{"slug": "soundcloud", "name": "SoundCloud", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "Online audio platform for uploading, sharing, and streaming music and other audio.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 6, "warners": 1, "score": 3.704, "rising": -0.31, "first": "2026-04-05", "latest": "2026-09-25", "why": "Liked for discovering new artists and electronic music, and by musicians as a free place to share their own tracks.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 3, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Artist discovery", "Musician-friendly"], "caveat": "Upload limits", "short_quote": "People give soundcloud a lot of grief but I love the service", "icon": true, "domain": "soundcloud.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://soundcloud.com", "pricing": "freemium", "aliases": ["SoundCloud"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked for discovering new artists and electronic music", "cites": [{"id": 797598992, "item_id": 49849937, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49849937", "by": "theguysudo", "date": "2026-09-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i prefer soundcloud i have switched to it a while ago its better and free", "excerpt": "i prefer soundcloud i have switched to it a while ago its better and free as well as you tend to get more freedom exploring content from new artist more slack is pretty good already so wont prefer swaping it", "context": "", "use_case": "music discovery", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What vendor you'd switch out if a better option was available?"}, {"id": 782908000, "item_id": 48931750, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48931750", "by": "omgmajk", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "soundcloud is likely your home to find stuff", "excerpt": "Go check out ektoplazm.com, electronic music with permissable licenses. Good for the culture of this website. Most things can be downloaded in flac. Then when you have found a style, soundcloud is likely your home to find stuff and then when you have found it you can either rip it or buy it.", "context": "", "use_case": "finding electronic music", "switched_from": "", "story": "The lost joy of music piracy"}]}, {"text": ", and by musicians as a free place to share their own tracks.", "cites": [{"id": 797598992, "item_id": 49849937, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49849937", "by": "theguysudo", "date": "2026-09-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i prefer soundcloud i have switched to it a while ago its better and free", "excerpt": "i prefer soundcloud i have switched to it a while ago its better and free as well as you tend to get more freedom exploring content from new artist more slack is pretty good already so wont prefer swaping it", "context": "", "use_case": "music discovery", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What vendor you'd switch out if a better option was available?"}, {"id": 762416176, "item_id": 47651011, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47651011", "by": "colkassad", "date": "2026-04-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "People give soundcloud a lot of grief but I love the service", "excerpt": "Yes, I have a soundcloud account: https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music I like to mix electronic and orchestral sounds. Some examples: https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music/the-seven-hills-of-rome https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music/dark-matter I also like piano a lot (I only know how to play guitar badly, I just draw in the notes and work velocity until it sounds good to me): https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music/life-is-", "context": "makes electronic and orchestral music", "use_case": "hosting own music", "switched_from": "", "story": "Introduction to Computer Music [pdf]"}, {"id": 782948081, "item_id": 48934255, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48934255", "by": "grvdrm", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Also love Soundcloud", "excerpt": "I wasn't familiar with either Oink or What.CD - fascinating to read about them. I spent tons of time on Napster and LimeWire roughly between late 1990s and 2005 when I graduated from college. A few things stood out as related topics: 1. I attended UMass-Amherst - a school not unfamiliar with and perhaps even popular for jam band culture. There was, at one point, a tool distributed that allowed any particular user to ", "context": "makes electronic music and DJs", "use_case": "music", "switched_from": "", "story": "The lost joy of music piracy"}]}, {"text": " The main caveat raised is a 3-hour upload limit that makes hosting a large catalog impractical.", "cites": [{"id": 789010961, "item_id": 49313185, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49313185", "by": "earworms", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Soundcloud has a 3 hour limit; meaning with my 200 hours of music, i would require a lot of accounts", "excerpt": "Yes. Soundcloud has a 3 hour limit; meaning with my 200 hours of music, i would require a lot of accounts, and i have a song that is 3 hours and 5 minutes long. And i have songs that are as short as 4 seconds long. Bandcamp has a limit on the size of files you upload; which make it even more difficult as a lot of my songs are longer than 25 minutes. (which is precisely the amount their limit is.) Then if you sell som", "context": "", "use_case": "hosting music", "switched_from": "", "story": "Alternative to Internet Archive"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Artist discovery", "summary": "Commenters use it to explore new artists and find electronic music.", "quotes": [{"id": 797598992, "item_id": 49849937, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49849937", "by": "theguysudo", "date": "2026-09-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i prefer soundcloud i have switched to it a while ago its better and free", "excerpt": "i prefer soundcloud i have switched to it a while ago its better and free as well as you tend to get more freedom exploring content from new artist more slack is pretty good already so wont prefer swaping it", "context": "", "use_case": "music discovery", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What vendor you'd switch out if a better option was available?"}, {"id": 782908000, "item_id": 48931750, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48931750", "by": "omgmajk", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "soundcloud is likely your home to find stuff", "excerpt": "Go check out ektoplazm.com, electronic music with permissable licenses. Good for the culture of this website. Most things can be downloaded in flac. Then when you have found a style, soundcloud is likely your home to find stuff and then when you have found it you can either rip it or buy it.", "context": "", "use_case": "finding electronic music", "switched_from": "", "story": "The lost joy of music piracy"}]}, {"label": "Musician-friendly", "summary": "Musicians who make electronic and orchestral music say they love it for sharing their work.", "quotes": [{"id": 762416176, "item_id": 47651011, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47651011", "by": "colkassad", "date": "2026-04-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "People give soundcloud a lot of grief but I love the service", "excerpt": "Yes, I have a soundcloud account: https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music I like to mix electronic and orchestral sounds. Some examples: https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music/the-seven-hills-of-rome https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music/dark-matter I also like piano a lot (I only know how to play guitar badly, I just draw in the notes and work velocity until it sounds good to me): https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music/life-is-", "context": "makes electronic and orchestral music", "use_case": "hosting own music", "switched_from": "", "story": "Introduction to Computer Music [pdf]"}, {"id": 782948081, "item_id": 48934255, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48934255", "by": "grvdrm", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Also love Soundcloud", "excerpt": "I wasn't familiar with either Oink or What.CD - fascinating to read about them. I spent tons of time on Napster and LimeWire roughly between late 1990s and 2005 when I graduated from college. A few things stood out as related topics: 1. I attended UMass-Amherst - a school not unfamiliar with and perhaps even popular for jam band culture. There was, at one point, a tool distributed that allowed any particular user to ", "context": "makes electronic music and DJs", "use_case": "music", "switched_from": "", "story": "The lost joy of music piracy"}]}, {"label": "Free", "summary": "One commenter switched to it partly because it is free.", "quotes": [{"id": 797598992, "item_id": 49849937, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49849937", "by": "theguysudo", "date": "2026-09-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i prefer soundcloud i have switched to it a while ago its better and free", "excerpt": "i prefer soundcloud i have switched to it a while ago its better and free as well as you tend to get more freedom exploring content from new artist more slack is pretty good already so wont prefer swaping it", "context": "", "use_case": "music discovery", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What vendor you'd switch out if a better option was available?"}]}, {"label": "Empowers creators", "summary": "Cited as an example of tech that helped people connect and create.", "quotes": [{"id": 782714193, "item_id": 48919637, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48919637", "by": "l337h4x0rz", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Think MySpace, early-days Facebook, Soundcloud, Ableton Live etc.", "excerpt": "In my opinion tech used to be fun and we used to create products that actually empower people. Think MySpace, early-days Facebook, Soundcloud, Ableton Live etc. They exist to empower the masses to connect and to create. Today the business model has made every products and contents to be enshittified. We've optimised for the wrong thing and not only the common people hate the tech industry. Even I no longer feels the ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why do people hate the tech industry? (2023)"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Upload limits", "summary": "A 3-hour limit means large music libraries would need many accounts.", "quotes": [{"id": 789010961, "item_id": 49313185, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49313185", "by": "earworms", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Soundcloud has a 3 hour limit; meaning with my 200 hours of music, i would require a lot of accounts", "excerpt": "Yes. Soundcloud has a 3 hour limit; meaning with my 200 hours of music, i would require a lot of accounts, and i have a song that is 3 hours and 5 minutes long. And i have songs that are as short as 4 seconds long. Bandcamp has a limit on the size of files you upload; which make it even more difficult as a lot of my songs are longer than 25 minutes. (which is precisely the amount their limit is.) Then if you sell som", "context": "", "use_case": "hosting music", "switched_from": "", "story": "Alternative to Internet Archive"}]}], "who": [{"by": "grvdrm", "context": "makes electronic music and DJs", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48934255", "date": "2026-07-16"}, {"by": "colkassad", "context": "makes electronic and orchestral music", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47651011", "date": "2026-04-05"}], "tags": ["for electronic music fans", "for musicians sharing work", "for discovering new artists"], "use_cases": ["music discovery", "hosting music", "music", "finding electronic music", "hosting own music"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48930454", "title": "The lost joy of music piracy", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49847959", "title": "Ask HN: What vendor you'd switch out if a better option was available?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49309061", "title": "Alternative to Internet Archive", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48919242", "title": "Why do people hate the tech industry? (2023)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47645432", "title": "Introduction to Computer Music [pdf]", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-08": {"warn": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 797598992, "item_id": 49849937, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49849937", "by": "theguysudo", "date": "2026-09-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i prefer soundcloud i have switched to it a while ago its better and free", "excerpt": "i prefer soundcloud i have switched to it a while ago its better and free as well as you tend to get more freedom exploring content from new artist more slack is pretty good already so wont prefer swaping it", "context": "", "use_case": "music discovery", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What vendor you'd switch out if a better option was available?"}, {"id": 789010961, "item_id": 49313185, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49313185", "by": "earworms", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Soundcloud has a 3 hour limit; meaning with my 200 hours of music, i would require a lot of accounts", "excerpt": "Yes. Soundcloud has a 3 hour limit; meaning with my 200 hours of music, i would require a lot of accounts, and i have a song that is 3 hours and 5 minutes long. And i have songs that are as short as 4 seconds long. Bandcamp has a limit on the size of files you upload; which make it even more difficult as a lot of my songs are longer than 25 minutes. (which is precisely the amount their limit is.) Then if you sell som", "context": "", "use_case": "hosting music", "switched_from": "", "story": "Alternative to Internet Archive"}, {"id": 782948081, "item_id": 48934255, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48934255", "by": "grvdrm", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Also love Soundcloud", "excerpt": "I wasn't familiar with either Oink or What.CD - fascinating to read about them. I spent tons of time on Napster and LimeWire roughly between late 1990s and 2005 when I graduated from college. A few things stood out as related topics: 1. I attended UMass-Amherst - a school not unfamiliar with and perhaps even popular for jam band culture. There was, at one point, a tool distributed that allowed any particular user to ", "context": "makes electronic music and DJs", "use_case": "music", "switched_from": "", "story": "The lost joy of music piracy"}, {"id": 782908000, "item_id": 48931750, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48931750", "by": "omgmajk", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "soundcloud is likely your home to find stuff", "excerpt": "Go check out ektoplazm.com, electronic music with permissable licenses. Good for the culture of this website. Most things can be downloaded in flac. Then when you have found a style, soundcloud is likely your home to find stuff and then when you have found it you can either rip it or buy it.", "context": "", "use_case": "finding electronic music", "switched_from": "", "story": "The lost joy of music piracy"}, {"id": 782714193, "item_id": 48919637, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48919637", "by": "l337h4x0rz", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Think MySpace, early-days Facebook, Soundcloud, Ableton Live etc.", "excerpt": "In my opinion tech used to be fun and we used to create products that actually empower people. Think MySpace, early-days Facebook, Soundcloud, Ableton Live etc. They exist to empower the masses to connect and to create. Today the business model has made every products and contents to be enshittified. We've optimised for the wrong thing and not only the common people hate the tech industry. Even I no longer feels the ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why do people hate the tech industry? (2023)"}, {"id": 762416176, "item_id": 47651011, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47651011", "by": "colkassad", "date": "2026-04-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "People give soundcloud a lot of grief but I love the service", "excerpt": "Yes, I have a soundcloud account: https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music I like to mix electronic and orchestral sounds. Some examples: https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music/the-seven-hills-of-rome https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music/dark-matter I also like piano a lot (I only know how to play guitar badly, I just draw in the notes and work velocity until it sounds good to me): https://soundcloud.com/emmets-music/life-is-", "context": "makes electronic and orchestral music", "use_case": "hosting own music", "switched_from": "", "story": "Introduction to Computer Music [pdf]"}]}