SoundCloud vs. Spotify, Which One Is Better?

Nowadays very few people download their favorite music tracks from websites. This practice has been replaced by music streaming platforms. So if you love listening to music, you must be aware of the two of the most widely recognized online music streaming platforms- Spotify and SoundCloud. Now the question is which one is better? Though the choice depends upon your preferences and requirements, by visualizing a comparison between the two, you can make your choice!

Spotify

One the biggest music streaming platform, Spotify is a Swedish company founded in 2008, housing over 50 million songs. All its tracks are licensed so that users don’t have worry about the rights and can stream freely. Spotify gives the option of signing up with a free account or a premium account. In premium account you can download the tracks and listen to them, even when offline. Also there are no advertisements. You can enjoy Spotify Free also, but the features of Premium won’t be there.

SoundCloud

Founded in 2007 and based in Berlin, SoundCloud is a music streaming platform where creators and listeners are connected by music. With over 20 million creators, there are around 125 million tracks. Like Spotify, SoundCloud also has various kinds of subscriptions. SoundCloud Go is a premium account and offers advertisement free streaming along with other features.

The comparison:

Though the basic features are same, there are certain determining factors that will enable you to choose between these two platforms according to your compatibility. Here are some of the determining factors:

1.Audio quality:

When it comes to pure satisfaction of listening to music, audio quality is the most important factor. SoundCloud offers music streaming experience at 128kpbs. This is quite low when compared with other streaming platforms. Take Spotify as an example. Spotify Free offers streaming services at 160kbps and Premium users can enjoy the quality up to 320kbps. 

2.Discoverability:

SoundCloud enables you to discover new artists easily, which is a feature that lacks in Spotify. You will also be offered user-generated content that will enable you to select the music and sort it according to your choice. However, Spotify offers various types of playlist such as Discover Weekly, also based according to your mood, genre and popularity.

3.Sharing and other features:

SoundCloud is basically focused on artists sharing their own music. This can be done through SoundCloud Pulse, whereas Spotify is more focused on users streaming their music. 

SoundCloud allows users to like, comment and also repost the tracks to offer a more engaging experience. Spotify enables users to share the playlist or songs to social media.

Both the streaming platforms are unique in their own way. If you are a budding new artist and want to share your creation or if you want to stream some unique content then SoundCloud is the best option. Whereas if you are looking for various kinds of playlists and want to listen to music tracks, then Spotify is the one to go with! So it entirely depends upon your preferences and requirements!