Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread
Print Thread
Go To
Off-Topic
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,147
dcuny Offline OP
Veteran
OP Offline
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,147
I just listened to two songs on Soundcloud, and was required to listen to 30 seconds of advertisements before each songs would play.

When I clicked the information icon on the ad, the popup said:

Quote
Why ads?

Every time you see or hear an ad, artists get paid. They're how we keep SoundCloud free for listeners.

Want to lose the interruptions? Go ad-free and continue to support your favorite artists with SoundCloud Go.

I'm paying SoundCloud to host my songs, so it's not "free" to me. And whatever "artist" is getting paid when advertisements pop up on my songs, it's not me. I've not marked any of my songs for monetization, but that's not stopping SoundCloud from collecting fees from advertisers. mad

I hate the idea of breaking links I've posted, but I also hate that someone has to listen to an advertisement if they want to listen to my song. And that's doubly true when I'm paying to host it and someone else is getting making money off it.

Time to start looking for somewhere else to host my music.


-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?
Off-Topic
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,434
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,434
Hmmm... I host songs on Soundcloud but I never listen to anyone else on the platform. I know that I get listeners but I haven't seen a dime of revenue. My Soundcloud renewal notice showed up in my email today. I think I need to do some investigating.

Thanks for the heads up!


BIAB 2024 Audiophile, 24Core/60CoreGPU Core M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sonoma, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP
Digital Performer11, LogicPro
Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion/Overture
Off-Topic
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 368
Journeyman
Offline
Journeyman
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 368
Originally Posted by dcuny
...
Time to start looking for somewhere else to host my music.
Are you familiar with DistroKid? Worth checking out.

DistroKid

From their website:

DistroKid is the easiest way for musicians to get music into Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Tidal, TikTok, YouTube, and more. Unlimited uploads, keep 100% of your earnings, and more features than any other music distributor.

Millions of musicians rely on DistroKid. Pay only €20.99 to upload unlimited albums & songs for a year and get in stores 10-20x faster than any other distributor.

[EDIT: It's nice that their website recognizes that I'm in the EU and switches to Euro pricing. Being an American expat, I know how to read that price, even though the proper way to write it is 20,99 € (we use a comma instead of a decimal point). Still, they're the best independent music distributor I'm currently aware of.]

Last edited by TheMaartian; 10/31/24 12:05 AM.

ThinkPad i9 32GB RAM 7TB SSD; Win11 Pro; RME Fireface UCX II; BiaB 2024 Ultra
Bitwig Studio 5; Studio One Pro 7; Melodyne Studio 5; Acoustica Premium 7
Gig Performer 5; NI S61 MK3; Focal Shape 65; Beyerdynamic DT 880 & 770
Off-Topic
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,147
dcuny Offline OP
Veteran
OP Offline
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,147
Originally Posted by Mike Halloran
Hmmm... I host songs on Soundcloud but I never listen to anyone else on the platform. I know that I get listeners but I haven't seen a dime of revenue. My Soundcloud renewal notice showed up in my email today. I think I need to do some investigating.
You'll need to jump through some hoops to get any of that ad revenue. See: https://artists.soundcloud.com/monetization/soundcloud

But don't worry - if you don't go that route, they'll happily monetize your tracks without your approval.

Under their privacy rules, they state:
Quote
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent.

However, there's no option to not consent to:

  • Deliver and Present Advertising Content - 524 partners
  • Match and combine data from other data sources - 364 partners
  • Link different devices - 331 partners
  • Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically - 501 partners


That's an obscene amount of data sharing "on the basis of consent".


-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?
Off-Topic
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,147
dcuny Offline OP
Veteran
OP Offline
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,147
Originally Posted by TheMaartian
Are you familiar with DistroKid? Worth checking out.
Thanks! I've also been building a list as I listen to people's songs. smile


-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?
Off-Topic
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,388
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,388
I switched over to ReverbNation from Soundcloud for that very reason, can't stand all the ads on Soundcloud. Distrokid is good if you want to get on Spotify and iTunes, etc.

Off-Topic
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 19,534
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 19,534
The ads are avoidable. I believe that there are mechanisms available to "Block Ads".


BIAB & RB2024 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
Off-Topic
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,858
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,858
Can't tell you how many times I've clicked on a link to a Soundcloud tune and thought I was listening to an avant-garde opening song sequence when it was in fact an ad...


DC Ron
BiaB Audiophile
Presonus Studio One
StudioCat DAW dual screen
Presonus Faderport 16
Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
Off-Topic
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,147
dcuny Offline OP
Veteran
OP Offline
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,147
Originally Posted by AudioTrack
The ads are avoidable. I believe that there are mechanisms available to "Block Ads".
I just got a new computer, and am still in the process of configuring it. So I haven't got my ad blocker set up yet.

On my old computer, I had to open any page that used SoundCloud in Private mode, because the player refused to work. I presume it had something to do with my ad blocker. And then I'd have to remind SoundCloud not to sell my personal information.

I just don't see the point of paying $150 per year to allow them to provide a terrible experience for people wanting to hear my music, and then pay more for the privilege of hearing similarly posted music without ads.

I had foolishly assumed that ads were only being played when people chose to monetize their songs, but that's not the case. After all, they're saying that "artists" are being paid when ads are displayed. But the reality is that Soundcloud is getting paid.

That's not the service that I signed up for.

Yeah, I said this was a rant. wink


-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?
Off-Topic
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,406
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,406
I use +++ Bandlab +++ . They have free and subscription membership plans. You can collaborate, store and share tracks, download loops, master and a few other things for free. The subscription membership adds licensing and distribution services.

FYI, Bandlab recently bought ReverNation and is integrating it into their other services.

Take a look.


Jim Fogle - 2025 BiaB (1121) RB (1) Ultra+ PAK
DAWs: Cakewalk by BandLab (CbB) - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8
Laptop: i3 Win 10, 8GB ram 500GB HDD
Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD
Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
Off-Topic
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 6,077
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 6,077
Originally Posted by dcuny
I just don't see the point of paying $150 per year to allow them to provide a terrible experience for people wanting to hear my music, and then pay more for the privilege of hearing similarly posted music without ads.

David, exactly. It's just ridiculous. I only signed up for paid subscription so I can have more space for my stuff than free accounts offer, not to become "famous". I agree, these ads injected in content of paid accounts are unacceptable. I have my own website, but the ease of uploading to soundcloud got me lazy. With these ads I am considering switching back to my own site, or maybe even my own mini server.

While I am a huge fan of Cakewalk, I can't recommend BandLab at this point in time. Their murky business of offering subscription only (new) Sonar, took away 90% of my trust in that company. Things might change, but judging of what was happening in the past 8+ months and their aggressive tactics of shutting down every public thread that even politely/remotely talks about negative aspects of subscriptions... In my view nothing will stop them doing same as SoundCloud did or similar. Enforce limit, make it a paid only subscription product, inject ads, etc.
-----------------------------------------------

Would be nice if PGM offered their own basic music hosting for customers for a small fee.

Off-Topic
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 2,541
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 2,541
Welcome to 2025 where the internet/media advertising has become more than irritating. Ads bombard me at every turn. I just stopped using SoundCloud. The same issue exists with youtube.

I am not sure there is any real solution to the problem. Well, there is but who would want to go back to interacting live, with no AC, and moving a real B3 around...lol

All this is a bit like driving your car around in Rome. Yes, driving there is an irritating pain in the butt but the view out the window is worth it I guess.

For me, I can not tolerate all this on an ongoing basis. I have to escape on my boat where I mostly only have to deal with the weather.

Cheers,

Billy


New location, new environment, new music coming soon

Seize the moo-ment
If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
Off-Topic
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 14,738
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 14,738
I’ve never seen a single ad on SC in a decade of use. I assume it’s my top level subscription … which I also like as I can replace a song without any other changes to song data. FWIW I also subscribe to ad free YT. It’s well worth a few extra bucks a month for us as we watch music on YT every evening.

Bud


You can listen to our catalog on Apple Music or Spotify by searching on Janice Merritt
Our Videos are here on our website
Off-Topic
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 6,077
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 6,077
I've never tried to monetize or anything like that. My account is paid. $120'ish a year. I use it to share with family, friends and Showcase. Sometimes I want to check mix in the car and use phone to stream. I do get "ads" listening to my own stuff.

I wrote to SC support - questioning these ads on paid account. Ticket opened on November 6th. On November 21st I received this reply:

"Hi there,
Thanks for getting in touch with us at SoundCloud.
We’d like to inform you that at the moment we’re experiencing a higher than usual number of requests that unfortunately is preventing us from responding as quickly as we’d like to - we apologize for the inconvenience.
If your matter has been resolved in the meantime, please consider this ticket as closed.
If you still need help with your request, please reply to this email and we’ll be happy to get back to you as soon as possible. Please note that this may still take a while."

I am looking at other options or just hosting my own tunes, I don't think these crooks who failed to reply in 22 (!!!) days deserve my money.

Off-Topic
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 14,738
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 14,738
Originally Posted by Rustyspoon#
I've never tried to monetize or anything like that. My account is paid. $120'ish a year. I use it to share with family, friends and Showcase. Sometimes I want to check mix in the car and use phone to stream. I do get "ads" listening to my own stuff.

I wrote to SC support - questioning these ads on paid account. Ticket opened on November 6th. On November 21st I received this reply:

"Hi there,
Thanks for getting in touch with us at SoundCloud.
We’d like to inform you that at the moment we’re experiencing a higher than usual number of requests that unfortunately is preventing us from responding as quickly as we’d like to - we apologize for the inconvenience.
If your matter has been resolved in the meantime, please consider this ticket as closed.
If you still need help with your request, please reply to this email and we’ll be happy to get back to you as soon as possible. Please note that this may still take a while."

I am looking at other options or just hosting my own tunes, I don't think these crooks who failed to reply in 22 (!!!) days deserve my money.

We put in an issue help request in May and didn’t hear for two months after a msg like yours. And then they asked if it had been resolved. 🤷‍♂️

Bud


You can listen to our catalog on Apple Music or Spotify by searching on Janice Merritt
Our Videos are here on our website
Off-Topic
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 6,615
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 6,615
I don't see/hear ads on YT or SC but I do run two ad blocking programs.I don't pay for pro accounts etc.
I don't monetize & don't have the option due to low play rates.
Recently a song I posted on YT run into the 1.6k plays range then suddenly stopped.
YT had randomly selected it to promote and attached ads. Just before it reached the limit at which they'd have to pay me some of the ad revenue they stopped promoting the song and moved onto someone else to repeat the process. This is a common occurrence across all platforms. They are all, in the end, using our "content" and data to make money - that is why they exist. Soundclick was okay for a while as was My Space. Eventually greed becomes unbridled and the platforms inevitably fade orcollapse. I'm not completely sanguine about it all: I don't use cloud storage or similar - except WeTransfer, with an absurdly short four days before link death, but again it's a freebie version and I don't want my stuff on there for long.

Last edited by rayc; 11/29/24 01:00 PM.

Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Off-Topic
Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 2,414
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 2,414
Originally Posted by Rustyspoon#
Would be nice if PGM offered their own basic music hosting for customers for a small fee.

Now this is good out-of-the-box thinking that has potential . . . of course with no ads.


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2024 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
Off-Topic
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 19,534
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 19,534
Originally Posted by Bass Thumper
Originally Posted by Rustyspoon#
Would be nice if PGM offered their own basic music hosting for customers for a small fee.

Now this is good out-of-the-box thinking that has potential . . . of course with no ads.
Slightly O/T but I think one of the concerns is that PGM might be held liable if they were found to be hosting pirated material.


BIAB & RB2024 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Go To

Link Copied to Clipboard
ChatPG

Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.

ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.

PG Music News
Generate Lyrics for your Band-in-a-Box songs with LyricLab!

Need some lyrics to complete your Band-in-a-Box song? LyricLab is here to help!

LyricLab (by Joanne Cooper) is an AI-powered tool designed to quickly create lyrics and chords to fit your music. Just enter a rough idea of your lyrics, and let the AI bring them to life. Once you're happy with the results, simply import the LyricLab file into Band-in-a-Box® 2024 or newer. From there, you can pick your style and generate melodies to match your song’s chords!

Learn more about LyricLab here!

Watch the video.


Band-in-a-Box 2024 Italian for Mac is Here!

Ci siamo dati da fare e abbiamo aggiunto oltre 50 nuove funzionalità e una straordinaria raccolta di nuovi contenuti, tra cui 222 RealTracks, nuovi RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 3, Playable RealDrums Set 2, due nuovi set di "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 e altro ancora!

Tutti Pacchetti | Nuove Caratteristiche

Band-in-a-Box® 2024 German for Mac is Here!

Band-in-a-Box® 2024 für Mac Deutsch ist verfügbar!

Wir waren fleißig und haben über 50 neue Funktionen und eine erstaunliche Sammlung neuer Inhalte hinzugefügt, darunter 222 RealTracks, neue RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, abspielbare RealTracks Set 3, abspielbare RealDrums Set 2, zwei neue Sets von "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK & 7, Xtra Styles PAK 17 & 18, und mehr!

Paket | Was ist Neu

Band-in-a-Box® 2024 French for Mac® is Here!

Band-in-a-Box® 2024 apporte plus de 50 fonctions nouvelles ainsi qu'une importante de contenus nouveaux à savoir : 222 RealTracks, des RealStyles nouveaux, des SuperTracks MIDI, des Etudes d'Instruments, des Prestations d'Artistes, des "Morceaux avec Choeurs", un Set 3 de Tracks Jouables, un Set 2 de RealDrums Jouables, deux nouveaux Sets de "RealDrums Stems", des Styles XPro PAK 6 & 7, des Xtra Styles PAK 17 & 18, et bien plus encore!

New! XPro Styles PAK 7 for Band-in-a-Box 2024 for Mac!

We've just released XPro Styles PAK 7 with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 50 RealTracks and RealDrums that are sure to delight!

With XPro Styles PAK 7 you can expect 25 rock & pop, 25 jazz, and 25 country styles, as well as 25 of this year's wildcard genre: Celtic!

Here's a small sampling of what XPro Styles PAK 7 has to offer: energetic rock jigs, New Orleans funk, lilting jazz waltzes, fast Celtic punk, uptempo train beats, gritty grunge, intense jazz rock, groovy EDM, soulful R&B, soft singer-songwriter pop, country blues rock, and many more!

Special Pricing! Until September 30, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 7 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea)! Supercharge your Band-in-a-Box 2024® with XPro Styles PAK 7! Order now!

Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.

Watch the XPro Styles PAK 7 Overview & Styles Demos video.

XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2024 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.

New! Xtra Styles PAK 18 for Band-in-a-Box 2024 for Mac!

Xtra Styles PAK 18 for Band-in-a-Box version 2024 is here with 200 brand new styles to take for a spin!

Along with 50 new styles each for the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, we’ve put together a collection of styles using sounds from the SynthMaster plugin!

In this PAK you'll find: dubby reggae grooves, rootsy Americana, LA jazz pop, driving pop rock, mellow electronica, modern jazz fusion, spacey country ballads, Motown shuffles, energetic EDM, and plenty of synth heavy grooves! Xtra Style PAK 18 features these styles and many, many more!

Special Pricing! Until September 30, 2024, all the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 18 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea)! Expand your Band-in-a-Box 2024® library with Xtra Styles PAK 18! Order now!

Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 18 here.

Watch the Xtra Styles PAK 18 Overview & Styles Demos video.

Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 18 requires the 2024 UltraPAK/UltraPAK+/Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.

New! Xtra Styles PAK 18 for Band-in-a-Box 2024 for Windows!

Xtra Styles PAK 18 for Band-in-a-Box version 2024 is here with 200 brand new styles to take for a spin!

Along with 50 new styles each for the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, we’ve put together a collection of styles using sounds from the SynthMaster plugin!

In this PAK you'll find: dubby reggae grooves, rootsy Americana, LA jazz pop, driving pop rock, mellow electronica, modern jazz fusion, spacey country ballads, Motown shuffles, energetic EDM, and plenty of synth heavy grooves! Xtra Style PAK 18 features these styles and many, many more!

Special Pricing! Until September 30, 2024, all the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 18 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea)! Expand your Band-in-a-Box 2024® library with Xtra Styles PAK 18! Order now!

Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 18 here.

Watch the Xtra Styles PAK 18 Overview & Styles Demos video.

Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 18 requires the 2024 UltraPAK/UltraPAK+/Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.

Forum Statistics
Forums65
Topics83,153
Posts754,862
Members39,055
Most Online3,932
Nov 19th, 2024
Newest Members
JazzyAlex, CHUCK BORTKUN, TradeZenonAI, MariannaB02, saifs Ai
39,055 Registered Users
Top Posters(30 Days)
jpettit 261
DrDan 160
Rob Helms 148
MarioD 126
DC Ron 104
rharv 100
Noel96 90
Today's Birthdays
basilhenriques, cubase4, Skyline
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5