SoundCloud is great for putting up tracks and sharing them across the web. But sometimes you want a little more privacy right? You want to send your music to a journalist or pitch some tracks to a music supervisor. Or maybe you’ve got an unfinished track that you need your vocalist to hear but certainly isn’t ready for primetime.

And most of the ways people currently use to share music privately are broken, cumbersome or plain ugly. FTP is fiddly and long. And generic file sharing services mean that the recipient sit through spammy ads, whilst waiting for the link to even become active. These links aren’t secure either, often expire and can hide viruses. Not nice!

SoundCloud is easy for the recipient, easy on the eye and let’s your music take center stage. And of course, we can also help you keep it private and secure.

HOW DO I SHARE A TRACK PRIVATELY?

1. Upload your release

If you want to send a release, showreel or playlist then upload all the tracks at the same time. This will create a ‘set’. Complete as much or as little metadata you want. The great thing about using SoundCloud is that you’re not just sending files, you’re creating a beautiful page on the web that can include cover artwork, video links and full descriptions or promo text.

2. Mark as ‘Private’

This will make the track completely private and secure. It won’t show up on your public SoundCloud page and can’t be searched for either. No one can get to the track unless you have given them access.

3. Select who has access

There are 4 different ways that you can give people access to the track or set that you just created.

i. add their email address(es)
ii. add their SoundCloud username(s)
iii. add a previously created Contact List
iv. create a ‘secret link’

4. Mark the track for download

Now you can decide if you want the track(s) to be downloadable by the recipient or if you want to give them streaming access only. If you mark as downloadable the recipient can access the original file (WAV, MP3, AIFF etc) as well as the preview quality stream that SoundCloud creates.

HOW WILL THE RECIPIENT GET THE TRACK(S)?

Once you have given someone access to the track they will receive an email notification that you have shared the track(s) with them. Inside the email there is a unique link that takes them directly to the track page that you created on SoundCloud that includes all the information you added. They can also download the original artwork or view any video links that you included.

If you marked the track for download then they simply click to get the download. There are also direct download links in the email notification (they’ll need to be logged in to download of course).

DOES THE RECIPIENT HAVE TO SIGN UP?

Yes, and no. If the person you’re sending music to doesn’t already have an account then we automatically create them a temporary account and all they need to do is put in a password, known only to them. This has to be done in order to make sure your track is only available to those you’ve given access. But it’s an extremely quick process for the recipient and they don’t have to create a full account on SoundCloud or spend anytime inputting their details. Also, they can use this same password the next time you send them a track.

If you want still want your tracks to be private but you don’t need this top level of security then you should use our ‘Secret Link’ feature which is available for anyone with a premium account.

YOU MENTIONED IT WAS SECURE?

Yes, you control exactly who has access to which tracks. Recipients are sent a unique link which is tied to their own account. The link is secure and can’t be accessed by anyone else unless they also know that persons account details. You’re also able to see stats on your track. How many plays or download it has had and even who listened when.

Of course no audio on the web is completely secure. But we make it as secure as possible without making the user experience totally suck. And if you’re only making a stream available this is a lower MP3 quality file encoded at 128kbps.

If you have any questions on using SoundCloud for private sharing then please feel free to get in touch or leave comments below.