JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Musician Message Forum What is the meaning of Charts on Soundclick ?

Hello. I find Soundclick a good site to post songs and I enjoy the new features there. I just have one question though: please could you tell me what is the meaning of charts on Soundclick? How are the numbers determined? Do they depend on people' opinion or how many people listen to the song? I find it strange how the number in the charts can go up and down every day, mostly down of course. Is there some logic and some help for a songwriter to know the number in the chart and also did anyone get noticed by a pro/publishing/recording contract/get any opportunity when the song went to higher number?
Thank you.
Nadia

Nadia,

The charts on Soundclick don't really mean a lot. My understanding is that the rankings on the various charts are determined by how many people click on and listen in that 24-hour period, how you were rated (stars) and, possibly, if they think you are wearing clean underwear.

It's always nice to be ranked high in anything..the ego kind of likes that. But, in the big picture, it really means very little. It's a really great place to have your music hosted. So, I have no complaints about them. I think they do a good job of doing what their primary mission is (other than to make money), which is music hosting.

To give you an idea how irrelavant they really are, I've had several #1's in various gneres and several Top Ten overall. That should be a true indicator of their real significance! But, as I said, it is good to know that you are ranked high on something, somewhere, other than someone's poo-poo list!

All the best to you.

Alan

I can pretty much guarantee a top 100 rating in a main genre if I post my soundclick tunes on one or two sites where people are kind enough to just listen to my tunes. In other words the rankings don't mean very much.

If you want ratings that mean something, then I think OurStage.com is the place to go. Songs that are well written, well performed and produced can rise to the top over there. Maybe not #1, because of "street teams", but I think OurStage has the fairest scoring mechanism out there. Perfect, no, but reasonable.

I don't tend to do well at OurStage and I mostly think it is because I don't deserve to. My stuff isn't that commercial.

Kevin

Kevin

Thank you for taking time to reply, Alan and Kevin. So, what difference would it make on OurStage if the song went to a high number? Would it bring more opportunities to the songwriter or would it just indicate that the song is good? If the later, then I can't see much point because I can find out whether my music/songs are good or not on this forum and get a more detailed explanation (thank you so much everyone who takes time to listen and give their input, I can't express how much that means to me).
Nadia

Ourstage does not give a clear picture of how good a song is. I've heard songs that were terrible in the top ten, while good songs were well down the list. Street teams can work the voting to push bad songs up and push real contenders down.

in reality they mean nothing...i will point out that simply posting it on the mp3 board here will put it in the top 50...however that cycle is fairly short lived...a couple weeks tops...i have seen a couple of songs(out of dozens and dozens) of songs i've posted chart well and stay up there for 2-3 months, those songs are well past everyone here listening to them and sort of take on an identity of their own, those songs got some attention from being up in their charts and then got new listeners for a period of time due to that position...i'm still pitching those songs hoping for artist placement with them, but i know going in that they have a broad appeal, other than info like that for the writer the charts don't mean much...good luck...moker

I don't think any online charts such as Soundclick will advance a songwriter's opportunities for success. There is a slim chance that someone can hear a song online that knocks him off his feet and he will tell a music exec about it, but that's about it. Major publishers have to try and recoup the advances made to their staff writers ASAP...their songs are going to be pushed the hardest.
Someone tell me if I'm wrong. I'd like to believe otherwise!

I kind of suspected that. Shame though. Like you, shame, I was hoping I was wrong. I still don't really know what to do. uploading songs on the net in different sites didn't make any difference in the situation that they are still not published, not picked up by professionals and there is no difference in them sitting in my house and collecting dust. Sounds pessimistic but feels true. May be someone will tell me that I'm wrong.

If you're a performer, the fluff always looks good on your bio. If you're a writer, you could mention those accomplishments while pitching. It's better than nothing.

[quote=Kevin Emmrich]

If you want ratings that mean something, then I think OurStage.com is the place to go. Songs that are well written, well performed and produced can rise to the top over there. Maybe not #1, because of "street teams", but I think OurStage has the fairest scoring mechanism out there. Perfect, no, but reasonable.

If you enter OurStage early in the month and maintain - let's say - standings in the top 10%, until about a week before the quarterfinals, I think you can feel good about that. The organized voting kicks in about then. So the true measure of the song ends there and it changes to a combination of the song and the artist's organization - the results being determined largely by the latter. It's really not a waste of time, effort, or money - IT'S FREE!

don't be discouraged...if you believe in what you are doing then keep the heat turned up on it...no one is going to come discover you, you have to be out there somewhere and building a network of relationships and opportunities...posting anything to the net is 1/100th of what a writer's marketing efforts should be...find a young local group with some promise who will play a song or two of yours, find another one, find some publishers, find some tip sheets, find music supervisors who need stuff for film and tv and submit to them, call music publishers, e-mail them, join taxi, join songU, go by your local studios and introduce yourself, go to writers nights, push it forward, be positive, do 2 positive things every single day they'll add up...this is the wrong thing for anyone who is easily discouraged to be doing, ahhh but that feeling of creating something beautiful that didn't exist in this world before you put your mind, talent, and soul out there to create it, that's priceless...mj

Thank you, Moker and summeoyo.
Nadia

I was pretty thrilled back when I got my first "#1" on SoundClick...but it amounted to something like 80 plays in one day, the result of posting a song on a few different boards for review. So what is the meaning of that?

It's a great place to store your work for quick review by anyone with a click of a link. Some songwriting critique sites require you to upload an MP3, but then you may find later on you can no longer edit that post you put it on, and removing the old version becomes a bureaucratic hassle. With SoundClick, you have the control. It's a nice site.

Bandcamp and Reverb Nation are a couple other nice sites for this.

I agree with Mark, Everett and Al. Ourstage and Soundclick are great sites to post songs on. Each one serves a different purpose but do not read too much into chart positions for the reasons given.

Thank you,Mark and Big Jim, I'll bear it in mind.
Nadia

Nadia, songs do get noticed on Soundclick. I had an email from a woman in England who listened to one of my Gospel songs and asked permission to sing it in care homes, her and her husband go around to these homes and sing to entertain the people there. She wanted the lyrics and chords, I was glad to help. No money in it but it is nice to know someone will benefit(hopefully) from my song.

Thank you Everett, it's nice to know. Would be nice though to have more examples of people listening and may be taking it futher as offering to use your songs in movies, publish them or perform publically. I wonder if anyone had anything like that with the songs? Some people say I live in a ream world though so I suppose I'm asking for too much.
Nadia

i have been given single song contracts after sending publishers to my soundclick site to hear this or that, but they didn't find me there, it was a network contact i had developed to that point and i had something in my catalog they felt they could pitch well...moker

That's nice. Thank you for sharing, Moker. Still, contacts come first as it seems. I'm back to square one.

Nothing beats contacts, Nadia. But there can be stages, and displaying your songs on Soundclick or any other presentable site, could be an asset in making those contacts. Sites like these works as references for potential collaborators, who might have contacts etc, so these sites can definately help to get the ball rolling IMO..

That's very helpful to know. Thank you, Magne.
Nadia