Soundcloud Vs Spotify: A Podcast Hosting Showdown

When the music industry seems to be more and more dominated by online streaming platforms, Soundcloud and Spotify appear to be the most powerful driving forces behind it. If you are an online music consumer and enjoy podcasts, you must have used one or both platforms at a certain point in time. These platforms provide a massive collection of podcasts at a relatively low cost.

But the question is, who is better?

Soundcloud vs Spotify has always been a hot topic for audiophiles and other brands around the world. Often, consumers feel confused as to which is the best podcast streaming platform for them. To make your choice a little easier, here is a detailed comparison between the two.

Introducing Spotify

Spotify is a platform that provides users access to music across the globe. It is filled with unlimited content of personalized playlists, podcasts, and videos. The collection of music that Spotify offer is more than 70 million. With its diverse platform. Broad playlist option, better sound quality, clean equalizer, and synchronization with other devices Spotify proves to be a major hit in the streaming industry.

Introducing Soundcloud

Soundcloud aims at promoting music in every possible way. It also allows new creators to share their talent from home. Musicians, DJs, Podcasters, and rappers have all built their niches from Soundcloud. It promotes independent creators rather than commercialized ones.

As a podcast streaming platform, Spotify has a massive collection of podcasts from popular content creators. Soundcloud is not too left behind. It has access to CNN and The New Yorker podcasts along with lectures from established universities. While Spotify provides an extensive streaming service for normal consumers, Soundcloud allows budding artists a platform to start. Although the two have completely different niches, the competition between them is still on.

Soundcloud VS Spotify: Podcasting Features

Soundcloud VS Spotify: Audience

The audience of Soundcloud is those who want to start by podcast hosting on a platform, while Spotify’s audiences are those who want to listen to podcasts for free or artists who want to distribute their content on a big streaming platform.

Soundcloud VS Spotify: Hosting

Spotify might be the bigger streaming platform, but it does not host podcasts. It just links them. To share content with the community, the podcast host needs a platform like Soundcloud.

Soundcloud is one of the major podcast hosting sources because it has an audience. You can create your RSS feed and share it elsewhere. You can access full statistics of your content, along with full embed control, spotlight, replaced tracks, scheduled release, quiet mode, and many more.

The only con of streaming your podcast on Soundcloud is that the uploads are by time and not file size. You must be very careful as a podcast editor or a podcast editing service provider to limit your podcast time. You will have to skimp on bit rate for being a good podcasting editor, and sample ate a little, which generally goes unnoticed.

Soundcloud VS Spotify: Social Sharing

Spotify provides:

A good mixture of streaming.

• Creating the playlist.
• Sharing it on other social media platforms.

New users discover these shared playlists through various social media channels.

Soundcloud is the platform that focuses on sharing your content with the world. Creators can quickly share snaps of reports on any other sites.

Soundcloud VS Spotify: Content Discoveries

Spotify has a huge playlist, according to genre, mood, popularity, and many more. It creates daily mixes using the magic pixels at the Sportify HQ and creates its six-genre playlist. At the same time, Soundcloud gives consumers user-preferred playlists. If you want to hear podcasts from independent artists, then Soundcloud is your gig.

Soundcloud VS Spotify: Audio Quality

Consumers love content with high-quality audio. Both platforms have audio with a consistent level of quality. However, Spotify excels in this section. The technical audio quality of Spotify is far superior to that of Soundcloud.

Soundcloud VS Spotify: Algorithms

Spotify is renowned for its exceptional ability to keep the consumer’s preferences and create its algorithm likewise. Soundcloud doesn’t have such diverse algorithms, but it does offer personalized content to users.

Soundcloud VS Spotify: Platform

Spotify is the stage for established artists who are going on tours and living their dreams. The audience on Spotify prefers to hear from popular name brands. Hence, Spotify cannot provide a suitable platform for budding talents. However, this is exactly the opposite in the case of Soundcloud. If you are starting as a podcaster or artist and looking for the maximum exposure possible, Soundcloud is the right place.

Pricing

Spotify offers a premium membership at $9.99 per month. It offers offline music with better sound quality. It also has other premium plans like Spotify Family, Spotify Premium Duo, and Sportify students. While SoundCloud has two paid versions, one at $4.99 and another at $ 9.99 per month. They offer more advanced tools with better audio quality and advertisement-free content. Spotify is a little ahead when it comes to consumer plans. However, Soundcloud could be a great option for those who are tight on budget.

Platform Potential

Spotify and its reliance on data analysis and algorithms make it a fantastic experience for the audience. The ads are also an excellent platform for brand marketing to people who want to listen to them. Soundcloud had been making constant efforts to ass more consumer-friendly plans and upgrading its platform to a more oriental one.

Soundcloud VS Spotify: Winner

The debate between the two may continue forever, but there is no doubt that Spotify is a more successful brand with all its features and benefits. If you are a podcast consumer and want to listen to a famous, established artist with a better experience, you are ready to go with Spotify. But if you are a budding podcaster and want your opportunity, then Soundcloud is the place for you.