SoundCloud is giving artists a new way to reward their most loyal fans, introducing a feature that lets artists release music exclusively to their followers before it reaches anyone else.<\/p>\n
The feature, called \u2018Follower Exclusive Releases,\u2019<\/b> is available to Artist Pro subscribers and allows creators to gate tracks behind a follow either temporarily or permanently. Artists can use it to share early demos, surprise drops, or previews ahead of a wider release.<\/p>\n
SoundCloud<\/b> launched the new feature with Dutch DJ\u00a0Chris Stussy<\/b>\u2019s latest single \u2018What makes you feel\u2026\u2019 <\/i>exclusively with his SoundCloud followers ahead of his debut album Lost, Found & Forgotten\u2026, <\/i>which arrives on Friday (April 3).<\/p>\n
Stussy said: \u201cI\u2019ve been using SoundCloud since the start. During my early days I was uploading a lot of podcasts and recorded sets. I sometimes gave away a free download or posted snippets of upcoming tracks I was making.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor this occasion I\u2019d like to share \u2018What makes you feel\u2026\u2019<\/i> as a thank you for everyone who\u2019s been listening to me on the platform all those years. It\u2019s part of the \u2018Forgotten\u2019 side of my album and I\u2019m playing this track a lot as my intro the last couple of months. Enjoy this one, all the best.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been using SoundCloud since the start. During my early days I was uploading a lot of podcasts and recorded sets. I sometimes gave away a free download or posted snippets of upcoming tracks I was making.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris Stussy<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n SoundCloud says the new feature is one of its tools to promote active listening culture among fans.<\/p>\n SoundCloud says fans on its platform can comment on tracks in real time, DM artists directly, repost songs to their own communities, and help drive what breaks next. SoundCloud said: \u201cFollower Exclusive Releases builds on that foundation by giving artists a way to reward the day ones and the fans who are most tapped in.\u201d<\/p>\n For artists, the new feature allows them to \u201cexperiment, build momentum and deepen relationships with their audience,\u201d said SoundCloud.<\/p>\n For fans, following an artist now gives them exclusive access to music they \u201cwon\u2019t hear anywhere else\u2014at least not yet,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n The new tool comes as SoundCloud says its platform now hosts more than 500 million tracks.<\/p>\n In December, the platform partnered with <\/b>Auracles<\/b><\/a>, a digital identity platform founded by Grammy-winning artist Imogen<\/b> Heap<\/b>, to offer \u201cclarity, protection, and creative autonomy\u201d to artists in the digital world.<\/p>\n The integration brings\u00a0Auracles<\/b>\u00a0into SoundCloud\u2019s\u00a0Benefits Partner Program<\/b>, allowing artists to connect their SoundCloud profiles directly to Auracles, import music projects between the two platforms.<\/p>\n In November, SoundCloud\u00a0CEO Eliah<\/b> Seton<\/b> said<\/a> the platform is building music\u2019s \u201cnext major revenue format\u201d \u2014 fan-driven income streams that sit alongside traditional streaming royalties.<\/p>\n SoundCloud eliminated<\/a> its distribution revenue share at the end of November 2025, meaning artists have started keeping\u00a0100%<\/b>\u00a0of their royalties from distribution to platforms including\u00a0Spotify,\u00a0Apple Music,\u00a0YouTube Music, TikTok<\/b>, and 50+ other services \u2013 and continued to provide 100%<\/b> of their earnings on SoundCloud itself.<\/p>\n SoundCloud\u2019s new releases format came about a month after iHeartMedia<\/b> and TikTok<\/b> partnered<\/a> to launch what they describe as \u201ca new blueprint for artist launches moving forward,\u201d starting with a campaign for Bruno Mars\u2019<\/b> first solo album in nearly a decade. The campaign on February 26 came a day before\u00a0The Romantic\u00a0<\/i>dropped<\/a>\u00a0via\u00a0Atlantic Records<\/a>. The platforms streamed a live broadcast called\u00a0Romantic Radio with Bruno Mars: An iHeartRadio Album Preview<\/i>\u00a0simultaneously on\u00a0TikTok<\/b>\u00a0and across more than\u00a0145<\/b>\u00a0iHeartRadio<\/b>\u00a0stations nationwide. The promo reached over\u00a0270<\/b>\u00a0stations in the US.<\/p>\n Tom<\/b>\u00a0Poleman<\/b>, Chief Programming Officer for iHeartMedia, at the time said: \u201cThe iHeartMedia\u2013TikTok album release format signals a broader shift: from passive distribution to an interactive cultural moment that delivered deeper engagement and set record-breaking results.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Artists can use the new feature to share early demos, surprise drops, or previews ahead of a wider release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":254293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[135187,457],"class_list":["post-254292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-chris-stussy","tag-soundcloud"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254292"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254349,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254292\/revisions\/254349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n