The web browser is a jack of all trades, master of none. It is designed for documents and e-commerce, not for high-fidelity, low-latency music streaming you listen to for 8 hours a day. The browser will make you angry. The browser will crash your mix. The browser will forget your queue.

The desktop app, whether the official Windows client or the open-source SoundCleod, respects your hardware, your workflow, and your ears.

You know the drill: You have 50 tabs open (including that work spreadsheet and a recipe for banana bread), Chrome is eating 8GB of RAM, and suddenly your favorite DJ mix starts stuttering. You look for the "Desktop App" on SoundCloud’s official site, and you are met with a link to the mobile app or a shrug.