How to Share an Unreleased Song with a Private SoundCloud Link

What does a private SoundCloud link protect?

A private track stays off your public SoundCloud profile and cannot be found through SoundCloud search. That makes it useful for an advance listen, a mix review, or a song you want a collaborator to hear before release.

The access boundary is the link itself. SoundCloud's secret-link instructions say anyone with that link can listen. A recipient can pass it on. Choose this method when that level of access fits the recording and the people receiving it.

For the broader press plan, use the music PR guide. This walkthrough covers the listening handoff so you can send the intended recording with confidence.

How do you make the track private and copy the right link?

Start by listening to the file you intend to upload. Confirm the opening, ending, vocal version, and mix or master revision. A working link to yesterday's mix still sends the wrong song.

1. Upload the intended audio and choose Private. For an existing track, open its page, click the pencil edit icon, select Private, and save.
2. Check the saved title and description. Identify a demo or work in progress clearly if that is what the recipient will hear.
3. On the web track page, click Share below the waveform and copy the secret link from that sharing view.
4. If you are using the app, open the three-dot menu beside the track and choose Share to get its secret link.

SoundCloud's privacy instructions also describe an Artist Studio route: open the three-dot menu beside the track, choose Track details, and update its privacy setting. Use the controls available in your current view and confirm the saved result.

The secret URL contains an additional access token. Copy it in full. An address copied from your own browser while you are signed in may not be the link your recipient needs. Avoid rebuilding the URL by hand or removing its final characters.

Should the recipient be able to download the audio?

Make this decision before testing the handoff. SoundCloud lets you enable or disable downloads separately from the track's privacy setting. Its permissions documentation says an enabled download provides the original file format you uploaded.

For an individual track, SoundCloud documents Edit, then Permissions, then Enable Downloads, followed by saving the change. Downloads require the listener to sign into a SoundCloud account. If you need to deliver a file to someone who cannot use that route, agree on another delivery method and test it separately.

Disabling the download button should not be treated as a promise that the audio cannot be copied. Match your sharing choice to the sensitivity of the material.

Test the exact message before sending it

Click the link from the draft message, rather than reopening the tab where you copied it. This catches a missing token, a truncated hyperlink, or a second URL accidentally pasted over the first.

On your phone, check what happens when you tap the link. If it opens an app or a sign-in prompt, find out whether the intended listening path works before telling the recipient it does. For a download test, use a separate listener account because SoundCloud requires sign-in for that action.

If the track is unavailable, return to the owner account and confirm that you saved the intended privacy setting. Copy a fresh link from Share and test again. Do not make an unreleased track public just to get past an access problem.

Follow the recipient's submission instructions about where the link belongs. The music blog and playlist pitching guide covers the pitch itself.

What should you put beside the listening link?

Identify the artist, song, audio revision, release status, and the response you need. A reviewer deciding whether to cover a finished single needs different context from a producer checking a rough mix.

Those details give the collaborator a specific recording and task. The request to keep it within the team is a communication choice, not a technical restriction added to the URL. Keep the version label consistent in your working folder and send record.

For press outreach, replace the mix-feedback request with the relevant release context and contact information. If the audio changes after you send it, tell the recipient which version you now want them to hear instead of assuming they will notice.

Organize the artist bio, release story, links, and contact details for your listening handoff →

How do you revoke an old private link?

On SoundCloud's website, open Share below the track's waveform, choose Reset secret link, and confirm Reset. SoundCloud says the previous secret link will stop opening the track and that the reset cannot be reversed.

Plan who still needs access before you confirm. Save the replacement URL in your working record, test it, and send it to the people who should continue listening. A reset affects the old shared URL wherever you previously used it, including messages you cannot edit.

Check the old URL from a signed-out window as well. Keep a note of when you reset it so a teammate does not resend an obsolete link from an earlier draft. Resetting access also cannot retrieve a copy someone already downloaded or recorded.

Current SoundCloud instructions