SoundCloud’s Most-Streamed Artists Might Surprise You

SoundCloud‘s made its fair share of headlines as of late for controversies that don’t exactly bolster its street cred. Following the deal the streaming platform struck with Warner Music Group last year, it’s implemented policies that dealt a considerable blow to the same remix/bootleg culture it served to propagate – so perhaps it stands to reason that they would put out a list like this to remind people that they’re still the cool kid on the block.

Forbes released a list of SoundCloud’s “Ten Most-Played Artists” that proves the service still caters to a relatively underground user base. More than anything, a glance at the names on the list proved that the platform remains a hub for EDM and hip-hop, but the handful of artists listed also speaks to the eclectic tastes of the people who use the service to stream music.

The ten artists atop the list were as follows:

1. Drake
2. Major Lazer
3. G-Eazy
4. Future
5. Kygo
6. PARTYNEXTDOOR
7. Chris Brown
8. Kid Ink
9. The Weeknd
10. Chance The Rapper

While Drake and Chris Brown making the list certainly doesn’t make SoundCloud out to be an underdog’s ally, it does when put up next to similar lists compiled from streams on Spotify and YouTube.

Ten most-played artists on Spotify:

1. Calvin Harris
2. Chris Brown
3. Drake
4. Ed Sheeran
5. Pitbull
6. Sam Smith
7. David Guetta
8. Wiz Khalifa
9. Nicki Minaj
10. Ellie Goulding

Ten most-played artists on YouTube:

1. Maroon 5
2. Katy Perry
3. Rihanna
4. Nicky Jam
5. Ariana Grande
6. Ed Sheeran
7. Enrique Iglesias
8. Beyonce
9. David Guetta
10. Meghan Trainor

Indeed, these lists are composed almost entirely of pop culture megastars groomed by the big four record labels for the mainstream spotlight. “Sure, a few of these musicians are well-known,” as Forbes put it, “but many of them are bubbling under talents that have yet to truly rise to the mainstream.”

In all reality, though, SoundCloud‘s new policies in regards to borrowed intellectual property have only recently been implemented. Time will tell whether the platform will remain the avenue for music discovery that it is – or simply become another vehicle for major labels to maintain the status quo.