[TheOtherHobbes]

Self-hosting has zero value without discovery.

Discovery happens through unique marketing (v. v. hard) or when fans and artists collect into scenes.

So for most artists, putting up a custom server to distribute their creative work is a waste of time unless they're involved in a network of people who cross-promote their output, online and by word of mouth.

This usually works best informally when it's motivated by genuine enthusiasm and not pushy marketing narcissism and aggression.

SoundCloud failed to understand this, and apparently became a scene of sorts, in a limited way, for some genres only, by accident.

It could have assured its future by doing a lot more to build and support scenes arounds artists and genres.

Instead it became a nerd's idea of the ideal music hosting platform - too much file-led design, not enough social intelligence.