{"id":4380,"date":"2017-03-19T03:10:58","date_gmt":"2017-03-19T07:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd-in-the-cloud\/"},"modified":"2017-03-19T16:07:38","modified_gmt":"2017-03-19T20:07:38","slug":"sounds-of-the-crowd","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/","title":{"rendered":"Sounds of the Crowd"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soundcloud<\/a> is an audio streaming platform that reaches over 175 million users per month across the globe. \u201cCreators\u201d use Soundcloud to upload, share and track the reach of their audio content. \u201cListeners\u201d use it to discover, curate and provide feedback on tracks. Together, both sides have formed a vibrant community of artists, tastemakers and consumers of music and spoken word. While the catalogues of most well-known music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music consist primarily of tracks licensed from major music labels and publishers, Soundcloud offers an unmatched \u201clong tail\u201d of user-generated audio content.<\/p>\n

Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music \u2013 aka \u201cthe Big Three\u201d – comprise almost 70%<\/a> of the world\u2019s recorded music market and have long controlled the production and promotion of popular music, \u201cpushing\u201d their artists onto consumers. Soundcloud has taken a significant step towards democratizing music distribution, enabling anyone with internet access to post their audio content and letting the crowd decide on quality. This has worked particularly well in genres that lend themselves to individual music production (e.g. electronic, hip hop), and helped artists such as Kygo and Lorde break into the mainstream<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Value creation on Soundcloud is fundamentally linked to the power of crowds. The platform provides the basic building blocks \u2013 profiles, hosting services, analytics tools, social engagement features – \u00a0but the community does the rest. Creators are encouraged to share even unfinished work and benefit from feedback on posted content through messages and track comments. They can tap into a global pool of peers to find potential collaborators, which is how Flume and Chet Faker came together<\/a>. They can also build their fan bases far more quickly by increasing their reach to Soundcloud\u2019s broad listener base.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>For listeners, the wisdom of the crowd is crucial to help them identify the content most suited to their tastes. With over 12 hours of content posted every minute, it would be impossible to review everything and pick your favorites. Instead, listeners rely on the behavior of artists and friends they follow. Your \u201chome stream\u201d on Soundcloud is a reverse-chronological feed of all the tracks that the people you follow have posted or reposted, so your shortcut to discovering music you like is to curate your curators<\/em>. My favorite way to do this is to pick an artist I like and see what new artists or tracks they<\/em> have liked. More common features like \u201ccharts\u201d or cumulative \u201clikes\u201d and \u201creposts\u201d also show what is currently popular in the broader community.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The incentives to participate differ for creators and listeners, although many users count themselves in both categories. Creators post content to reach large audiences and receive feedback, while listeners use Soundcloud to access the long tail of unique content curated by people they choose to follow. Listeners help curate content because \u201cliking\u201d is their way of storing tracks for future use and \u201creposting\u201d enables them to engage with their own followers. Track comments are also a unique opportunity for listeners to interact with artists, who often respond directly. \u00a0The community is managed through Soundcloud\u2019s efforts to monitor for scams, harassment, and content right infringement.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Given its success in building a global user base, Soundcloud\u2019s biggest challenge relates to capturing value. In its initial phases, the company focused on building tools for creators to share content and on growing the audiences that this content can reach. The next phase in the company\u2019s journey is about enabling creators to monetize their reach and Soundcloud to improve its bottom line. The company has itself partnered with major and independent music labels and publishers to enable the introduction of audio and native advertising, as well as subscription services for listeners (subscriptions for creators have existed for several years). Monetization is a delicate balancing act, as Soundcloud\u2019s unique value is its long tail of user-generated content. To maintain this edge, it\u00a0needs to be preserved alongside partnerships with larger content providers.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am an audiophile and worked on the New Markets Team at Soundcloud in Berlin.\u00a0I use Soundcloud for discovery<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Soundcloud brought together the long tail of musicians and a global audience to create a vibrant online community. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":529,"featured_media":4382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[664,483,458,1216],"class_list":["post-4380","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crowds","category-digital-music","category-music-streaming","category-soundcloud"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/managing-digital-crowds\/","yoast_head":"\nSounds of the Crowd - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sounds of the Crowd - Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How Soundcloud brought together the long tail of musicians and a global audience to create a vibrant online community.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-19T20:07:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Soundcloud-banner.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1001\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"541\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/sounds-of-the-crowd\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/sounds-of-the-crowd\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sounds of the Crowd - Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/sounds-of-the-crowd\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/sounds-of-the-crowd\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/Soundcloud-banner.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-19T07:10:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-19T20:07:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/sounds-of-the-crowd\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/sounds-of-the-crowd\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/sounds-of-the-crowd\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/Soundcloud-banner.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/Soundcloud-banner.png\",\"width\":1001,\"height\":541},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/sounds-of-the-crowd\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Sounds of the Crowd\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sounds of the Crowd - Digital Innovation and Transformation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sounds of the Crowd - Digital Innovation and Transformation","og_description":"How Soundcloud brought together the long tail of musicians and a global audience to create a vibrant online community.","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/","og_site_name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","article_modified_time":"2017-03-19T20:07:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1001,"height":541,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Soundcloud-banner.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/","name":"Sounds of the Crowd - Digital Innovation and Transformation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Soundcloud-banner.png","datePublished":"2017-03-19T07:10:58+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-19T20:07:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Soundcloud-banner.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Soundcloud-banner.png","width":1001,"height":541},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/sounds-of-the-crowd\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sounds of the Crowd"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/","name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/4380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/529"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/4380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}