Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

SoundCloud VS Last.fm

Compare SoundCloud VS Last.fm and see what are their differences

SoundCloud logo SoundCloud

Enjoy music & follow favourite artists

Last.fm logo Last.fm

The world's largest online music service. Listen online, find out more about your favourite artists, and get music recommendations, only at Last.fm
  • SoundCloud Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-13
  • Last.fm Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-17

SoundCloud

Release Date
2007 January
Startup details
Country
Germany
State
Berlin
City
Berlin
Founder(s)
Alexander Ljung
Employees
250 - 499

SoundCloud features and specs

  • User-friendly Interface
    SoundCloud features an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface that makes it accessible for users of all technological proficiencies.
  • Free Access
    Users can upload, listen to, and share music for free, making it a cost-effective platform for both listeners and creators.
  • Discoverability
    SoundCloud's extensive library and recommendation algorithms make it easy for users to discover new and emerging artists.
  • Community Engagement
    The platform allows for comments and likes on individual tracks, facilitating direct interaction between artists and listeners.
  • Emerging Artists’ Platform
    It offers a great starting point for emerging artists to gain exposure without needing a record deal.
  • Integration with Other Services
    SoundCloud can be easily integrated with social media platforms and other music services, enhancing its usability.

Possible disadvantages of SoundCloud

  • Limited Earnings for Artists
    The monetization options available on SoundCloud are generally less lucrative compared to other platforms like Spotify or Apple Music.
  • Sound Quality
    Some users report that SoundCloud's audio quality is not as high as other streaming services.
  • Limited Offline Access
    While there is an option to download tracks for offline listening, this feature is restricted to SoundCloud Go+ subscribers.
  • Search Function Limitations
    The search function can sometimes be cluttered or not very accurate, making it difficult to find specific tracks or artists.
  • Copyright Issues
    Users sometimes upload copyrighted material without authorization, which can lead to tracks being taken down.
  • Ad-Frequency
    Free users may experience a high frequency of ads, which can disrupt the listening experience.

Last.fm features and specs

  • Personalized Recommendations
    Last.fm offers music recommendations tailored to the user's tastes based on their listening history.
  • Scrobbling
    The service tracks the music a user listens to across various platforms and devices, helping create a comprehensive listening profile.
  • Community Features
    Users can join groups, participate in discussions, and share music tastes with others, fostering a sense of community.
  • Discover New Music
    Last.fm helps users discover new artists and songs that they might like, making it easier for them to expand their musical horizons.
  • Visual Insights
    The platform provides graphs and charts that offer visual insights into a user's listening habits and trends over time.

Possible disadvantages of Last.fm

  • Subscription Costs
    Access to some of Last.fm’s advanced features requires a subscription, which might not be ideal for all users.
  • Data Privacy Concerns
    The extensive tracking of listening habits may raise privacy concerns for some users.
  • Interface Complexity
    The user interface can be somewhat complex and cluttered, which might be challenging for new users to navigate.
  • Platform Dependency
    Its effectiveness relies on integration with other music services, meaning it is less useful if it doesn’t sync well with the user’s primary music platform.
  • Limited Offline Features
    Without an active internet connection, many of Last.fm's features become inaccessible, limiting its utility.

SoundCloud videos

Spotify vs Soundcloud - An Honest Comparison

More videos:

  • Review - Is Soundcloud Free | How It Works and Is Soundcloud Right For You
  • Review - Is Soundcloud Go Worth It?

Last.fm videos

DO NOT USE last.fm website review (BAD WEBSITE)

More videos:

  • Review - Music I Listened to in 2018 [last.fm]

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SoundCloud and Last.fm)
Music Streaming
45 45%
55% 55
Music
40 40%
60% 60
Online Music
48 48%
52% 52
Audio & Music
60 60%
40% 40

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare SoundCloud and Last.fm

SoundCloud Reviews

  1. Maksym Moskalenko
    · Founder at Mixcode.io ·
    The best audio streaming service on the market

    Great for both music producers and music labels. It's robust and very convenient.

  2. FaizaAdeel
    · Owner at Peacock.collection11 ·
    Diverse Music Community

    SoundCloud stands out as a unique platform, fostering a diverse music community and providing a platform for emerging artists. Despite minor drawbacks like ad interruptions and discoverability challenges, it remains a valuable resource for those seeking a wide range of musical content.

    🏁 Competitors: Spotify
    👍 Pros:    Unlimited uploads|Community engagement|Free tier with ads|Versatile content
    👎 Cons:    Ad interruptions in free version|Discoverability challenges|Quality disparities

Spotify Vs. Others 29 Music Apps-which One is The Better?
SoundCloud is a unique platform that allows users to upload, promote, and share their music. It is particularly popular among independent artists and creators, offering a diverse range of genres and tracks that may not be available on mainstream platforms. SoundCloud’s community-driven approach enables users to discover new music through reposts, comments, and interactions.
The Best Spotify Alternatives In Music[Top 10]
SoundCloud is a unique music streaming platform that focuses on independent artists and creators. With a vast library of user-generated content, SoundCloud offers a diverse range of music, podcasts, and audio tracks. Its “Discover” feature uses machine learning to recommend music based on user preferences, while its “Upload” feature allows artists to share their own music...
Best Spotify Alternatives In The World [Top 10] 2024
SoundCloud hosts over 200 million files, including songs and podcasts, making it a hotspot for emerging indie artists. While Spotify offers a curated experience with mainstream artists, SoundCloud fosters a vibrant community for discovering new talent and engaging with user-generated content.
Top 10 Spotify Alternatives (Free/Paid) – 2024
Yes, you can find new music with Spotify alternatives and with options such as SoundCloud. You can check the genre and find new music for your taste.
9 Best Free Music Download Sites in 2022
As a professional tip, we recommend you use Soundcloud and Geekersoft YouTube to MP3 to download music for free. However, the final choice is entirely up to you! If you have any suggestions, please share your feedback with us.

Last.fm Reviews

The Best Spotify Alternatives In Music[Top 10]
Last.FM is a music streaming service that focuses on community-driven music discovery and recommendation. Users can create profiles, scrobble their music listening habits, and connect with others who share similar tastes. Last.FM’s algorithm-driven recommendations provide users with personalized playlists and radio stations based on their listening history. The platform also...
Receiptify Alternatives – Websites like Receiptify
Last.fm tracks your music listening across various platforms and provides detailed analytics, such as your most listened-to tracks, artists, and genres. While it doesn’t create receipts, it offers in-depth insights into your listening habits. For those interested in analytics and tracking over time, Last.fm provides a comprehensive overview of your musical tastes.
Top 10 Spotify Alternatives (Free/Paid) – 2024
Another entry, Last.FM has been a great option as one of the Spotify alternatives that has been available since 2002 and this makes it one of the oldest options available in this list.
9 Best Free Music Download Sites in 2022
Last.fm is the flagship product of Audioscrobbler's music engine design team. Users "record" tracks more than 10 million times a day to Last FM's servers, it's one of the world's largest social music platforms.
9 best free Spotify alternatives
Last.fm is more about music discovery than listening to what you already know: its famous "scrobbling" analyses the songs you listen to (not just on the site, but in desktop and mobile music apps too) and comes up with suggestions for similar music it thinks you'll like. Frustratingly many of the available tracks are just previews, and the free radio streaming is a paid-for...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Last.fm seems to be a lot more popular than SoundCloud. While we know about 2621 links to Last.fm, we've tracked only 95 mentions of SoundCloud. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

SoundCloud mentions (95)

  • Stream Miror B's Grav Drive Spool by Third Cow
    Https : // soundcloud . Com / third-octave / miror-bs-grav-drive-spool. Source: over 1 year ago
  • How can I get the soundcloud downloading of a playlist to sleep?
    Yt-dlp --add-header Authorization: "" https://soundcloud.com/. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Bi-Weekly Discussion Thread - Find language partners, ask questions, and get accent feedback - July 12, 2023
    Go to Vocaroo, Soundcloud or Clypit and record your voice. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Recent DNS issues?
    Seems like after the update to 2023.4 I am unable to access certain websites. It may have nothing to do with the latest release. But I cannot access (for example) soundcloud.com or arcboosts.com from any server I try from. Never had this issue before, and not happening on other devices with vpn turned off. Tried with both dns ad blocking on and off within the mullvad ui. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • 403 Error?
    The app works fine, along with w.souncloud.com links which are embeds. All help links work, but the moment you try to go to the normal soundcloud.com, it gives that error. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

Last.fm mentions (2621)

  • The day I canceled my Spotify subscription
    I switched to https://qobuz.com, mainly for the high audio quality (it goes up to 192kHz 24bit, which is worth it for me as I have the necessary equipment to make use of this), but it also supports "Spotify quality" i.e. Mp3 quality/320 kbps, but I stayed for the experience. It does not really have an algorithm, there is one playlist "My weekly Q", which updates each week with songs that you could like. The only... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Mr. Bungle - Nananana (lost fake song)
    Hi, anyone remember that song? I remember I downloaded it from ares and I liked it but unfortunately it wasn't by mr bungle, it was just mislabelled (like the toxic cover). If anyone has it around I would like to hear it again! On last.fm it comes up as some people listen to it from time to time. Any info you have, or the original artist, I'd appreciate it. From what I remember it sounded like a demo and just said... Source: over 1 year ago
  • 1970’s music makes me feel the most alive. What music does that for you?
    Try last.fm, great website for recommending music. Those one's you suggested are a bit more jazzy than I usually listen to but maybe try What's Goin' On - Marvin Gaye. Talking Book, or Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder. Couple of my favorites. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Outjerked by last fm
    Average last.fm comment section to be fair. Source: over 1 year ago
  • I Tried Apple Music and That Made Me Realize How Much Polish TIDAL is Missing
    However, I can fully enjoy my last.fm subscription with Tidal thanks to the integrated scrobbler. I could with AM too but it would be necessary to download (and buy) two different scrobblers : one for iOS and one for macOS. Then, I feel like Tidal has more interesting recommendations, especially when we talk about lesser-known artists. Tidal Rising allows for nice discoveries while AM is much more focused on music... Source: over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing SoundCloud and Last.fm, you can also consider the following products

Spotify - Map shows when two people play same song at same time

Deezer - Deezer is a music streaming app created in France. It is available in 180 counties and gets 16 million users a month. 6 million of the users have paid subscriptions. Read more about Deezer.

Pandora - Pandora Radio is a free (ad-supported) internet radio founded in 2000.

Apple Music - Apple Music app combines your personal iTunes library with Apple's music subscription service. Music you have purchased from the iTunes store, or synced over from other sources, is available in the "Library" tab. Read more about Apple Music.

Bandcamp - Discover amazing music and directly support the artists who make it.

TIDAL - Tidal is a streaming music service supported by some of the most influential artists working in the industry.

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