SoundCloud Launches “First On SoundCloud” to Celebrate and Promote Creators

Wednesday, March 21st, 2018, New York, NY -- Today, SoundCloud is launching “First On SoundCloud,” to celebrate the inspiring stories and raw energy of creators who start on SoundCloud first.

As the world’s largest open audio platform, SoundCloud is the first place creators share what’s new, now and next in music culture. “First on SoundCloud” will promote emerging talent on the platform through new music, video and photography, and empower all creators to upload to SoundCloud and be heard.

“First On SoundCloud” kicks off with SoundCloud’s first-ever creator advertising campaign spotlighting 10 groundbreaking artists from across SoundCloud’s global community. Spanning hip hop, electronic and pop, these artists represent the more than 10 million creators heard on SoundCloud every month, and the accelerating global shift toward creators building their sound, their audiences, and their careers directly online.

“First On SoundCloud” featured creators include: Kehlani, Galimatias, Taylor Bennett, Lorine Chia, Melo Makes Music, Party Pupils, Jay Prince, Cathedrals, starRo, and Witt Lowry. From their first SoundCloud uploads, to their first album, festival appearance or Grammy nomination, these amazing artists’ stories will be brought to life across SoundCloud apps, playlists, social feeds and newsletters, as well as social and out of home advertising.

Alongside these featured artists, SoundCloud is also giving all creators the opportunity to upload and be heard as part of “First on SoundCloud." Beginning today, any creator can upload an original track to SoundCloud and tag it #SCFIRST, for a chance to be promoted across SoundCloud, including:

“First On SoundCloud” playlist

Creators uploading their latest tracks to SoundCloud with the tag #SCFIRST will be considered for inclusion in the “First On SoundCloud” playlist on SoundCloud’s homescreen, giving them global exposure to new fans, plays, likes and follows.

#SCFIRST on social

After uploading a track to SoundCloud with the tag #SCFIRST, creators can use SoundCloud’s seamless Twitter integration to immediately tweet their track with the #SCFIRST hashtag. SoundCloud will be randomly selecting creator tweets and tracks to promote to its millions of social followers.

Fast track consideration for monetization in SoundCloud Premier

Creators uploading content with the tag #SCFIRST will also be reviewed for inclusion in the SoundCloud Premier monetization program which offers creators a leading revenue share and additional promotional resources from SoundCloud.

#SCFIRST in SoundCloud newsletters and blog

SoundCloud will also randomly choose creators who upload their tracks using #SCFIRST for spotlights in SoundCloud’s newsletters and blog posts.

“SoundCloud is the only truly open audio platform, built for creators first,” said Kerry Trainor, Chief Executive Officer, SoundCloud. “Creators are the center of our ecosystem, and this campaign underscores our commitment to empower them with the best tools, data and resources to share their work, inspire their audiences, and build their careers on SoundCloud first.”

Erika Leone, Director of Brand and Integrated Marketing, SoundCloud adds: “We’re inspired and humbled to have such an incredible line-up of artists tell their stories of starting on SoundCloud, and to connect them with even more fans through the campaign. These stories represent the millions of creative journeys that begin on SoundCloud first.”

Meet the featured artists in the “First on SoundCloud” campaign:

Kehlani: Kicking off her career as lead vocalist for Oakland’s local pop cover band, PopLyfe, Kehlani (born Kehlani Parrish) and her band finished fourth on America’s Got Talent. After struggling as a singer-songwriter, in 2013 the singer joined SoundCloud and released her first solo track, “ANTISUMMERLUV.” A year later, Kehlani dropped Cloud 19, her debut and breakthrough mixtape which gained millions of SoundCloud plays and prompted VICE to name Kehlani a “R&B Artist on the Verge of Blowing Up.” Kehlani now has a record deal with Atlantic, a successful full-length album (SweetSexySavage), an opening spot on Demi Lovato and DJ Khaled’s North American tour, and two GRAMMY® Award nominations to her name. And she continues to slay on SoundCloud - just last month, Kehlani shared an intimate acoustic track “Again” on her page, quickly amassing over 800,000 plays.

Galimatias: The Danish artist joined SoundCloud as a teenager in 2010 and uploaded his first track within a month. He used the platform as a sounding board, tapping into the unique, ever-present community of creators for inspiration and motivation. In 2013, Cleveland singer Alina Baraz discovered Galimatias’ page and immediately responded to his hazy, bass-heavy instrumentals. Despite the thousands of miles dividing them, the two artists began to collaborate, eventually releasing an eight-song EP, Urban Flora, in 2015. Galimatias is currently working on his next solo release, experimenting with new ways to use his own voice and push the boundaries of electronic music and R&B.

Taylor Bennett: Chicago’s Taylor Bennett joined SoundCloud in 2012. As the younger brother of Chance the Rapper, Bennett wasted no time forging his own path, uploading his first tracks on SoundCloud at the age of 14. In the span of three years, the rapper released two mixtapes, an EP, and his debut album, Broad Shoulders. He sold out his first show when he was just 17, and to date, has opened for Vic Mensa and YG on tour, and performed alongside his idol Nas at Lollapalooza. His most recent album, Restoration of an American Idol, debuted on SoundCloud in 2017 and gained more than five million plays in less than three months.

Lorine Chia: Joining the platform in 2012 with her jazz-tinged R&B and throaty blues, Chia shared rough drafts of tracks to her page, soliciting feedback from the SoundCloud community, shifting her direction or pursuing certain sounds depending on her followers’ response. Later that year, she uploaded her debut album, Lorine, quickly racking up over 100,000 plays on her collaboration with Chance the Rapper. Chia continues to rise, attracting the attention of artists like The Game, Jeezy, Janelle Monae, and Wiz Khalifa.

Melo Makes Music: Hailing from Chicago’s South Side, Melo Makes Music (born Carmelo Cianflone) joined SoundCloud in 2014 with his grungy hip hop and R&B sound, with a classical twist. As a native Chicagoan, he is part of a new wave of talent emerging from the city's indie hip-hop scene alongside artists like Towkio, Knox Fortune, Chance the Rapper and Taylor Bennett, who he’s currently on tour with this spring.

Party Pupils: Since uploading their first track to SoundCloud in 2016, Party Pupils have quickly established themselves as ones to watch in the next generation of future funk. The high energy DJ duo, comprised of MAX and RyanEXOE, are most known for their highly-acclaimed remix of OutKast's 2000 hit "Ms. Jackson" which received widespread praise and attention. They've also dropped a number of original songs, the first of which, "Patient", was released on SoundCloud in 2017.

Jay Prince: Since joining SoundCloud in 2009, Jay Prince has quickly become one of the UK's hip hop scene's fastest rising stars. The East London rapper, who released his first project "BeFor Our Time" on SoundCloud in 2015, has worked with a number of well-known collaborators including Mura Masa, Avelino and Aminé in addition to supporting Chance the Rapper on the European leg of his Magnificent Coloring World Tour.

Cathedrals: Hailing from San Francisco, Cathedrals is known for their indie-rock-meets-dreamy-electro-pop sound. Consisting of dynamic duo Brodie Jenkins and Johnny Hwin, Cathedrals joined SoundCloud in 2013 and uploaded their first track shortly thereafter.

starRo: Joining SoundCloud in 2009, Los Angeles-based artist starRo (born Shinya Mizoguchi) made history in 2016 by becoming the first Asian electronic producer to ever be nominated for a GRAMMY® Award. Described as heady, imaginative grooves known as “future R&B”, his music has been featured in commercials for Beats by Dre, he’s appeared on the talk show circuit in his native Japan, performed alongside GoldLink and Anderson.Paak, and collaborated with artists like BOSCO and Jay Prince.

Witt Lowry: A Connecticut native, Witt Lowry broke onto the music scene in 2012 with his debut mixtape on SoundCloud titled Headphone Heros, produced by Jahlil Beats, TheSubherbz, IamGeniusBoy, and Rapitfly Beats and more.

About SoundCloud

SoundCloud is the world’s largest open audio platform, powered by a connected community of creators, listeners and curators who are on the pulse of what’s new, now and next in music and creative culture. As the home to the world’s most diverse creator community and the largest music streaming catalog available, SoundCloud lets you share, discover and influence global music culture. For more information, visit: soundcloud.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram via @SoundCloud, or @SoundCloudForBrands on Twitter. www.press.soundcloud.com