for the users.No other categorization is available. | Spotify offers Individuals. Duo, Family and Studentplans. |
| Soundcloud is ideal for independent music artists and musicians to start their music journey. | Spotify is ideal for both listeners and musicians. |
| In the paid version, lyrics are unavailable. | It offers lyrics in its free and premium version. |
| Only paid version allows you to download songs for offline and ad free listening. | Just like SoundCloud, Spotify also allows users to download songs for offline ad- free listening. |
| Soundcloud Go version is in affordable pricing but it provides highest audio quality of 256 kbps allowing listeners yearning for more. | Spotify in its paid version caters the audience with the highest 320 kbps audio quality. |
| SoundCloud offers its paid version for just 4.99$ which is quite reasonable for users. | Spotify is a bit expensive providing its premium tier in 9.99$. |
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: Pricing
Spotify, a little bit expensive, offers great deals for all the people.it has multiple plans like individual plan, duo plan, family plan and students plan. Listeners can get access to its free version which has free access to its full fledged music library with ads and no downloading option.
SoundCloud on the other hand, is a little budget friendly. It has a free version which has ads and no downloading option. It offers “GO” and “GO+” plans to its audience.
| Offered Plans | Spotify | SoundCloud |
| Individual Plans | 10.99$\monthly | __________ |
| Duo Plan | 14.99$\monthly | ___________ |
| Student Plan | 5.99$\monthly | ___________ |
| Family plan | 16.99$\monthly | ___________ |
| Go | ________ | 4.99$\monthly |
| Go+ | ________ | 9.9$\monthly |
In this category there is a tie.
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: App Availability
Spotify caters a huge audience and is available on all IOs devices, android phones, Desktop and windows.macOS and Linux. It is available in 180 countries.
Whereas SoundCloud can only be downloaded on android, IOs and windows. It caters its service in only 120 countries.
Spotify wins being available worldwide.
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: Platform potential
Spotify is a great platform with a market cap of 100 billion$ and it is still extending its growth. Spotify’s algorithm is updated according to the user’s search list. It is highly popular due to its audio quality and mainstream music list.
Soundcloud is still growing and stands far behind in terms of revenue. It is now focusing on upgrading its algorithms. Whereas its strength lies in community-driven interface supporting Independent music artists.
There is a tie between the two.
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: Popularity
Spotify is available in 180 countries with more than 400 million active users. Spotify is highly famous for its mainstream music, high audio quality of 320 kbps, great lyrics, easy to use interface, simplicity and availability. It provides a curated playlist, polished interface and a vast music catalog.
Soundcloud is a platform which focuses more on discoverability and music creators. It is a great platform for music artists to begin their career. It serves independent music artists.
Spotify wins on the basis of popularity.
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: Lyrics
Spotify provides lyrics making it easier for you to understand your favorite songs. It provides lyrics in its free and paid version.
SoundCloud doesn’t provide any lyrics free feature in its free or paid version. Soundcloud has the majority of those unofficial songs which are driven by independent music artists. So it lacks lyrics.
Spotify wins on the basis of Lyrics availability.
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: Audio quality
Spotify is famed because of its huge audio quality. This quality surpasses other things in music streaming apps. It provides lowest 42 to the maximum highest 320 kbps audio quality.
Soundcloud on the other hand, provides 256 kbps highest audio quality in its Go+ mode.
| Audio Quality | Spotify | SoundCloud |
| low | 24kbps | 64 kbps |
| Normal | 96kbps | 64kbps |
| High | 160kbps | 128kbps |
| Very High | 320kbps | 256kbps |
Spotify wins in this category.
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: Vast Music Library
Spotify has a vast music library containing 80 million tracks with millions of podcasts and many audiobooks. So it enhances its audience reach. Not only a music lover but a nerd can also have access to their favorite books and tracks. It also provides music depending on your work mood.you can search workout mood, study mood, travel mood as per choice.
SoundCloud caters 20 millions songs. Majority of this vast playlist belongs to unofficial artists which are unavailable anywhere. In terms of podcasts, it provides a few podcasts and audiobooks.
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: Social Media sharing ability
Spotify allows you to share your favorite music with others like Instagram and Facebook. If you have subscribed to any Duo or Family plan, you can share your songs and playlist with them too. You can also public your playlist.
While SoundCloud excels users by allowing them to post their songs, repost them and get them public too. You can also comment on the podcast too. Soundcloud allows you to follow people with the same music taste.
Both these platforms have sharing capability, so there is a tie.
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: Availability: User reach
Spotify caters its services worldwide by having 170 million active users. It has mainstream songs of about 70 million of almost all the tracks. Its user-friendly and intuitive interface makes it easier to understand things.
Soundcloud has 130 million active users with more than 125 million independent user-generated tracks. It is not a global star as spotify. It is still not available in most of the countries. You can discover new and independent talented artists with their music tracks.
SoundCloud vs. Spotify: Offline listening
Spotify offlines offline listening features in its premium tier. You can get a subscription of the premium plan and then download the songs of your choice and can listen to them anytime anywhere.
SoundCloud also offers download and offline listening in its paid “Go and Go+” version. You can listen to your music anytime anywhere with these paid versions.
In terms of offline listening, both apps provide equal and quite similar features. So there is a tie.
Conclusion
Choosing between Spotify and SoundCloud depends on your choice. Whether you want community driven work or mainstream music, you can go for anyone. Spotify seems a better choice as it is available throughout the world and provides you mainstream music with best audio quality,social sharing features, lyrics availability, user-friendly interface and paid plans. But if you want to promote music, then you can go for the soundCloud app.
