14 DAY TRIAL // SoundClound is riding on a wave of popularity, spurred by a change in strategy, mobile apps and a new focus on the US market, that has helped it reach three million registered users. The company boasted that it has managed to attract one million new users in the past three months alone.
Those are both impressive figures, but registered users don't equal active users, a much more relevant metric.
Especially for an older service, the number of people actually using it should tell you more about how it's doing than how many people it has convinced to sign up.
SoundCloud has made a name for itself by providing a simple but effective platform for aspiring musicians, or those wanting to engage with their fans, to share tracks.
Users can upload a number of tracks for free and share them with their followers or the world at large. The recognizable, embeddable player was also a big bonus, soon many music or even mainstream blogs or websites were carrying tracks from SoundCloud.
The clean interface and great community also helped SoundCloud establish a good reputation with artists and users alike. The site grew at a steady pace, but it wasn't fast enough for its founders.
The company wanted to move beyond the niche music market and to have SoundCloud become a mainstream platform for hosting and sharing audio recordings, podcasts, interviews, even personal notes.
This change in strategy materialized late last year when SoundCloud introduced an on-site recording feature, along with an iPhone app. The app also boasted recording capabilities.
This enabled users to easily record audio wherever they were. An Android app followed, just in time for the holiday season.
Two months later, it seems to have paid off. Users are flocking to the site, it took three years to reach two million users, but only 100 days for another million. SoundClound also says that it's not just a fluke, the trend is solid and isn't letting up.