How to Download from SoundCloud
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Whether you’re a musician or a fan, SoundCloud is an amazing platform. It’s a great place to find independent, unsigned artists. It’s also very much a community, with listeners and bands sharing music and discovering new sounds. While plenty of listening is done through streaming these days, there are still plenty of us who enjoy downloading songs directly to our devices. That goes for PCs, Macs, phones, and tablets – how many of us, however, know how to download from SoundCloud?
SoundCloud is available across all the above platforms. However, if you want to download songs directly to your hard memory, there are a few things you’ll need to bear in mind. SoundCloud is mostly all about streaming music. Therefore, while there are options for you to download most songs, streaming is seen as the standard. But what if you don’t have internet access on the go?
In this brief guide, we’ll look at how you can download your favorite tunes for on the go or at home. Whether you’re backing up your own music or enjoying others’, keep reading to learn how to download music from SoundCloud.
Why Download from SoundCloud?
You may well be reading this guide wondering ‘why bother’? Surely everyone is streaming – why does a guide like this even exist? The answer is pretty straightforward.
While plenty of us can stream music freely and easily, not everyone has access to 3G or 4G on the go. Therefore, an offline, downloadable option is always going to be a welcome one. Mobile data has become so widespread that we forget not everyone has access to it!
What’s more, thousands of people still enjoy downloading and collecting MP3s. While services such as Spotify and SoundCloud may have pushed streaming into the mainstream, there’s always going to be some demand for physical files. This is especially the case when it comes to less common tracks and rare releases!
Going offline gives you access to tons of great songs without eating into your mobile data, too. Think about backing up your music so you can keep listening the next time you’re in a pinch.
How to Download from SoundCloud
The easiest way to grab songs for download is to log in via your web browser. SoundCloud actively recommends you use the web service if you want to download anything. However, there is a catch involved.
That catch is, unfortunately, that not all songs will be available for download. If an artist hasn’t made their songs available for download, this means they have deactivated that option. If you’re an artist yourself, this is something you’re able to toggle on and off pretty easily. In most cases, however, you’ll find songs freely downloadable. This is how you go about grabbing them.
- 1. Underneath a song (which is represented by a ‘waveform’ image), you’ll see a few tabs. These show the likes and shares of any given track. There’s also a ‘more’ tab. Click it!
- 2. A drop-down box will appear. You’ll need to choose the third option, which is ‘download file.’
- 3. From here, your device will ask where you’d like to save the file. That’s all there is to it!
However, this method of downloading tracks only really works well with PC and Mac devices. You can try using desktop mode on an Android or iOS mobile device, but it’s unlikely you’ll get the results you’re looking for.
Bypassing Download Restrictions
As always, there’s a number of things you can try to download your own copies of restricted songs. This will likely mean you need to download a third party app for your browser, however – and there are plenty of these on the market. Take a look at those available for Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox for the best results.
For more advanced users, you can also tweak the free audio editing service Audible to record ‘AUX,’ which will record anything playing through your speakers. This is a bit of a DIY solution, however, which might not appeal to everyone. Who would have thought that learning how to download from SoundCloud could get so tricky?
SoundCloud Downloads for Mobile
Getting SoundCloud music to save directly to your mobile device is a different ballgame altogether. The way through which SoundCloud has allowed mobile access to MP3s has changed a little over the years. Previously, Android users have been able to use third-party applications to bypass the paid download feature that the site used to offer. Since then, however, SoundCloud has changed its subscription and premium services somewhat.
SoundCloud is well aware that mobile users want to be able to access songs offline. Thankfully, that’s not a problem. However, the safest route to do so is by signing up for SoundCloud Go or Go+. These are premium services which will allow you to save certain songs to access and play offline. That’s all well and good – but at $9.99 a month, you’ll need to consider whether or not it’s worth the money.
SoundCloud has been running a free 30-day trial for new upgrades, which means it may be worth taking a look. In the meantime, however, your only other route to downloading directly to mobile is to look at third-party apps. If you want to access SoundCloud downloads from iPhone, you will need to transfer tracks you’ve saved via PC or Mac to iTunes. Alternatively, you can sign up for Go or Go+. It’s your choice!
As far as third-party apps for Android are concerned, do tread carefully. Only download apps which have genuine reviews from genuine users. I’m afraid we can’t make such recommendations in this guide at present.
Conclusion
If you’re invested in learning how to download from SoundCloud, it’s always worth going via web in the first instance. The SoundCloud web service allows you to easily save your favorite songs right from your browser. Beyond this, if you’re interested in downloading for mobile, things can get a bit tricky. However, there are always ways and means around things.
