Unlocking SoundCloud’s insights lets you figure out which tracks are connecting with people. In some situations, you could even see where your listeners are from. But does SoundCloud show who viewed your profile, or can people stay anonymous? In this blog post, we’ll show you what the site does and doesn’t keep private.
Does SoundCloud Show Who Viewed Your Profile in Its Insights?
You won’t see your profile’s viewers in SoundCloud’s insights. The SoundCloud streaming music service has few privacy features, but viewers remain anonymous. This is the case whether they are signed in or not. Viewers aren’t even visible to Next Pro accounts.
You’ll only see viewers who engage with your page in some way. This could be by following you, liking one of your songs, or commenting on them. There are no third-party services that let you get around these limitations. You won’t even be able to see a viewer’s vague demographics.
According to the platform itself, SoundCloud boasts over 400 million tracks from over 40 million active creators. This means you have a lot of competition to navigate. Knowing who views your page would help you understand your target and potential audience.
What Does SoundCloud Show People?
Like other social networks, SoundCloud does offer certain insights into your tracks. This could be for a specific song or your whole profile. These insights are generally visible on the tracks for all to see. With a Next Pro account, you can make these only visible to you.
Here’s how to access your insights:
- Click your profile picture in the top right.
- Tap on Insights or the bar graph icon.
- Look at the different timeframe options.
You’ll have the option to check your page’s insights from the past day, week, month, or year. It’s also possible to view your entire SC insight history. You’ll immediately see every peak or trough.
You can also view a track’s current plays, likes, reposts, and comments. This is instantly visible below a track’s waveform unless you enable Quiet Mode. When you’re on a specific track, you can also click Your Insights. This shows the SoundCloud insights for that exact song.
SoundCloud’s Top Listeners
SoundCloud’s Next Pro users can see deeper insights into their page. This includes who listens to their music. In many ways, this is far more useful than simply knowing your viewers. This way, it’s possible to see who’s enjoying your music.
A Next Pro user’s top fifty listeners are visible on the Insights page. You’re even able to narrow down their location, including their specific cities. SoundCloud does this by checking a user’s IP address. The site will also highlight just how engaged they are with your music.
If you’re planning your next round of marketing campaigns, this can be invaluable. You may get a better idea of who your music most appeals to. This could then inspire a future song or might even make you rethink your whole strategy.
So, does SoundCloud show who views your profile? No, but it shows who your real fans are.
What Personal Data Does SoundCloud Collect?
SoundCloud is upfront about the data it collects from its users. Anyone signing up will know that the platform uses analytics services. This is the only way it can reliably help artists grow. On that note, here are the main bits of information that SoundCloud collects from users:
- Your IP and broad location.
- The last site you accessed.
- Your SoundCloud searches.
- Answers from on-site surveys.
- Which accounts you follow.
- Your Facebook friend list.
- What music you listen to.
- How long you use SC for.
- Your browser or device type.
This is, for the most part, a standard part of browsing online. Much of this will help SoundCloud recommend songs to you via its algorithm. It also facilitates their customer service. If you pay for a SoundCloud Next Pro account, your banking details will remain private.
How SoundCloud Uses Your Data
SoundCloud’s data use goes beyond suggesting songs and tailored ads. It also helps the site personalize its own content. For example, it’ll only show competitions and promotional activities that you’re eligible for. This extends to any surveys the site asks you to fill in.
The site does share your information with various service providers. However, this is only the bare minimum to support the site’s core features. This is what helps SoundCloud deal with customer support, music rights, and managing its servers.
SoundCloud uses your email as its main form of correspondence. You’ll get messages for every notification you receive on the platform. You could disable them in your Notifications settings if you prefer. However, you’ll still get service updates and copyright updates via your email.
On top of this, SoundCloud uses your friends’ details if you sign up with Facebook or Google. If one of your Facebook friends then signs up, the site suggests you as someone to follow. This is worth knowing if you want to stay anonymous on the platform for any reason.
How To Stay Private on SoundCloud
Whether you’re an artist or not, you might want a more private SoundCloud experience. Privacy is a hot-button topic today, and for good reason. You might simply want to enjoy the site without giving too much away. Here’s how you can do that:
- Log out: Listening to tracks while signed out will still count toward the song’s stats. The site’s artists, however, won’t know your name or the city that you’re from.
- Use Quiet Mode: The site’s Next Pro users can hide their track stats with Quiet Mode. In addition, you’re able to hide or even disable comments from other users.
- Change your name: You can change your display name on the site at any time. Simply visit your SoundCloud page, click Edit, then type in a new display name.
- Disable DMs: If you have a bad experience with other users, you can close DMs in your privacy settings. Only people you follow will be able to message you.
- Bookmark songs: SoundCloud shows all of your likes on your profile. There’s no way of hiding them. To get around this, you can bookmark the songs you like instead.
- Don’t use Facebook: If you sign up with Facebook, the site will remember your friends. It’ll then suggest you to each other, which might not be what you want.
- Use a VPN: The site tracks your vague location to help its advertising service providers. If you object to this, VPNs let you hide your location while browsing online.
- Make songs private: If you’re unhappy with your back catalog, you can make any song private. You can send out special links for these to the fans you trust.
How SoundCloud’s Privacy Settings Measure Up
Many users want a service that protects their privacy. This can include using their data in certain ways or simply letting them stay anonymous. Every music streaming service has a different approach to this.
Spotify, for example, doesn’t show your liked songs and playlists. It does broadcast which songs you’re listening to by default, but you can still enable private sessions. You could also opt out of tailored ads and Facebook data processing.
SoundCloud does let you remove Facebook from your account and opt out of targeting cookies. However, it still lags behind in terms of staying anonymous on the site. Hiding views is, arguably, the main exception to this.
Notably, SoundCloud has DMs and comments, while other services generally don’t. This is due to the platform being more of a social media site. Spotify has few avenues for building a thriving community. SoundCloud, however, makes this a key part of the site experience.
Get More Plays on Your Tracks
Are you wondering, “Does SoundCloud show who viewed your profile?” If so, you might want to get more fans on the platform. GoRead.io can connect you to real listeners through popular social media channels.
Our team can boost your other online accounts on Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok, where you can promote your tracks. Try GoRead.io today, and your songs will find a thriving audience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you listen to SoundCloud anonymously?
If you’re logged in to SoundCloud, you can’t always listen anonymously. However, only Next Pro users will know you were listening. That being said, there’s no way to check who has a premium account.
Can you see who played your SoundCloud playlist?
Playlists don’t log plays or comments. These will only go toward the individual songs that make them up. Premium users can, however, see the top listeners for the songs in that playlist.
Can you see your views on SoundCloud?
You can’t see the individual names of viewers, logged in or otherwise. However, you can see the full number of views/plays on each track. You can also track its growth over time.
Can I make my SoundCloud account private?
No, there’s no way to lock your profile on SoundCloud. Anyone can follow you and listen to your music. The only ways around this are to block users or make your songs private.