Uncovering New Audiences through SoundCloud Subcultures

Mainstream culture isn’t the key to finding and connecting with diverse, trendsetting audiences. Nearly half of adults 18+ don't even engage with it. Instead, you need to head underground to the dynamic world of subcultures. From Barbie Rap to Regional Mexican, subcultures are booming on SoundCloud, where listeners are tuning in to discover and get their fill of the niche and new. 

In our latest LinkedIn Audio Event, Andrea Ropp, Brand Partnerships, SoundCloud, Drea Jackson, Artist & Label Relations, SoundCloud, Matt Fishwick, Music and Data Analyst, SoundCloud, and Briana Mendez, Sr. Manager Sales Marketing, Audiences + Multicultural, SiriusXM Media, showed advertisers how to navigate the rise of these evolving subcultures to elevate their marketing strategies and connect with young, influential, and diverse audiences. 

During the event, our experts broke down:

• The three pillars of cultural movements

• How SoundCloud identifies and tracks emerging trends

• Why embracing subcultures is a must if you want to remain relevant

Tune in to hear the full conversation or check out some highlights below.

Connect with Cultural Trendsetters

Highlight: “We're going to explore the first trend in our freshly launched Culture Trends report called Sub Stream. This trend focuses on shifting listening behaviors in a diversifying America. Why should this matter to you? Embracing these trends is more than just staying current. It's about making genuine connections. SoundCloud proprietary data sets and expert A&R teams identify these emerging music trends and talent and enables advertisers like us to engage with these influential Gen Z audiences early on. And these subcultures today aren't confined to specific genres; they're fluid, multifaceted, and continuously evolving. So this session that we're diving into today is for brands that want to tap into the heartbeat of youth culture and elevate their marketing strategies by connecting with tomorrow's cultural trendsetters.” - Briana Mendez

The Three Pillars of SoundCloud Scenes

Highlight: “We ultimately look at three different pillars, and we're looking at Scenes that come down to aesthetic, sound, and location. So when we're looking at aesthetics, we're looking at how people look, how they dress… When we look at sound, obviously that's the main tribute to these different Scenes. And what actually constitutes their sonic identity… So many of these, the sound is really driving the forefront of what these different Scenes are defined as. And that third piece, location. So looking at the geographic and cultural impact in different areas of the world, we always say, ‘local insights and global reach,’ because ultimately, it can be from local culture.” - Andrea Ropp

Using the Power of Data

Highlight: “We're using proprietary data sets. We're using our data. We're using genre mapping, alongside annotations, helping us to identify these new music trends and the talent that is always constantly buzzing on SoundCloud and buzzing on SoundCloud before it hits the mainstream, as well. So, data, it can be including anything from early charting metrics, or notable and sustained presence in the charts. Then we're looking at creator-fan relationships and their interactions, and we're tracking the artists that have contributed to the explosion of different Scenes globally. And we're tracking the streaming numbers that follow us from the outset. We're seeing the outreach. This data always has to be paired alongside our cultural knowledge and expertise to help identify the communities and these Scenes, as we call them, appearing on SoundCloud first." - Matt Fishwick

Collaboration is Key

Highlight: “One of the earliest indicators that I specifically see on the platform of different Scenes, are producer collaborations… So, visually looking at it from a who's adding who, who's tagging who, who's creating with whom. But then another identification signal I normally see is social conversation. So while we have platforms like TikTok and IG has reels and things like that, the engagement on those platforms on that content is heavily synonymous with what's happening on SoundCloud. If I'm noticing a lot of different creates around a certain type of beat, you can go to SoundCloud and type in that track and you can kind of get a feel for who is recreating that sound, who's remixing, reviving, and taking those things from what they were seeing in the viral community on the social networks and placing it on SoundCloud." - Drea Jackson

Discover the Underground Sound of SoundCloud

Highlight: “Think about one track as like the stem on a tree, and then the next creator maybe reposting that track as a branch on the tree. And as you imagine that tree growing, you imagine the exposure of this trend of the sound flooding SoundCloud... So what I saw in 2022 was five different underground artists get together on a beat made by one of the staple producers within the underground Scene, and the track was called “Anti-social Two.” We actually ended up awarding those creators, all five of them, the award of Hardest Independent Hit, and that was based on data we found of the most streams under 24 hours on an independent artist track. And what you can look at from a bird's-eye view is that five of the avengers of the underground Scene got on the hottest beat from the hottest producer of that Scene, and they broke SoundCloud, essentially. So the exposure of that Scene exponentially flourished because that was a moment that we created as a social media marker." - Drea Jackson

Tap In with Communities on SoundCloud

Highlight: “The benefit of tapping into these conversations and engagement that's already occurring, and doing it in a meaningful way. Let's take, música Mexicano and Regional Mexican, for example. For the first time, we had a brand partner for this specific award winning campaign called Scenes. And so we centered it around this entire concept of these subcultures and SoundCloud, and ultimately, what they're driving and what's next in music. From the early moments of Natanael el Cano, Peso Pluma, we've seen all of them directly on SoundCloud building their fan communities and really tapping into those communities on SoundCloud. With this campaign, we not only explored the larger umbrella of música Mexicana, we really dug deep into what new sounds are tapping into, next… By diving into these Mexican-American stories and drawing that connection for Toyota, it was allowing them to tap into this community, way beyond traditional advertising or other types of campaigns. It's really driving that meaningful connection and story behind it all.” - Andrea Ropp

Get In Early

Highlight: “SoundCloud really is such a white space, where you can tap so deeply into different communities, again, understanding just this larger trend of subcultures being so much more of the new mainstream. SoundCloud is the best place to do that because those conversations are happening directly on the platform. So get in early. And just work with us to understand what community you want to connect with and where we can do that in so many different ways.” - Andrea Ropp

Partner with SiriusXM Media

Highlight: “As you know, SiriusXM Media is here. We have so many different sorts of solutions on how to best tap into SoundCloud, whether it's these dope, immersive events that connect you directly with these fans that are listening every day, to all these different sorts of Scenes, and to cool videos, targeting the different sorts of levers that you can pull to get close to this audience. And it can be very turnkey, as well, or it can be super robust and bespoke. All in all, the fluency team at Siriusxm Media has so many different sorts of insights. And if you're just trying to step into the space and wanting to get a better understanding, we have plenty of insights to share across the SoundCloud platform to help your brands connect to this amazing audience." - Briana Mendez

For more cultural insights, download the Culture Trends Report. And when you’re ready to navigate the world of SoundCloud subgenres with SiriusXM Media, let’s chat.