This Cookie Policy forms part of our Privacy Policy and should be read together with our Terms of Use.
Capitalised terms used in this Cookie Policy, but not specifically defined in here, shall have the meanings given to the applicable capitalised terms in the SoundCloud Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Like most companies, when you visit or interact with the Platform, we and our service providers may use cookies and other tracking technologies for storing information, including pixels (also known as a “web beacon” or “clear GIFs”), local storage, and device identifiers, to help provide, protect and improve the Platform. For example, to save your preferences, personalize content, target ads based on your interests, combat fraud and abuse, and streamline the functioning of and your access to the Platform.
This policy explains how and why we use these technologies and the choices you have. We use “cookies” and “similar technologies” interchangeably to refer to all of these technologies.
Cookies are small text files placed on your computer, phone, or other device when you visit websites and are used to record information about your activity, including the pages you view, the content you listen to, ads you click on, your settings, and other actions you take on the Platform.
Cookies can be “persistent” or “session” cookies. Persistent cookies stay on your device for a set period of time or until you delete them, while session cookies are deleted once you close your web browser.
We use other data collecting technologies with similar functionality as cookies, including pixels, local storage, and device identifiers. While the specific names and types of cookies we use may change from time to time as we improve and update the Platform, we have provided some basic definitions in order to help you better understand this policy.
Pixels – A pixel is a small amount of code on a web page or in an email notification that typically works in conjunction with cookies to identify our users and record user behavior. As many services do, we use pixels to learn whether you’ve interacted with certain web or email content. This helps us measure and improve our services and personalize your experience.
Local Storage – Local storage is an industry-standard technology that allows a website or application to store information locally on your computer or mobile device. We use local storage to customize what we show you based on your content consumption and other past interactions with the Platform.
Device Identifiers – We also use Device Identifiers, also known as mobile device and advertising identifiers, for the same purposes articulated in this policy, for example to recognize your device when you return to the Platform or otherwise use the Platform.
Software Development Kits – We may use third parties including our service providers and business partners who use mobile SDKs to collect information to recognize your device when you return to the Platform. We may use this technology, for instance, to analyze how you interact with the Platform, including content and advertisements, and to enable analytics or other features through mobile devices.
While we use cookies to deliver, measure, and improve the Platform in various ways, the cookies we use generally fall into one of the following categories:
Strictly Necessary (Operational) Cookies – These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site won’t work then. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information. Cookies necessary to maintain the Platform secure and free of abuse are also considered strictly necessary. These cookies enable and support our security features, and help us detect malicious or unauthorized activity. We also use cookies to combat fraud and other activity that violates our policies or otherwise degrades our ability to provide the Platform. Cookies also help us fight spam and phishing attacks by enabling us to identify computers or devices that are used to create large numbers of fake SoundCloud accounts. Such Cookies ensure the intended functionality of our services and are therefore strictly necessary and we use these cookies based on legitimate interest.
Performance Cookies - These cookies allow us to count unique visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our site as all information collected about your behavior on SoundCloud will be anonymous.
Functional Cookies - These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly. For example, when you continue to use or come back to the Platform, we will recognize your user name and remember your settings and content preferences. Deletion, blocking or choosing against these types of cookies will result in limited functionality of the Platform.
Targeted Cookies (Personalization/Advertising) – These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, the advertisements you’ll see will be less personalized.
Communications Cookies - These cookies allow us to show personalized news, tips, and offers for SoundCloud products based on your use of our Platform. If you turn this setting off, the communications you’ll see may be less relevant.
Cookies Relating to the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) - This framework provides granular only choices for our users and guarantees that any publishers and vendors registered under this framework adhere to the standards of the IAB TCF and therefore only use information you are willing to share for their advertisements. The IAB TCF is used for vendors / publishers only and presents a granular set of possible choices. Publishers will adhere to these choices which are guaranteed by the IAB. Please refer to the extensive documentation within the Consent Management Platform for further details.
Additional Cookies for Registered Users - For registered users, we use additional advertising services that are as well based on cookies. You will be prompted with different choices for allowing or rejecting cookies for our advertising partners. Some of these cookies, although named “advertising cookies” may be usable without your consent, as they are necessary for the safety of your data and our services or they are used for providing certain functions and analysis of the SoundCloud service.
We allow certain service providers to place cookies and similar technologies on the Platform for the same purposes listed above, including collecting information about your online activities over time and across different websites and devices in order to provide you with more relevant advertising.
Third party analytics are used to track and measure usage of this site so that we can continue to produce engaging content. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site or pages you visit which helps us to understand how we can improve the site for you. From time to time we test new features and make subtle changes to the way that the site is delivered. When we are still testing new features these cookies may be used to ensure that you receive a consistent experience when using the site whilst ensuring we understand which optimisations our users appreciate the most.
You may also encounter cookies and tracking technologies from our third-party marketing service providers.
Additionally, we may work with advertising networks and programmatic exchanges to allow us to serve you ads. These third-party ad networks and exchange providers may use third-party cookies, pixels, or similar technologies to collect information, including your device identifier, IP address, or identifier for advertising. The information these third parties collect may be used to help us in providing you with more relevant advertising that we serve on or off the Platform, and as described above.
As we sell services it's important for us to understand statistics about how many of the visitors to our site actually make a purchase and as such this is the kind of data that these cookies will track. This is important to you as it means that we can accurately make business predictions that allow us to monitor our advertising and product costs to ensure the best possible price.
We use adverts to offset the costs of running this site and provide funding for further development. The behavioral advertising cookies used by our Platform are designed to ensure that we provide you with the most relevant adverts where possible by anonymously tracking your interests and presenting similar things that may be of interest.
Several partners advertise on our behalf and affiliate tracking cookies simply allow us to see if our customers have come to the site through one of our partner sites so that we can credit them appropriately and where applicable allow our affiliate partners to provide any bonus that they may provide you for making a purchase.
We also use social media buttons and/or plugins on the Platform that allow you to connect with your social network in various ways. The social media networks will set cookies through our site which may be used to enhance your profile on their site or contribute to the data they hold for various purposes outlined in their respective privacy policies.
Third-party cookies are covered by the third parties’ privacy policy.
SoundCloud works with reputable advertising partners to show you content and advertisements for products and services that you may like. Advertising partners are divided by purpose, function and websites. By purpose, some Cookies can be subject to your consent or objection whereas others are based on our legitimate interest. Within the Cookie Management Platform, you can navigate to the respective cookie category to see which particular cookies are first party or third party cookies.
SoundCloud is committed to offering you meaningful privacy choices. You have a number of options to control or limit how we, our partners, and other third parties use cookies. However, note that cookies are important for many aspects of the Platform – if you disable cookies, you may not be able to enjoy all of the features of the Platform. To the extent you opt out of personalized advertising using the mechanisms below, you may still receive advertisements when using the Platform, but they will not be tailored to your interests.
We use a Consent Management Platform (“CMP”) to give you the choice on which Cookies you like to allow and which not. In some countries, subject to the respective laws, it is allowed to set such Cookies by default but you may as well access your profile settings to make a choice of your liking here.
The CMP allows you to consent to the setting of optional cookies by us and our third-party partners. Additionally, third party cookies can be managed according to the purpose for which your data is processed or according to which third-party partners are involved. The CMP also allows us to maintain records of your consent.
Strictly Necessary Cookies and other cookies based on legitimate interest (security and abuse) are not subject to your choice regarding our CMP but are used in our legitimate interest. Such interest has been reviewed against your interest of not using any of your data and leaving such cookies on your devices and it has been appropriately documented why such use of Cookies is deemed necessary for our services. You can however even block these Cookies, for example within the settings of your browser, but this will ultimately disable the use of our service or the most essential parts of it.
As a registered user, you will find the explanation to the relevant cookies in your account under “Privacy” and “Advertising” as well. Here you can view and control your respective choices.
If you have a SoundCloud account, you can adjust the following settings to reflect your choices:
To control whether we collect certain kinds of analytics and usage information through cookies and similar technologies, you can adjust your settings in the “Privacy” tab. Here you will be presented with the CMP that is explained above.
If you do not want SoundCloud to deliver “interest based” or personalized ads for third party products, you can adjust your settings in the “Advertising” tab.
Users without a SoundCloud account can control whether we collect certain kinds of analytics and usage information through cookies and similar technologies in the Cookie Manager tab.
Users with a SoundCloud account may adjust their settings in the Cookie Manager to be found in the “Privacy” tab, or by clicking here (https://soundcloud.com/settings/privacy).
To control cookies, you can modify your settings in most web browsers to accept or deny cookies or to request your permission each time a site attempts to set a cookie. You can also manually delete previously stored cookies at any time. Please note that if you choose to block cookies, doing so may impair the Platform or prevent certain elements of it from functioning. Additionally you may be prompted a question by your browser referring to cross-site tracking. This means that you have to agree to sites and services before connecting your usage of one service or the choices you made there with your usage of another site. You may opt-out of this when prompted this question or make a choice within your browser settings.
On your mobile device, disable the “Allow Apps to Request to Track” setting in your iOS phone’s settings, or enable the setting to “Opt Out of Ads Personalization” in your Android phone’s settings. To opt-out of location tracking when using our Apps, you can use the settings of your device. You can disable mobile analytics and bug reporting through these same settings as well. Additionally you may be prompted a question by your browser or our app referring to cross-app tracking. This means that you have to agree to sites and services before connecting your usage of one service or the choices you made there with your usage of another site, app or service. You may opt-out of this when prompted this question or make a choice within your device or app settings.
On your mobile device, your operating system may provide you with options to opt out of interest based advertising or to otherwise reset your mobile identifier. This is a unique identifier that can be used to identify a mobile device which works in a similar way to a cookie. For example, you may use the "Limit Ad Tracking" setting (on iOS devices) or a setting to "Opt out of Interest-Based Ads" (on Android) which allows you to limit the use of information about your use of apps for purposes of serving ads targeted to your interests.
We may occasionally make changes to this Policy. If they are material changes, we will provide you with prominent notice.
If you have any questions about our use of cookies, please contact us through the Help Center (https://help.soundcloud.com/hc/en-us/sections/115001107587-Privacy) or at dataprotection@soundcloud.com.
Last amended: February 2022
You will find a link to prior versions of our Cookies Policy and a summary of the change(s) below.