Why you should download SoundCloud right now

The way people are finding and listening to music has changed dramatically even in recent years. At first it was records, then 8 track tapes, then cassettes, then CDs and now music can be streamed online. iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, Apple Music -- the list goes on. There are so many different applications to play music from, but there is one music platform that is better than the rest: SoundCloud.

It actually plays the song you search for.

Who else loves when they want to play a song and the music platform you use does not ever actually play that song? Me neither. I am assuming whoever came up with that feature on Pandora really wanted to make some people mad. With SoundCloud, when you search for a song, you get the actual song you searched for and more! Remixes, covers, instrumentals and mash-ups fill the feed, giving you plenty of options to choose from.

It is the first place many artists release their mix tapes.

DatPiff has long been a popular site to find up-and-coming artists, but now you can find the same artists and maybe even more on SoundCloud, with much more ease. If you go onto an artist's or record label's page, you can quickly find new songs, new playlists and new albums all in one convenient place.

You have a stream consisting of songs you have shared and also of songs your followers have shared.

This gives you so much more music exposure. You not only have a chance to listen to your music, you can also listen to music your friends or record labels are listening to -- making you the person who finds new music first. If you ask a music lover, there truly is nothing better than that.

It is free.

Besides all the wonderful features it has, it is 100 percent free. Need I say more?

You can do other things on your phone while music is playing.

While everyone loves YouTube, no one loves that the music stops when you exit the application. SoundCloud fixes that problem by letting you do what you please on the app or on your phone while continuing to play your music. You can even be listening to music on the app while you are using Snapchat. How cool is that?

The advertisements are far and few between.

If I am listening to my music and I am constantly changing songs, I might get a total of three advertisements that last five seconds each during an entire hour. I would like to see Pandora do that.

You have an unlimited amount of skips.

Again, need I say more? SoundCloud acts like iTunes except you do not have to download anything. It is simply on the app.

SoundCloud has been my music platform of choice for more than two years now and I am never turning back. The features are simple and practical, and anyone can learn to use it. So while you are riding in the car on the way to Grandma's house this holiday season, download SoundCloud, explore and enjoy!

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FOR THE ODYSSEY