SoundCloud 101

May you want to highlight audio creators under one specific cause, showcase artists playing your next event, or catalogue entries for a remix competition, this 101 is a how-to for setting up your first SoundCloud Group.

Before You Start

Anyone on SoundCloud can start a group and put a sound into a group, just go to soundcloud.com/groups/new to start your first Group.

Overview

Here you can add in the details of your group name, description and image. If you have further details about your group add this information into the group description.

You will also have the option to ‘automatically approve sounds added to this group’. This allows you to have an open group where anyone can upload a sound that is viewable. Or you can untick this so it is a moderated group where sounds have to be approved before being public.

Receive Sounds to your Dropbox

Just like every SoundCloud profile, every SoundCloud Group features a dropbox to receive audio and Groups allow users to drop in sounds from their own profile so they are hosting the audio. At the Group dropbox they can submit a new sound or submit a sound from their already uploaded sounds.

If you want to let others know where to drop you a sound just pass over the DropBox URL or use one of our DropBox widgets to embed on to your site.

Moderate your Group

If you do want to keep a closer eye on what content is coming through to your group and making sure it fits your cause you have the option to moderate the group when you have unticked the ‘automatically approve sounds added to this group’.

To moderate the incoming sounds, just go to your groups and click ‘moderate’ on the relevant group. From here you can approve or not approve incoming sounds, or block users from the group who try to upload irrelevant sounds. You can invite further moderators by clicking ‘edit members’ and choosing from those who have joined your group. If you have uploaded a sound to a group you will automatically become a member.

Share your Group

You have all the sounds in your group and now want to share these across the web. Just like any sound on SoundCloud by clicking on the ‘share’ option you can grab the relevant embed code. Here is more information on sharing widgets.

More info

• With our premium accounts you can create unlimited groups and upload sounds into multiple groups.

• Running a contest? Check out our events 101 on how you can use this submission mechanic as part of your contest on SoundCloud.