Streaming service SoundCloud is making it easier for its users to share music from its service directly to Instagram. The company announced this morning a new feature that allows users to share tracks to Instagram Stories. However, there’s a big caveat here – the tracks are shared as a link that appears within Stories. To actually listen to the track, users have to click the “Play on SoundCloud” link, which then redirects them to the SoundCloud app to begin listening.
This offers a way for fans and artists to promote their music through Instagram’s hugely popular Stories platform, but it’s not quite the same as being able to actually share music via Instagram, as the listening takes place elsewhere.
Prior to this, people shared their SoundCloud discoveries via workarounds – like taking screenshots, for example.
To use the new feature, you first find the track you want to share and tap the “Share” icon at the bottom of the screen. You then tap the Instagram icon or select “Share to Instagram Stories,” depending on whether you’re on an iOS or Android smartphone. The link to the track is then shared right in your Instagram Story. There’s a sticker label you can drag around to place on the screen. To listen, viewers click the “Play on SoundCloud” link at the top of the Instagram Story.
This sharing feature was actually first announced in May at Facebook’s F8 developer conference, alongside news of Instagram’s support for sharing from other third-party apps, like Spotify and GoPro, among others.
However, SoundCloud confirms that it simply hadn’t been implemented until now.
The sharing feature follows the recent launch of SoundCloud’s monetization program for artists, and serves as another means for musicians to reach their fans outside of the platform itself. However, because users have to click a link to listen, it’s not necessarily a way to expose friends to new music the way that Instagram’s own soundtracks feature can.
SoundCloud says sharing feature is live in the latest version of the SoundCloud iOS and Android app.
