SoundCloud App Update Brings Personalized Playlist To The New Home Screen

SoundCloud is launching a major redesign to its music streaming app that puts personalized playlists right on the home screen. The new SoundCloud app will now be able to offer playlists that are updated daily, which is something that Spotify and Apple Music have been doing for a while now.

“With over 170 million tracks, there’s always something new to stream, share, or get stuck in your head on SoundCloud,” the company said on its blog. “For listeners who want to discover music first, the new SoundCloud home serves up curated recommendations, personalized playlists, and exclusive culture-focused audio content—direct from creators and often years ahead of what’s on the mainstream charts.”

When users open the new SoundCloud app, the first thing they’ll see are featured playlists, like In The Mix for varied DJ mixes and Hip Hop Supreme for the latest rap tracks. These playlists will be updated on a weekly basis. The feature is pretty similar to Spotify’s Discover Weekly.

While the featured playlists are intended to help users discover new music, SoundCloud will also start offering more playlists based on the user’s listening behavior. The Upload, which was launched by the company earlier this year, will now be present on the SoundCloud home screen.

SoundCloud’s The Upload playlist will algorithmically curate tracks based on the user’s musical taste. This playlist is updated regularly, which should mean that users will always have something to listen to everyday. In keeping with delivering a more personalized experience, SoundCloud has also added the “More of what you like” section right on the home screen.

SoundCloud is home to a lot of independent artists, which is why the company is also adding the new “Artists you should know” section. This should help in pushing new artists into the spotlight, while also potentially helping users discover even more new tracks that they may love. The new SoundCloud update will also spotlight what’s happening on the platform by surfacing playlists like SoundCloud Next Wave and SoundCloud Playback. These playlists are editorially selected collections, according to TechCrunch.

The updated SoundCloud app also has New & Hot charts and Top 50 charts playlists, too. There’s also the new Fresh Pressed section of the SoundCloud app that helps users keep track of the latest album releases. For now, Fresh Pressed will only be available in the United States.

With this new update, It looks like SoundCloud is trying everything it can to stay afloat and to keep competing against Spotify and Apple Music. Back in July, the company had to cut off 40 percent of its staff to secure a path for profitability. In August, SoundCloud hired Kerry Trainor and Mike Weissman as the company’s new CEO and COO, and it was able to secure an investment of $170 million. It now looks like the company is focused on making SoundCloud accessible more than ever with its new update.

“New Home is a big step forward in terms of making it easier than ever for listeners to discover the great creators on SoundCloud. Let’s make it a more intuitive, simple, lightweight way to get into the incredible depth and diversity that the SoundCloud community represents,” Trainor told Mashable.