YouTube Music offers 100+ million licensed tracks with superior audio quality (up to 256 kbps) and YouTube integration, while SoundCloud provides direct artist uploads, independent music discovery, and a lower premium price ($4.99/month vs $13.99/month), making it ideal for finding emerging artists.
YouTube Music vs SoundCloud — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Choose YouTube Music if you want the best audio quality (256 kbps), seamless YouTube video integration, and a comprehensive mainstream music catalog with premium features. Choose SoundCloud if you're budget-conscious ($4.99/month), want to discover emerging and independent artists, value direct artist support, or prefer a music-first platform without video distractions.
Google's all-in-one music and video streaming platform with extensive content integration.
Independent music platform allowing direct artist uploads with affordable premium access.
YouTube Music vs SoundCloud — Comparison Data
Structured comparison data for YouTube Music vs SoundCloud with 147 attributes.
Monthly Subscription Price (Premium/Paid Tier)
Annual Prime/YouTube Premium Bundle Cost
Monthly Subscription Cost (Premium Tier)
Monthly Subscription Price (Standard Tier)
Artist Growth Multiplier (focused strategy)
YouTube Music vs SoundCloud — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for YouTube Music vs SoundCloud.
Which streaming service has better audio quality?
SoundCloud technically supports higher bitrate (320 kbps with Hi-Fi tier) than YouTube Music's 256 kbps, but most listeners cannot distinguish the difference. YouTube Music's 256 kbps is considered high-quality and sufficient for most users. SoundCloud's Hi-Fi tier requires an additional subscription tier beyond Premium.
Can I download music offline on both services?
YouTube Music allows offline downloads only on the Premium plan ($13.99/month). SoundCloud uniquely offers 3-hour offline downloads on the free tier and unlimited downloads with Premium ($4.99/month), making it more accessible for offline listening.
Is SoundCloud better for discovering independent artists?
Yes. SoundCloud's strength is its direct-upload platform allowing artists to upload without major label representation. The platform has 635+ million tracks (vs YouTube Music's 100+ million), with many emerging and experimental artists. YouTube Music focuses on mainstream licensed content through major labels.
How much cheaper is SoundCloud Premium compared to YouTube Music?
SoundCloud Premium ($4.99/month) is 64% cheaper than YouTube Music Premium ($13.99/month), saving $108/year. However, YouTube Music Premium includes YouTube Premium benefits (ad-free YouTube access and offline downloads on YouTube).
YouTube Music offers seamless integration with YouTube's 2.7 billion videos, music videos, and YouTube Premium features (ad-free viewing, background play). SoundCloud is a music-only platform without video integration, providing a distraction-free listening experience focused solely on audio content.