Hey there! What’s that you say? You’ve got a great sound but nobody’s listening? Well, if you’re already on SoundCloud, then at least you’re on the right track—it’s the best place to grow your fan base online. More SoundCloud plays means more exposure for your songs. But how do you get more SoundCloud plays when you’re just starting out?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Let’s look at a few simple ways to get more SoundCloud plays naturally so that your music finds the right audience.

As we suggest in our guide, Seven Ways to Promote Your Music, you should go ahead and upgrade to the Pro plan. This will let you do a few cool things.

One: add a custom header image. You can use this space to talk about your most recent track, and this can even link to the iTunes store where they can buy it.

You can use this space to talk about your most recent track, and this can even link to the iTunes store where they can buy it. Two: upgraded plans give you access to the Spotlight feature. This allows you to pin up to 5 tracks to the top of your Profile Stream . Now your best stuff will get noticed first.

upgraded plans give you access to the Spotlight feature. This allows you to . Now your best stuff will get noticed first. Three: the stats. See exactly where your fans are, both in the real world, and online. See who's playing your tracks, and in which countries and cities you're most popular. Know precisely from which pages, apps, and social networks your tracks are being played.

A few more ideas:

Share your music with SoundCloud groups. You can join as many groups as you want for free, so why not be social? Suggest your best tracks to the group, which is an easy way to get more SoundCloud plays in a natural way. (Don’t forget to reciprocate, it’s polite.

Offer a free download of one of your songs to the public. This not only makes good business sense, it’s good karma, too. Even the biggest artists do this from time to time. Spread the love, and it will come back to you in the form of more SoundCloud plays.

Leave real comments on other people’s tracks—especially if they’re in your genre and have a large fan base. Be positive and relevant, and you’ll be seen as someone who knows what they’re talking about. But please—don’t try to hijack their fans by mentioning YOUR songs. That’s lame, and besides, if you’re comments are insightful, they’ll come find you on their own.

When you’re first starting out, you might want to give yourself a kick start by purchasing some plays. This is fast and economical way to gain some social proof while you’re still building your fan base. Make sure to use a quality provider, though. Check out our Top Ten list to compare and see which one is right for you.[

Well, that should be enough to get you started in the right direction. Remember, it’s called the music “business” for a reason. But the sound is still number one, so as long as you’re making tunes that you love, you’re going to be successful!

Date: January 6, 2015 / Categories: Uncategorized, / Author: Rich Drees