The reality is that simply posting songs on SoundCloud, Spotify, or YouTube rarely results in meaningful visibility. These platforms are oversaturated, algorithm-driven, and increasingly geared toward established acts or viral content rather than emerging independent artists.
The Illusion of “Just Posting”
For new artists, uploading music online feels like the obvious path: record a track, throw it on SoundCloud, Spotify, or YouTube, and hope listeners find it. But in practice, just posting isn’t enough. These platforms act more like libraries than discovery engines. Without people actively searching for you, songs sit buried among millions of others.
- Spotify adds about 100,000 new tracks every single day.
- YouTube receives over 500 hours of video uploaded every minute.
- SoundCloud, once the scrappy hub for independent artists, has grown so massive that even niche genres feel overcrowded.
In this flood of content, your song becomes a drop in an ocean.
Algorithms Favor the Already Successful
Platforms claim to help listeners “discover” new music, but the truth is that algorithms overwhelmingly push artists who already have traction.
- On Spotify, the coveted editorial playlists mostly highlight artists backed by labels or those with strong existing data (streams, followers, retention rates).
- YouTube’s recommendation engine favors creators with high watch time and engagement—hard metrics for a musician just starting out.
- SoundCloud’s trending charts have shifted toward major-label artists who now use the platform.
This creates a feedback loop: artists with exposure get more of it, while newcomers remain invisible.
The Myth of Going Viral
Despite the occasional “overnight success” story, virality online is a lottery, not a strategy. For every breakout TikTok-driven hit that lands on Spotify and YouTube charts, there are millions of tracks that barely break 50 plays. Banking on viral luck instead of building a long-term audience often leaves musicians disillusioned.
Worse, chasing the algorithm can push creators into formulaic sounds, limiting artistic freedom in hopes of catching the next fleeting trend.
Why Posting Alone Doesn’t Work
- No built-in fanbase: Without pre-existing listeners, uploads have no traction.
- No promotional push: Platforms don’t market your track—you do.
- Data-driven gatekeeping: Songs without engagement won’t surface organically.
- Attention fragmentation: Even potential fans are overwhelmed by too much choice.
Uploading is the last step, not the first.
The Real Work Happens Off-Platform
If discovery rarely happens because of SoundCloud, Spotify, or YouTube, it’s time to think differently. Building an audience requires work beyond just posting:
- Cultivating your own network through social media, newsletters, or communities.
- Engaging directly with listeners, not waiting for algorithms to hand them to you.
- Collaborating with other artists to cross-pollinate audiences.
- Treating platforms not as discovery tools but as distribution channels, a place to send your fans once you’ve drawn their attention elsewhere.
Conclusion
The harsh truth: platforms like SoundCloud, Spotify, and YouTube are terrible places to “get discovered.” They are excellent for hosting, streaming, and legitimizing your presence, but they don’t create an audience for you. The internet’s early dream of “upload it and they will come” has collapsed under the sheer weight of content.
For independent musicians, survival means focusing less on “just posting” and more on real audience-building strategies—because in 2025, obscurity is the default, and the algorithms aren’t losing any sleep over it.
Every week I publish a new playlist of some of the best chill songs I’ve found. I call this Neural Flow and all of my playlists can be found at: https://linktr.ee/neural_flow