November 20, 2023 – Today, SoundCloud relaunched their official Charts in the US and UK, including a revamped ‘New & Hot’ Chart and a brand new ‘Next Pro’ Chart to spotlight emerging talent. The relaunch of SoundCloud’s Charts marks a pivotal moment as it revitalizes how SoundCloud artists are recognized and further embraces and enhances artist discovery and fandom. Following a period of extensive research, development, and internal testing, as well as refinement with a select audience on our platform, SoundCloud’s charts are back, stronger and more artist-centric than ever before.
“For artists, both aspiring and established, Charts are more than just numbers; they symbolize validation, credibility, and a gateway to opportunities like record label signings, festival bookings, award nominations, global tours, and more,” said Emmy Lovell, Global Head of Music at SoundCloud. “SoundCloud recognizes the paramount importance of mainstream charts, such as Billboard and The Official Charts, as indicators of success in the music industry, and we’re thrilled to enhance our own presence and credibility in this dynamic landscape.”
SoundCloud’s flagship ‘New & Hot’ Chart is refined to celebrate and promote the fastest growing artists and music gaining traction on platform. With SoundCloud Charts being refreshed every Thursday, SoundCloud will offer an early perspective ahead of other charts typically published on Fridays. Most notably, we are introducing a Next Pro Chart to spotlight emerging talent, including unsigned and independent talent. Additionally, our genre-specific charts, which encompass Rap, Pop, R&B, and Electronic, received significant advancement utilizing Musiio proprietary AI data, raising the overall quality of SoundCloud Charts and ensuring incorrect sounds, such as white noise, won’t mistakenly appear. Simultaneously, we have enhanced security measures to safeguard against fraudulent streamers.
In addition to this milestone, SoundCloud announced a variety of forthcoming product updates including new algorithmically-driven Your Mix and MegaMix playlists, improved search functionality, and a more streamlined homepage. More information on those updates can be found here.
The new and improved SoundCloud Charts not only streamline data but also amplify the spotlight on emerging talent to make artist discovery easier than ever. We have restructured and reformatted SoundCloud Charts to generate more enthusiasm among artists and audiences and we will continually evaluate and add new Charts based on ongoing testing. It's time to showcase SoundCloud’s industry leadership by publicly unveiling what's next in music.
SoundCloud empowers artists and fans to connect and share through music. Founded in 2007, SoundCloud is an artist-first platform empowering artists to build and grow their careers by providing them with the most progressive tools, services, and resources. With over 375 million tracks from 40 million artists, the future of music is SoundCloud.
Since launching SoundCloud for Artists in 2022, SoundCloud has taken steps to build a more holistic and robust creator offering. SoundCloud has also introduced a range of updates that allow artists and fans to directy connect, including the new Fans tool for artists, direct messages on mobile, and a new Comments tool.