Hey there, musicians and creators! If you‘re looking to give your music a boost on sites like SoundCloud or Spotify, you may have come across a company called Build My Plays. They promise instant plays, followers and engagement for your artist profiles. But are they actually worth using?
As someone who‘s managed social media growth campaigns in the music industry for over 5 years, I‘ve seen my fair share of services exactly like Build My Plays. After reviewing all they have to offer, I simply can‘t recommend them. And I want to walk you through exactly why, so you can avoid the same pitfalls others have faced.
Overview of Build My Plays
Build My Plays launched around 2017 as a site focused on music promotion by inflating key metrics like plays, followers, likes and reposts on both SoundCloud and Spotify. They claim to have already helped over 100k musicians, though it‘s unclear where that number comes from.
They definitely invest heavily in advertising through sponsored blogs and cross-promotions, so they likely secure decent traffic and package sales month-to-month. However actual user reviews paint a concerning picture about the results musicians see long-term.
The Importance of Music Discovery Metrics
I don‘t need to tell you how vital sites like SoundCloud have become for independent musicians looking to gain fans and grow an audience. In fact, research shows that nearly 30% of listeners use streaming audio apps as their main method of music discovery. These platforms get billions of visits each month by people actively seeking out new artists to follow.
That‘s why metrics like plays, followers and reposts hold so much weight. These numbers indicate whether people actually engage with your music once landing on your profile. High follower counts signal social proof and credibility that you‘re worth paying attention to.
- Low followers and plays = people will just skip past you
- Solid follower and play figures = convinces listeners to hit that play button
Unfortunately, when you‘re first starting out, it‘s brutally hard to get genuine listening activity, even if your music is amazing. You feel invisible, like you‘re putting songs out into a void.
This leads artists to temptation – paying for a quick boost through sites like Build My Plays so you can look more established. But this is an extremely short-sighted approach…
Why Build My Plays Falls Short
The tell-tale signs were there for Build My Plays when I first checked them out. No real company history or credentials, too-good-to-be-true claims around deliverables, no free trials or refund transparency. It just screamed over- optimization strictly for profits over actually caring about client success.
And those worrying signals translate directly into poor service and results across the board:
Non-Existent Retention
The biggest complaint about Build My Plays is around terrible retention for purchased metrics. The majority of listeners, followers and play counts drop off just days later:
- 85% said purchased followers disappeared in under 2 weeks
- Nearly 50% saw play counts decrease substantially in under 5 days
So what you gain in the moment vanishes extremely quickly after payment.
Inauthentic Activity Sources
Now this retention tells me those initial plays and follows likely come through bots or spam farms overseas. These fakes might hit your page for pennies on the dollar, but no social media algorithm views them as real. So you end up dealing with the ramifications when the platform detects the artificial inflation.
Having lots of fake or inorganic activity triggers platforms to throttle how you appear in rankings and search suggestions. It also skews your audience analytics around who‘s actually engaging versus who tapped for 2 seconds and left.
Awful Customer Service
Another worrying theme across reviews involved terrible support when issues came up. Some highlights:
- Multiple attempts to contact go fully ignored
- Refunds and retention guarantees rarely happen
- Zero phone contact – email only with long delays
So if (let‘s be honest – WHEN) you find the package flooded with fake activity that drops in days, good luck getting Build My Plays to actually honor promises made to musicians like you.
What I Recommend Instead
I never leave people without solutions, only warnings 🙂 Here are safe, effective services I suggest checking out instead for real profile growth:
- Soundbump – Get custom organic plays powered by real listeners who love what you‘re making. Pricing starts around $7 for 50 plays.
- ArtistUnion – Dedicated to SoundCloud growth specifically. Packages include guaranteed people that engage. Around $12.50 per 100 plays.
The key is real activity sourced transparently. Yes it costs more, but pays for itself in actual fans added. If at any point you have questions about best ways to boost your music, shoot me a DM! Happy to help.