SoundCloud Announces Launch of TikTok-style Discovery Feed for Everyone

SoundCloud announces the launch of the long-awaited and rumored TikTok-styled discovery feed feature for iOS and Android users.

SoundCloud, at last, has completed the long ongoing testing of the TikTok-style discovery feeds that the company started experimenting with back in March. It has finally approved the feature’s launch on the platform. The SoundCloud streaming platform will now offer a discovery feature resembling TikTok’s vertical scrolling and short clip pattern to promote songs.

The new short-clip feature allows listeners to listen to a 30-second short music sample and decide whether they are interested in listening to the full track. Users can directly switch to listening to the full track with a single click of the play button. This will transition the user from the preview to the actual track.

This feature allows users to seamlessly stream music to their taste and explore or bounce between genres. This is an outstanding feature for music enthusiasts who enjoy exploring the vast genres of music.

This feature uses AI assistance from Musiio (a startup it acquired in 2022) to preview the best 30 seconds of a song. Listeners are given the freedom to choose their highlights.

The newly designed user interface allows users to directly add songs to their playlist as well as like songs and add them to their list of “liked” songs via respective buttons present on the screen.

While SoundCloud enters a new arena of the music universe, it hasn’t left its old grounds. Users can switch to their old interface at any time using the “Following” tab at the top of their Cloud screen. Using the following tab will allow the user to explore and listen to new songs and playlists by artists they follow.

Over the years, SoundCloud has indulged itself in the discovery of various new and unique ideas to provide users with the best standard music experience. It also took the initiative to develop mediums for artists to promote their songs and interact more actively with fans, like analytics and direct messaging.

Additionally, in 2021, SoundCloud introduced a fan-powered royalty program. Under this program, the platform distributes revenue based on the number of listeners accumulated by artists rather than song streams. The program currently includes 500,000 artists.

SoundCloud is all set to welcome profits this year. The company underwent a staff cut in May and previously reduced its workforce by 20% in August last year.

SoundCloud isn’t the only one in the race. Other music platforms like Spotify and TikTok Music have also introduced the vertical feed with short songs and podcast preview features to promote and increase the music exploration experience on their platforms.

SoundCloud is a popular streaming platform with a collection of 320 million songs and 40 million artists. The platform offers its listeners a wide variety of genres and a premium music experience. With the introduction of the new short clip feature, SoundCloud has widened its horizon to offer listeners the best music experience.