The war on the free distribution of information, and entertainment, continues as SoundCloud’s new blocking features continue to frustrate music fans. Not only is the free music platform no longer is so free, but it is now locking out free music to people from outside of the United States.
Getting around to SoundCloud’s new Geo blocking feature can unlock tracks which are in preview, or out right blocked entirely. Let’s learn about them now.
How SoundCloud’s geoblocking works
SoundCloud’s new Geo blocking feature works by reading your IP address. Once it reads your IP address you can find out where you are. With your location determined pretty much down to the block they can impose their geo-block on you.
For those living outside of United States you will find yourself getting blocked, or only shown previews, from songs you used to be able to listen to. Many people have built playlist around these songs which they can no longer listen to in their entirety.
If you haven’t already seen it here is a song that is geo-blocked, for someone in Canada, and a song that is preview only:
SoundCloud read the IP address of this person, and blocked them from listening to that music just because of the country they live in. It doesn’t have to be this way, you can defeat SoundCloud’s new geoblocking feature.
Using a VPN to get around Geoblocking on SoundCloud
In order to get around this geoblock you must change your IP address. The VPN does this by connecting to a server with in the country that is not blocked. This frees you up from being blocked by sound cloud, opening up those free songs once again.
The person above in Canada who is blocked from seeing those songs? That was me. Take a look at what happens when I connect to a VPN server in the USA:
I am no longer blocked by SoundCloud’s feature. It opened up both the track that was closed to those in Canada, and it expanded the preview track to a full track. Absolutely anyone can do this.
How to choose the right VPN to get around geoblocking
Be sure to choose a VPN with lots of options for choosing different server countries. Use our list of the top 5 geo-unblocking VPN’s to make your decision. The top choices on that list include:
You can choose either of these three, the other two in the list link to above, or another one we review of your choosing.
Do not forget the other benefits of VPNs:
- Encrypting your Internet traffic, hiding it from your ISP
- Protecting you when you download movies or P2P
- Opening up other geo-blocked content
- Encrypting your Internet traffic on public Wi-Fi networks
You can pay a little bit for a VPN and get a lot back in return. You get all of SoundCloud’s content back, encryption, other geoblocked content, and the online security you deserve. Do not miss this opportunity to protect yourself online, why you get to access content that was once free.