Soundcloud clamps down!
 

Anyone else get an email saying that as of December 9 free accounts will be limited to 15 tracks? Any good free alternatives?

Yup saw that.

No email yet but found this on their site:

“Anything you upload before December 9th, 2019 when the new upload limit goes into effect will remain on your account, will not be hidden, and will continue to be available to you and all listeners”

Best get recording quick.....

You can always just put your MP3s in a DropBox or GoogleDrive folder and share a link to it. They both have built-in players, though you won't get likes or comments and such. And, the files could be downloaded, if that matters.

IIRC it's only about $100/yr (edit: plus or minus - see other threads) for SoundCloud, right? I've had the minimal level for a couple of years - primarily so I could update the files if I tinkered with the mix!

SoundClick might still be out there, but I haven't used that in over 5 years so don't know what kind of restrictions it has.

YouTube?

You probably know that a lot of "videos" on YouTube are just a single placard and the audio.

I didn't get an email, as yet...

But the company I work for keeps getting bought and we keep getting new email addresses!.So sorry, Soundcloud, I have 2 or 3 new email addresses from work to open new accounts after I fill up the ones in my relatives email addresses before I give you $10...:D

They should probably give me $10!


BluesKing777.

Thanks for posting that - I was looking at my tunes earlier trying to decide which ones to delete - now I don't have to!;)

Reverbnation is still free.

If one thinks that Soundcloud is to be scrutinized for squeezing their userbase, then YouTube is off the charts in this regard.

In 2019 alone, Google took what is perhaps their most egregious overstep to date: totally disabling private messaging in YouTube. Not to mention, today, the average, non-paying user can hardly use their service without being subjected to the incessant pestering of having to skip the free trial offer for their paid services. Coupled with ads, I find it almost unusable, with nothing left to like about the platform other than the creative "content" they host, and, of course, the folks creating responsible for creating it.

Those artists and musicians with the motivation and/or requisite skillset will probably continue to lean toward self-hosting. This works well enough for individual tracks, depending on the level of desire for self-promotion and intended reach. For full albums, and especially if self-hosting is not viable, then Bandcamp still appears to be worth using for artists seeking to distribute free listening materials. Reverbnation is still free, as TBman mentions above.

Personally, I maintain that we should decrease our reliance on these mega-services like YouTube, whose model is no longer one of encouraging expression, but of commodification and capitalizing on the backs of hard-working creatives. Demonstrably, their contributions to the world offer only a steady reduction of the freedoms by which artists attempt to exact those desires of visibility, communication, appreciation, and the like...

...as Arthur Lee and Love said it so many years ago:

Sometimes I deal with numbers
And if you wanna count me
You can count me out!

Regarding the current cost of SoundCloud "unlimited"--anywhere from 8 to 16 dollars a month depending on whether you pay monthly or yearly, and whether you pay the regular or limited time (until December 16) sale price. Per the website:


$12.00 a month (regular price) or $8.40/month (sale price) billed once a year.

$16.00 a month (regular price) or $11.20/month (sale price) billed once a month.

I’m at a loss to know why so many seem to be upset at having to pay for a service that might benefit them as a consumer.

Someone has to pay to keep the lights on.

I believe that the crucial distinction in this context is one of consumer vs. artist. Many people are averse to consumerism on principle, and do their best to avoid it. Concordantly, an artist wishing to share their music might maintain the express preference to do so independently.

As for why so many might be upset by this: well, if YouTube's simultaneous disabling of the ability to communicate privately with others on the platform coupled with intensified marketing designed for premium membership growth doesn't speak volumes, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. :D

2nd point is of course true, and it's unclear how SoundCloud makes money.

On the other hand, the 44 tracks I have up at SoundCloud have never made me a dime, so I'll be ****ed if I'm going to pay for the privilege of them hosing them either.

So, I had to go back and review my charges. It was $63 for the year last Spring for "Limited." I guess I'll see what they charge next year. I might stop using it.

The reality is, based on what I've observed, it's *very* hard to get people to click on audio file links. They might do it on a forum like this, but from a promotional POV, it's a waste of time. You can hate on YouTube all you want, but if you're going into a bar to try and get a gig, you should have something (decent/good) on YouTube IMO. (This is a different topic, of course.)

If all you're doing is asking folks to listen and comment, there are free options.

I never private messaged anyone in Youtube before and you can use an Adblock to block ads.