When SoundCloud first started in 2007, the features it offered, compared to other audio upload services like MySpace Music and DatPiff, was very intriguing for artists. The abilities to upload audio files with no file limit, comment on specific time frames on a song, and instant sharing to Facebook and Twitter, led artists like Beck, Moby and Sonic Youth to start to use SoundCloud to promote new tracks and albums. By 2010, the SoundCloud already had 1 million users. This year was when the generation of “SoundCloud Rappers” really started.
The first artists to find a way to make it big off of SoundCloud was the 18 member rap group Odd Future, which included members that went on to have very successful solo careers, such as Tyler the Creator, Frank Ocean, and Earl Sweatshirt. After their mixtape “12 Odd Future Songs” made it big off of SoundCloud, the group signed with Sony Music Entertainment and their careers went off from there. They started their own television show, Loiter Squad, released another album, and have since all went their separate ways and released solo albums.
Between the years 2010-2013, SoundCloud went from 1 million users to 40 million users. During that time frame, many artists and others alike were uploading to SoundCloud, including Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé and even former president Barak Obama. According to Florida rapper Denzel Curry, during an interview with HOT 97, the artists that made it big during that period of time were Gucci Mane, Lil B, Chief Keef, A$AP Mob and RVIDXR KLVN (pronounced Raider Klan), were starting to make a name for themselves by uploading their mixtapes to SoundCloud, while also making SoundCloud a household name in the music world.
However, it wasn’t until 2015 when artists were starting to become overnight successes on SoundCloud. In February 2015, the artist Post Malone uploaded his single “White Iverson” and over the ne
xt month, it had over 1 million plays and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, Atlanta artist Lil Yachty and Philly rapper Lil Uzi Vert became overnight successes with their singles “One Night” (which gained popularity thanks to a viral comedy video) and “Top”. From there, the subgenre “SoundCloud Rap” became prominent, with names like Lil Pump, Playboi Carti and Ski Mask the Slump God taking over the music world by storm.
Many artists today are choosing to SoundCloud for many reasons. During SoundCloud’s beginning, artists used websites like “Myspace Music” and “DatPiff” along with SoundCloud to simply find a way to share their material. However, those sites failed to adapt with the things SoundCloud was doing, so that’s why artists chose SoundCloud over others. Nowadays, SoundCloud is still mostly chosen over other music streaming services like Spotify, Pandora and even YouTube, mostly because when they became more well-known, they decided to become more corporate, and try to make money off of certain content. Many artists choose SoundCloud because they keep all the rights to their work.
