Audiomack describes itself as “the place for artists to effortlessly share their music and for fans to discover and download free songs and albums.[1]“ Yet, it seems that the leading sharing platform for artists today is Soundcloud[2, 3]. In 2012, Soundcloud claimed 10 million registered users[4] and has no less than 6 billion likes on their Facebook page while Audiomack‘s only has about 43800 likes today.
Formerly focused on Hip Hop and Electronic music, Audiomack has recently grabbed my attention as they launched a Reggae section. To tell you the truth, I barely knew about Audiomack until 2014 and I signed up for the very first time last week to test it. I have personally been using Youtube,since 2006, and Soundcloud, since 2010, and most of the music that I receive for promotion or listen to online is either hosted on Soundcloud or Youtube. Nevertheless, I thought I ought to introduce you to Audiomack and the best way to do so was to compare it to the most popular music-sharing platform.
1. Pricing
Both platforms allow you to share your music for free, as long as it is compliant with the DMCA an does not infringe the Copyright act. However, on Soundcloud you can upload only up to 3 hours if you didn’t sign up for a pro account. If you want to share more than 3 hours of music, you must pay a monthly fee of $6 USD or $15 USD. Otherwise, you have to delete old songs to fee up some space.
On Audiomack, you will be able to share as much music as you want for as long as you want. There’s no limitation but your creativity. The downside of Audiomack being totally free is that it generates revenues thanks to Google ads. It’s not really a big deal. If those ads really bother you, use an adblocker and everything will be fine. For more info on Soundcloud pricing, visit: What’s the difference between each subscription level?
Winner: Audiomack. 100% free. Unlimited uploads and downloads for as long as you want.”
2. Social media integration
On both platforms you can add your social networks link to your profile.
On Soundcloud you can share automatically the song you’ve just uploaded on Facebook, Twitter and/or Tumblr simply by ticking a box. On Audiomack, it is a bit different. You can share it too but it is not totally automated. You have to pick on which social network you want to share it then you will by redirected to it via a pop-up window, which includes a link of your song ready to be shared.
Nevertheless, Audiomack allows you to “enable follow to download” your music. Let me explain it to you, in case you’re not really sure what this really is. It is an option you can choose to enable if you want people to follow you on social networks in order to unlock the download links. I suppose this option can help you grow your social networks and build a fan base, especially for new artists. Those who will follow you, will have access to download your music for free and those who will want free music, will follow you.
Tie : Soundcloud allows you to automatically share your most recent uploads on your favorite social networks and Audiomack help you get more followers eager to listen to your music.
3. Track info
On both platforms you will be able to add basic information concerning the song such as the artist name, track title, genre, itunes link etc. The one thing I like about Audiomack when it comes to labeling the track is its ability to retrieve info from the id3 tags. So, if you did the job correctly in iTunes or any other application, which allows you to add id3 tags to your songs, you shouldn’t have to modify anything in audiomack once your track is uploaded.
Winner: Audiomack retrieves all info concerning your track from the id3 tag automatically.
4. Upload & Formats
Here’s the weak spot of Audiomack: you can only upload MP3s whereas Soundcloud allows a wide range of audio formats to be uploaded. So far, I have tried mp3, wav, aiff and m4a. It seems that there’s no limitation as long as it is music. Besides, you can also record music on the fly directly on your Soundcloud account. However, even if Audiomack limits upload to MP3s, it allows you to share a song that is already hosted on Soundcloud.
Jonilar – Ghana’s Hottest Song
Listen to Ghana’s Hottest Song Playlist from Jonilar.
Winner: Soundcloud. Most common audio formats allowed, including mp3, wav, aiff, m4a.
5. Listening to music
Soundcloud and Audiomack both work like a radio station without the host blabbering. Just tune in, press play and enjoy. Audiomack was once specialized in Hip Hop and Electronic Music, more recently they widened their catalogue adding a Reggae section. Of course, you can upload and/or listen to any genre of music there. Still, the aforementioned genres of music will be more promoted and easier to access.
Tie : They are both like modern online radio station. They offer a free alternative to online streaming platforms such as Spotify, Deezer or Music. They are more restricted to signed artists, you will be able to discover plenty new music for free.
https://soundcloud.com/jonilaronline/sets/afronationghanaplaylist
Ratings & Conclusion
To conclude, they are both great platforms. They offer relatively the same services. Soundcloud might be a little bit more intuitive when it comes to upload your music but on the other hand Audiomack has no limitation when it comes to the amount of music you want to share. The popularity of Soundcloud cannot be denied. You will probably reach a wider audience with it. But the downside of Soundcloud is its limitation. If you have to choose between deleting your music and paying a subscription, what would you do? If you’re very active and upload music regularly, I recommend you to give a try to Audiomack. It’s free.
Credit: Jonilar/KwabenaYi/Jjamworld
