SoundCloud vs Spotify: Which Music Streaming Service Is Better?

The music streaming industry contains tons of players. And, SoundCloud and Spotify are two of the popular platforms that rules the industry, each with its own unique features luring in music fans. Whether you're an artist or an audiophile, the choice between SoundCloud vs Spotify can affect your music streaming experience. Hence, to make things simpler for you, this comparative article will assist you discover which music streaming platform is the best fit for you. Keep reading to get more insights.

Part 1. SoundCloud vs Spotify: Music Library and Content

SoundCloud and Spotify are prominent platforms in the realm of music streaming, each with distinct features and approaches to content.

SoundCloud

SoundCloud has way more songs than Spotify, with more than 200 million songs in 2024. On the other hand, a part of this can be low-quality content. Since the standards of SoundCloud are lower as compared to Spotify's, it is a great place to explore up-and-coming artists that not many listeners know.

The primarily focus of SoundCloud is on user-generated content. The platform is where artists can upload their own content, and while it also boasts some mainstream songs, it is majorly popular for its underground and indie music scene. SoundCloud provides a unique platform for up-and-coming artists. The platform is known for its huge collection of user-generated content, making it a house for independent and underground music. The way to upload music on SoundCloud is simple too.

Spotify

In this SoundCloud vs Spotify battle, Spotify is popular for its huge music library, housing millions of songs from different languages and genres. It has licensing agreements with primary record labels, which guarantees a huge selection of independent and mainstream music.

Spotify houses a huge library of more than 70 million tracks, wrapping a huge range of artists and genres. Users can find almost any track they are looking for, from indie gems to chart-toppers. It is a bit harder to place your music on Spotify as compared to SoundCloud. Music is curated and the quality of sound is always top notch.

Part 2. SoundCloud vs Spotify: User Experience

The user experience on SoundCloud and Spotify varies in terms of interface design, features, and overall usability. Spotify, renowned for its user-friendly design, provides a polished and intuitive interface. SoundCloud, while user-friendly, adopts a slightly different approach.

SoundCloud

In the SoundCloud vs Spotify comparison, the UI by SoundCloud is simple and caters to both artists and listeners, making it simple for independent artists to upload their content. Suggested Tracks feature by SoundCloud assists users discover new music, and the emphasis by platform on up-and-coming artists can result in unique finds. You can explore emerging and new artists, and discover music through comments, reposts, and likes. It is a platform where niche and grassroots music scenes thrive.

SoundCloud promotes the artist-to-listener interaction as well. Artists can receive feedback, upload their tracks, and connect with their listeners directly. The platform has a strong emphasis on social interactions within. Users can comment on particular sections of a track, engage directly with artists via private messaging or commenting, and repost tracks to their followers.

Spotify

Spotify is popular for its user-friendly and sleek interface, making it simple to create playlists, search for music, and navigate the app.

The personalized playlists by Spotify, such as Release Radar and Discover Weekly, use algorithms to curate music customized to your tastes. Users can also follow their favorite artists and get updates on their new releases.

Spotify is majorly a music listening service, with limited options for user-generated songs. It is more about passive music usage. Spotify has social features, such as the ability to share playlists, follow friends, and collaborate on playlists. It also integrates for social sharing with Facebook.

Part 3. Spotify vs SoundCloud: Subscription Models and Pricing

Both Spotify and SoundCloud offer subscription models with distinct features and pricing structures. Spotify's pricing varies based on factors like region and promotional offers. SoundCloud's subscription models are designed to enhance the user experience by removing ads, expanding the music library, and enabling offline listening.

SoundCloud

In the SoundCloud vs Spotify battle for pricing, SoundCloud provides three subscription plans for its users: the free version, SoundCloud Go for $4.99 a month, and SoundCloud Go+ for $9.99 a month. A huge number of songs are available with the free version. The ads will pop up in this version and users cannot download music for offline listening. With the other two paid plans, the platform offers offline listening and ad-free streaming. SoundCloud Go+ has way more songs as compared to the standard Go pack.

SoundCloud Go+ users can also enjoy offline listening, but it is important to remember that not all songs on SoundCloud are available for offline download, as this relies on the settings by artists.

Spotify

Spotify has an ad-supported and free version that enables users to listen to unlimited tracks. On the other hand, they are interrupted by ads every 30 minutes and can't listen to select songs. Some users who use this version might be interested in the shuffle playlist feature, and others are not. Hence, with $10.99 a month, users can get access to the high quality sound with Spotify Premium. Users can listen to music offline, download, without any ads, and select their favorite tracks to hear. Spotify also offers users Family, Duo, and Student packages.

Premium users can download playlists and songs for offline listening, which is idea for users with limited data plans and travelers.

Part 4. Spotify vs SoundCloud: Offline Listening and Device Compatibility

Spotify and SoundCloud, two prominent music streaming platforms, offer offline listening capabilities with variations in features and device compatibility.

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is accessible on different devices, but it may not be as smooth integrated into all platforms as compared to Spotify. Many SoundCloud artists enable users to download via the platform itself or via their websites. Users also require the SoundCloud Premium subscription to download most tracks.

Spotify

Speaking of compatibility in this SoundCloud vs Spotify battle, Spotify is compatible with a huge variety range of devices, including tablets, smartphones, game consoles, and smart speakers. Spotify Premium provides music downloads for offline listening. Thousands of songs are available to download which is more than sufficient to satisfy any music fan.

Part 5. Spotify vs. SoundCloud: Final Thoughts

In a nutshell, both music platforms, SoundCloud vs Spotify, are fantastic for music fans. Spotify is better for music fans who are into the popular, mainstream, and labeled music content and who wish for a high-quality and reliable service to hear and explore new artists, songs, and playlists.

Conversely, Soundcloud is better for new artists who wish to use some great features to reach new listeners, share their works with millions of listeners, listen to some other independent artists, and get feedback to make their music better. Soundcloud is also an excellent website for listening to independent music and exploring new artists, sitting away from mainstream music.

Bonus Tip: Best Music Converter to Download Spotify Music for Offline Playback

If you are not aware, Spotify use the DRM technology to protect its streaming tracks. Hence, even premium users cannot listen to offline tracks on MP3 players or different devices. To download Spotify songs for offline playing on any device, you will need a Spotify music downloader. To assist you save money and keep your Spotify music forever, we recommend HitPaw Video Converter.

• Directly download Spotify tracks in compatible format even if you are using a free Spotify account.
• Professional tool designed to download Spotify songs to the computer.
• Downloads at 120X speed and converts them into common audio formats.
• Keeps hold of the original quality and ID3 tags.

• Step 1:Download, install, and launch HitPaw Video Converter on your PC. Click Convert Spotify music option on the main interface.

  

• Step 2:Sign into your Spotify account to listen or download songs in Spotify. Tap the Log In option on the screen in the upper right corner.

  

• Step 3:Tap the playlist that you wish to download. Users will see the link in the address bar. Tap the Download option.

  

• Step 4:Next, HitPaw will start begin analyzing the playlist you selected. Select an output format for all the music files in the Convert all to drop down.

  

• Step 5:Tap the Convert All option to batch convert music at high speed.

  

Conclusion

With that being said, we just had a look at SoundCloud vs Spotify comparison to help you choose between them. We also saw that users can use HitPaw Video Converter to download Spotify music forever on any device for offline listening.