Many local rappers have perceptions of what they believe will get them major record deals, such as making YouTube videos of songs they have recorded. Local rappers revert to YouTube as a path to fame because of its immense audience reach.

However, YouTube is not the only way for rappers to make a name for themselves.

“I put my music on SoundCloud when I finish it, instead of YouTube,” freshman rapper Don Grigsby says.

Since 2007, SoundCloud has been used as a platform for musical artists to promote their own music for free. There is also a paid option.

Users can post audio files of their music and get feedback; many musical producers make instrumentals and post them on SoundCloud and from that, they often develop relationships with artists who would like to use their talents to collaborate and make music together.

“I send my music to multiple producers in California right now,” Grigsby said. “I met them through SoundCloud. They heard my music and wanted to collaborate with me, so we’ve been trying to make that happen.”

Grigsby says that SoundCloud is his preferred medium for his music because there are always big names in the music industry who listen to local artists. He has also gotten a lot of feedback from his SoundCloud submissions.

“About one month after I got on SoundCloud, I started to develop a pretty good fan base,” Grigsby said. “I’ve been pretty lazy lately and I haven’t made any new music for a while, but I’ll make more during the break and hopefully I’ll get a lot of good feedback from it.”

Junior Matt Maumalanga has a different opinion about YouTube and SoundCloud. Maumalanga has used both as platforms to promote his music and his perception of what they do for him and his music career oppose Deon’s opinion.

“I think there are pros and cons to both,” Maumalanga said. “Overall, I think YouTube is better because it is more mainstream and more accessible to everyone.”

Maumalanga has used YouTube to promote his music for the past two years. He has also used SoundCloud for that same amount of time. He thinks that he has received a lot more attention and feedback from his YouTube videos than he has from his SoundCloud audio files.

“I think people respond more when they have something to look at,” Maumalanga said. “On SoundCloud, you can only listen, but with YouTube, you can listen and watch the person who made the music. I like that a lot.”

Regardless of opinion, both SoundCloud and YouTube have experienced exponential growth since they were started and continue to thrive now. Many famous music stars got their big breaks from YouTube and SoundCloud, and Deon Grigsby and Matt Maumalanga both have that same destiny in their sights as they continue to make and promote their music.