.
Born out of two sound engineers’ frustration at not being
able to conveniently share and get feedback on music, SoundCloud has grown into
one of the world’s largest online music streaming and sharing communities. With
more than 40 million registered users and over 200 million listeners (according
to USA
today), the German based audio streaming site has clearly become a force to
reckon with.
The best part of using this website is that a lot of its
features come free of charge. Once you register with the service you can listen
to as much music as you’d like and even download up to 100 songs. Artists
registered with the site can also upload up to 120 minutes of audio on to their
artist profiles. The websites user interface shows music as a wave form and
allows listeners to comment of specific parts of it. It is a great place to get
exposure, with more than 90% of all uploaded audios getting played in 30
minutes by at least one user. It allows artists to easily share their music
through social media. The website also has a record button that allows artists
to produce audios directly from the upload page.
The Kenyan connection
Recognizing the potential for promotion of music, several
Kenyan rock bands have begun using Soundcloud. Some of these artists include, Parkinglotgrass, Murfy’s
flaw, Koinange
Street Avengers Dove Slimme, among other
artists. The intrigue goes beyond rock. Kenyan rock band even spotted a Mugithi
mix somewhere in the Kenyan music search results. You can always sign up to
site and follow your favourite band just like on twitter.
Criticisms
The site has however come under criticism from its original
users because of changes made to its user interface in 2013. Aiming to increase
its appeal and user base, the site introduced a sleeker looking media player
and reposting features. Critics say that although it started out as a place for
artists to collaborate, this side of things is being neglected in favour of
listeners. The comment section for one has been modified and made too small
according to some users. Soundclouds CEO acknowledged the site was not perfect
in an interview with Forbes
but said that more users are getting on board. Those complaining were only a ‘vocal
minority’.
Log on and check out the Kenyan music there some time.
