How to Download Music From SoundCloud on Desktop and Mobile
SoundCloud plays host to an incredible range of audio, all available to stream within moments. But what if you want to download music from SoundCloud and store it locally? While in theory that’s simple, there are several limitations you must account for.
We’re going to show you how to download SoundCloud music on your desktop and mobile.
How to Download SoundCloud Files on Desktop
You might want to download a song from SoundCloud so that you have a local copy on your system. You get the raw file that the artist uploaded, in the original format. This means that you can listen to it indefinitely, without the need for an internet connection, and play it in your music software of choice. It’s one of the great reasons to use SoundCloud.
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However, you can’t download any song you want. There are a number of restrictions:
- You can only download from SoundCloud through the web and not through other devices like your Android or iPhone.
- The artist has to enable downloads for the song. It isn’t activated automatically.
- The number of times a song can be downloaded is limited by the artist’s SoundCloud account:
- Free users get 100 downloads per song.
- Pro users get 1,000 downloads per song.
- Pro Unlimited users have unlimited downloads.
This means that it’s more than likely that you won’t be able to download the song you want, so prepare for disappointment.
However, if all the conditions are met, the actual download process is simple:
- Sign in to your SoundCloud account.
- Navigate to the track that you want to download.
- Click More.
- Click Download file.
- Follow your browser’s instructions to save the file.
Unfortunately, you can’t download songs in bulk through a playlist or album. You must go one by one.
How to Save SoundCloud Files for Offline Listening on Mobile
As mentioned, SoundCloud’s mobile app doesn’t let you download the local files like you can on desktop. That said, you could download the file on your desktop and then transfer it to your mobile.
Related: The Fastest File Transfer Methods Between PCs and Mobile Devices
An alternative feature that SoundCloud offers on Android and iOS is the ability to save content for offline listening. You don’t get the raw file, but you can still listen to music through the app without an internet connection. To use this feature, you need to pay for a SoundCloud Go or Go+ subscription.
To download a playlist for offline listening, navigate to the playlist and tap Download at the top.
To download a song for offline listening:
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- Navigate to the song and tap the heart to save it to your library.
- Select the Your Library icon (three vertical lines) from the bottom menu.
- Select Liked tracks.
- Select the download icon (downwards arrow in a circle) from the top menu.
- Tap Download to confirm. This downloads all your liked songs.
If you want to automatically download your current and future library of likes and playlists, you can do that too:
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- From the library screen, select your profile icon in the top-right.
- Go to Settings > Downloads.
- Enable Download automatically. Here you can also toggle Only download via Wi-Fi and Download high quality audio.
If you cancel your subscription (which renews automatically), you’ll no longer be able to listen to your saved songs offline.
Listen to SoundCloud Without an Internet Connection
Using both of these techniques, you can listen to SoundCloud tracks without an internet connection. Downloading the raw file via desktop is the ideal method if you want permanent, unrestricted access to a file, but most songs won’t offer this due to the strict prerequisites.
As such, you will likely need to subscribe to a SoundCloud subscription in order to use the offline listening feature.
