How to Make an Album on SoundCloud

On SoundCloud an album is a playlist with a type and a release date. Get those two fields right and it moves from your Playlists tab to your Albums tab.

Updated 2026-10-03

How do you upload an album to SoundCloud?

Upload all the tracks together. On a computer, click Upload in the top navigation bar, then either click Choose files and select every track or drag them onto the page at once. SoundCloud groups them into an album automatically.

Before you publish, work through the set-level details rather than the track-level ones:

• Title the set as the album, not the first track.
• Add one artwork image for the album. Tracks can keep their own artwork, but the album cover is what shows on the Albums tab.
• Check the playlist type is Album, or change it to EP or Single if that's what this is.
• Set the release date and, if there is one, the record label.
• Put the tracks in order before publishing, since a public album lands in followers' feeds as it is.

What is the difference between a playlist and an album?

The type field, and what it signals. Technically both are sets of tracks with a title, artwork and a description. SoundCloud's playlists FAQ even calls playlists sets or albums that you can build from your own tracks or other people's.

The differences that matter in practice:

• Location: albums appear under the Albums tab on your profile; playlists under Playlists.
• Metadata: an album needs a release date and can carry a record label; a playlist doesn't need either.
• Content: an album is normally your own tracks; a playlist can mix your tracks with anyone's.
• Intent: an album presents a release. A playlist presents a selection, such as a mix for a mood or a list of tracks you like.

Can you turn a playlist into an album?

Yes. Open the playlist, click the pencil icon to edit it, find the playlist type section and select Album, then set a release date and save. SoundCloud's FAQ describes it as clicking Edit, selecting Album and saving the changes.

It works in reverse too. If an upload of several tracks was grouped into an album you didn't want, open it, edit the type to Playlist and save; SoundCloud notes you can switch an uploaded album to an EP or a playlist after the upload.

This is also the way to build an album from tracks that are already up. Create a playlist from them, put them in order and change its type. To add a track to an album you've already published, go to your tracks page, open the three-dot menu on the track, choose Add to Playlist and pick the album.

How do you set an album release date?

On the album's edit page, in the metadata fields. SoundCloud requires a release date when you mark a set as an album, and the same page has a field for the record label if the release has one.

The Help Center flags one detail: the release date is recorded in GMT. If you're far from that time zone, the day shown can differ from the one you meant, so check how it displays after saving and adjust if a midnight release came out a day off.

The release date is a label on the album, not a scheduler. If you want the tracks to go public at a set time, that's the scheduling option on the tracks themselves, which how to upload songs to SoundCloud covers along with formats and upload limits.

Can free accounts make albums?

Yes. Nothing in SoundCloud's album help limits the album type to paid plans: any account can group tracks into a set and mark it as an Album, EP, Single or Compilation.

What limits a free account is upload time, not albums. As of October 2026 SoundCloud's upload help says that on the Basic and Artist tiers you should watch your remaining upload minutes, and that uploading past them can hide some tracks until you free up space or upgrade. A long album on a free account can run into that ceiling, and a hidden track leaves a gap in the tracklist.

So plan the album around the minutes you have, or remove older uploads you no longer need before releasing. The upload article linked above sets out what each plan allows.

Do album plays count per track?

Yes. SoundCloud counts plays on tracks, so when someone plays your album start to finish, each track they hear gets its own play. A listener who stops after track two adds to the first two tracks and nothing else. How SoundCloud counts plays explains the counting rules in detail.

That has a practical consequence for sequencing. The opening track of an album collects the most plays, because every listener starts there, and counts usually fall off down the tracklist. Put a strong track first, and look at per-track stats rather than expecting one album total to tell you how the release did.

It's also why the play counts listeners see vary across one album. Each track shows its own number, and a new listener scanning the tracklist reads those numbers to decide where to start.

How do you reorder or edit an album's tracks?

From the edit page. On a computer, click the pencil icon on the album, open the Tracks tab and drag tracks into order; remove a track with the X on its right and save. On iOS or Android, open the album, tap the three dots, choose edit playlist and drag tracks into place.

Three limits from SoundCloud's help are worth knowing. New tracks are always added at the bottom, so reorder after adding. A playlist or album can hold up to 500 tracks, though SoundCloud recommends staying under 250 so it loads easily. And the order of sets on your profile is chronological, with no way to rearrange it, so release order is display order.

After the release, the work is getting people to press play. How to promote music on SoundCloud covers reposts, comments and sharing. If you'd rather lift the visible numbers on the lead track directly, SoundCloud plays works from the track's public URL, paid with PayPal or crypto, and changes the count shown, not how SoundCloud recommends the music. Every SoundCloud service is on the SoundCloud page.

Questions people ask about SoundCloud albums