Gone are the days when a playlist used to tell a lot about a person. Now, a music app he is using is telling a lot about him!

The Google PlayStore and Apple App Store are flooded with music apps. In fact, more than 5% of the PlayStore space is occupied by music apps. But now with the increasing competition and user demand, a conventional music app is less likely to attract users. Thus, music app development companies and entrepreneurs are pushing the boundaries of the music app by bringing unique and handy features.

One such app is SoundCloud which does not only stream music but allows anyone to upload his soundtrack, promote it and build the fan-base. Thanks to its unique features, SoundCloud is the 4th ranked most popular music app in the USA.

So, if you want to build the SoundCloud clone app, keep reading this blog. In this blog, we will discuss everything about the SoundCloud app. We will also understand the business model and try to get answers of a few common questions related to music app development technology, budget and cost. But first, let’s study the current market of the music streaming apps.

The current market scenario of the music streaming apps

• 45.5% of the music app users in the USA purchased a paid subscription in 2017.
• The US is the top music app market. Japan, Germany, UK, France, Australia, Canada and India are also very profitable markets.
• According to Nielsen’s 2018 Year-End Music Report, Americans played 900 billion songs in the past 12 months.
• The number of songs streamed over the music apps has increased eightfold between 2013 and 2018.
  

• By 2025, the online music streaming market is estimated to reach $124.57 billion.
• 80% of the users confirm that low price and wide range of music are the two main reasons they are using music streaming app.

Insight into SoundCloud - the music streaming app having 1 billion+ users

SoundCloud was founded by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss in 2007. It is headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It enables users to upload, promote, and share audio, music and podcast. Since its inception, it has grown to be the top music streaming app. According to the IFPI report, it has over 10 million music creators, 177 million tracks and 1 billion-plus users. This music platform is available on desktop and mobile app.

SoundCloud offers free as well as paid service. Using its very effective services, many artists have emerged in the music industry. Artists on the SoundCloud app can create a separate account and share their work without paying anything. They can later promote their work and build an audience. (For premium services, they have to pay)

SoundCloud has introduced a new service called “On SoundCloud”. This service allows creators to monetize their music through pre-roll audio ads, channel sponsorships, mobile display ads and native content.

SoundCloud has closed several successful funding rounds. In April 2009, they have raised €2.5 million in series A funding round. In 2011, they have raised $10 million in series B funding round. In January 2014, they have bagged more $60 million. They then raised more $169.5 million. As of now, the estimated valuation of SoundCloud is over $700 million.

Top SoundCloud app features which you have to consider to develop SoundCloud clone app

Defining the feature set has always been a complex task as missing out a single feature can lead your startup to a dead end. So, our senior developers have studied the SoundCloud app and listed out the top features which you have to take into account while developing a music streaming app like SoundCloud.

» Registration

Like all music streaming apps, SoundCloud lets users sign-up. However, here in SoundCloud, they have integrated a dedicated sign-up option for the creators.

» Search

This feature lets users search the soundtracks. To make music discovery effortless, they have added a voice search feature.

» Play music

User can play the music, pause the music or change the track. (You can add gesture control here for better user experience).

» Creating playlist

Users can add songs in the queue, store it, and give it a name.

» Record your track

Users (creators) can record the track and upload it. They can either mark it private or public which depicts that SoundCloud really takes care of users privacy.

» Analytics

Creators who have uploaded their tracks can know the engagement rate of their tracks and talk with their fans.

» Commenting

Users can add comments at a specific time during recording.

» Networking

It helps users to find friends or fans and build the community.

So, now when you know the top features of the music streaming app like SoundCloud, let’s discuss the top technologies which can actualize such kind of robust and feature-packed app.

Develop Alternative app of SoundCloud, How to Make an App Like SoundCloud, SoundCloud alternative app features to consider

The top fitted technologies to develop SoundCloud clone app

Coruscate is the research-driven app development company which always makes sure that your music streaming app works on the best available technologies. Following are the top fitted technologies we are using at Coruscate to develop a music streaming app like SoundCloud.

In order to develop the music app, you will need a huge storage space to accommodate all the music files. In such a case, we are using Amazon S3’s cloud storage facility which facilitates painless and secure storage. To meet the need for distributed data storage and analytics, we are using Hadoop.

The UI of the app plays a significant role. Without a flawless UI, even a space-age feature cannot attract users. So, we are using the most purposeful framework to create UI which is CEF (Chromium Embedded Framework). Since it provides the unique ability to the application to use HTML, Javascript, CSS and it is compatible across all platforms, almost all app development companies are using CEF.

And for back-end side programming, we are relying on Laravel. Laravel is the most popular framework of the PHP and almost 26% of PHP web and mobile applications are running on Laravel. With its useful packages and MVC architecture, developers can create a clean code which is easy to read and maintain. Coruscate offers ‘hire Laravel developer’ service for developing music streaming apps. You can contact us to know the hourly rate of our Laravel developers.

The business model of SoundCloud app which you can also follow

SoundCloud is earning a heap of money by creating more than one revenue stream. Major revenue streams of the SoundCloud have been discussed here.

» Freemium model

This is a very popular way of making money in music streaming app industry. SoundCloud app offers a few features for free of cost to all users. But to use some premium features, users have to pay a fee.

» Third-party advertisement

This is another widely used tactic for making money. Basically, under this model, SoundCloud sells its online space to other businesses or individuals for advertisement purpose. Now, based on the number of clicks on this ad, SoundCloud gets paid.

Here it is worth mentioning that SoundCloud is also making good money from its creator-specific business model. Generally, a creator is allowed to upload the music for free, but if he wishes to unlock more features like uploading unlimited tracks & long tracks and deep analytics, SoundCloud charges him a fee.

The budget you require to actually deploy music streaming app in the market and acquire users

If you are considering the cost of the app development as the budget, you are brutally wrong. Because there are a lot of other costs which you have to cover rather than just the cost of app development. Thus, when you decide the budget of the music streaming app, don’t give the cold shoulder to other costs, which are:

» Marketing cost

Amid increasing competition, you will need to run an effective marketing campaign before and even after deploying your music app in the market. For that, you can either hire a marketing agency or hire in-house marketers who are really not pocket-friendly for a startup.

» Third-party service integration cost

App development company integrates many APIs in the app and using APIs isn’t free. For instance, if you use a payment gateway/processor, you need to pay a certain percentage of the amount every time someone pays you using the payment module. For SMS service also, you need to pay a certain fee to that service provider.

» Human resource cost

For the sake of offering satisfying customer support, you need to prepare a force of customer executives who ask salary in return!

» Future app update cost

The technology, trends and preferences of the users change with time and so you have to update the app every after a few months. To update the app, companies like Coruscate generally don’t charge, but if the update is complex and time-consuming, they may ask you a fee.

How Coruscate can help you to develop a music streaming app like SoundCloud?

Coruscate is the top music app development company which has worked closely with many music startups. We accommodate 100+ developers and designers who are well-schooled and able to develop disruptive music streaming app.

Our business experts also assist startups to craft profitable business model and acquire a large number of users. We become a business strategic partner of the startups and help them throughout their business journey.

With our rapid app development technology, we can develop your music streaming app like SoundCloud within 45-55 days and under $10000.

To know more about the features and discuss your custom requirements, you can contact us. A business expert and a senior app developer will contact you back and give you a free consultation for 30 minutes.

FAQs related to music streaming app development

1 - What is the biggest challenge associated with music streaming app

A music app should have songs and songs aren’t free! Meaning, you need to pay a royalty to the owners of the songs which you list out on your app. As if this is not enough, you also have to make sure that you are earning enough to pay a royalty. Because of this reason only, there isn’t any totally free music app!

2 - For a startup, which one is the better option - a custom-built app or clone app?

A custom-built app costs more and it takes more time to develop. Whereas a clone app owns all important features, it costs less and an app development company can build it within no time. So, for a small scale startup, it is better to opt for a clone app. And for a medium and large scale startup, it is profitable (in future) to opt for the custom-built app.

Note: We do not make clones of any exact application, clone means to us is how better we can execute your app idea with existing app features and experience.