Author: Josie Faith

From Audio File to Spotify

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A question I got a while back was how someone would take a piece they’ve been working on and actually go through the process of putting it up on Spotify/iTunes/etc. I’d like to take this post to share how I’ve personally gone about doing this!

The song I am releasing is not up on streaming platforms yet–it’s currently under review to make sure it abides by all copyright laws, etc.–but the process for getting to this point was actually a lot easier than you might think it would be! So here we go: my step-by-step guide to putting something on Spotify:

  1. The first thing you’re going to need to do is figure out what third-party website you want to use in order to manage your release. There are a lot of good options including songtradr, TuneCore, etc. but these all require you to pay a subscription fee. I personally recommend using a website called Routenote (https://www.routenote.com/) Routenote has the option to use a free version or a paid version of their service. The free version allows you to keep 85% of your royalties, while the paid version allows you to keep 100%. If you don’t really care about the monetization of your work, then the free version of Routenote is a great plan for you.
  2. Creating a Routenote account was the second step for me. It lets you log in through Soundcloud, Twitter, Facebook, Google, or by manually signing up, so there are tons of options! I’ve found for some reason if you use an incognito window there are fewer glitches while signing up/logging in.
  3. Once you’ve created your Routenote account, you’ll be able to create a new release. You’ll give your release a name–this is the name of the album. My song is just a single, so the album was the title of the song, but if you’re releasing a multi-track EP or full-length album, you’ll have to come up with a title!
  4. After you’ve submitted your title, Routenote will send you to a page where you’ll have to edit four different things: Album Details, Add Audio, Add Artwork, and Manage Stores.
    1. In Album Details you’ll provide artist details, titles, any copyright info, etc.
    2. Add Audio is where you submit the actual audio files for your release. These have to be uploaded in a very specific format. The website only accepts MP3 or FLAC files–though this is easy to convert in Apple Music if you’re using a Mac like me!
      1. In Apple Music, go to “Music in the upper lefthand side of your screen.” Click preferences, and then “files.” You should see ‘import settings.
      2. Once you’re in import settings, under the settings menu, click “custom.”
      3. Set your stereo bit rate to 320 kbps and your sample rate to 44.100 kHz.
      4. Click okay.
      5. Now go back to your music library, click on the song you want to convert, go to “File,” “convert,” and “create mp3 version”
      6. Music will create an MP3 version of your song, which you can then drag and drop to your desktop, and upload directly to Routenote.
    3. Add Artwork is where you can upload the artwork you want to show up as your album cover. This must be at least 3,000 by 3,000 pixels, so make sure your image is big enough!
    4. Manage Stores is where you choose what platforms you want your release to be available on. I am personally only releasing to Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music, and TikTok, but there are dozens of other options available!
  5. Once all of this information is filled in and correct, you are able to confirm your release. The website will put it under review, and once this is complete, it will be sent to streaming platforms within 14 days!

 

That’s really it! Not too hard at all. I hope this helped, and if anyone ends up releasing some of your own work, I’d love to give it a listen!

When You Don’t Know What to Write

Josie Faith 1 Comment

Often times I find myself in the mood to write a song, but unable to think of a single lyric. Honestly it’s one of the most frustrating feelings because the songwriting bug only bites me every once in a while, and when I’m in the right mood to hash out a new song, I want to jump on the writing train and ride it all the way to the last line. But this can be super difficult to do if you don’t have any specific inspiration.

Because of this, I’ve come up with a list of ideas and topics over the years which really help me focus and usually can provide enough momentum to get the ball rolling. I figured I might as well share a few of them here!

  1. Treat the song you’re trying to write like a diary. Fill it with the things that seem to personal to share with the entirety of the world. Usually the more personal something is, the stronger you will feel about it, and the greater investment you’ll be able to put into the song. You don’t have to use specific names or places from your personal life, but real experiences are a lot easier to write about than fake ones.
  2. On that note: DON’T try to write about something you know nothing about. If you’ve never experienced a heartbreak, it’s going to be very hard to write a breakup song, etc.
  3. DO write about things that you are passionate about. This can be anything from your career, to a specific hobby, to a charity you have an emotional investment in. I remember when I was younger my mom sent me an article about this tradition overseas where people would go hunt dolphins for sport for a week or something like that (I was one of those weird pre teen girls obsessed with dolphins for a while) and I ended up writing a song inspired by how sick and sad that story made me.
  4. DO build up from the bottom. Let’s say you think of one really awesome line for a song–maybe it’s the hook; maybe it’s the end of the chorus. Perhaps you just think of the title. Sometimes one good line is all you need to start with. Think of the song like a puzzle: you have one key piece, and now you have to fill in the picture around it.
  5. Building from the bottom can also start with an image instead of a line. I wrote a song in high school that I ended up calling “Mason Jars,” which was born from a picture I saw on Pinterest of a group of girls sitting in a field with a bunch of mason jars and those little fairy lights that were trendy for a while. I ended up combining that image with a personal experience I had at Relay for Life that also used mason jars, and the song became an anthem about remembering things of the past but looking forward with hope.

Basically, there is no RIGHT way to write a song. There are so many different approaches you can utilize. If you get stuck, don’t sweat it. Everyone experiences writer’s block at some point or another. Just take a step back, and don’t try to force it. Try thinking about the song in a different way. Maybe just focus on one image or one line. Establish a personal connection. Whatever works for you!

What’s it like recording during COVID?

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Hey, all!

I’ve had a really cool opportunity these past two weeks–as well as the next two weeks to come–to spend some productive time with my a cappella group, DJs A Cappella, and the company Liquid 5th in order to record our 1st-place-winning ICCA set from last winter (Think Pitch Perfect).

Over the last two weeks, I’ve gotten to take an inside look at how different recording studios are handling the pandemic and the inability to have people face-to-face while recording music. I figured this might be something interesting to some of you, so here we go!

Liquid 5th is the company my a cappella group has worked with for years. Our contact with the company is located in North Carolina, and specializes in working with collegiate a cappella groups. My freshman year we took a road trip down during our spring break in order to finish recording an EP the group had started the previous year, and I can honestly say it’s one of my top 5 college memories.

You can check out that EP here! https://open.spotify.com/album/1vkjsGmjdfUSPqhMegWz1k

During that recording process, we had 5 or 6 members in the studio at once, each in our own sound-proof boxes, and recorded together. Liquid 5th worked closely with our music director and the person who arranged the specific songs we were recording in order to make sure the final product was as close to what we had imagined as possible.

 

This time around, things are a little different. We’re still working very closely with professionals in order to make sure the outcome of our sessions is high quality, but instead of recording in North Carolina, I have 18 people recording one at a time in my tiny studio apartment off of Liberty Street.

Our contact with Liquid 5th and I had a zoom meeting a week or so ago to install a bunch of super crazy software on my Mac, which not only allows him to control my computer from where he is in North Carolina, but to directly transmit all audio recorded by the equipment here in Ann Arbor to his home studio hundreds of miles away.

Each member of the group has a 2-hour time slot where they are charged with recording their specific voice part for all of the 12 minute set. Instead of singing along simultaneously with other members as we did last time, we sing with a pre-recorded MIDI track of the voice parts on a piano, as well as the vocal tracks of any members who’ve already recorded before us. It’s a little different, but it works.

The equipment we’re using was rented from another contact of the group’s, and we cart it back and forth from the studio to my apartment before and after every day of recording.

In general, it’s meant a lot more of the responsibility for things to go well lands on our individual members of the group. We’ve had to be very on top of scheduling, locations, driving, and drop-off/pick-up times.

Overall, however, we are super psyched to be able to put out new music even though we cannot travel or record like all the past members of this group have in their own respective times as members of the DJs!

If you’d care to give our award-winning set a listen, it can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D6ok1iWRDU

Adventure (song lyrics in progress)

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You make me wanna take a train to you
when the weather man says it’s too cold to fly
and I
know it’s not right

you make me wanna take a risk or two
and figure out a better way to live my life
oh you
make me want to

you spin me round on my kitchen floor
playing country songs I’ve never heard before

it’s those crazy ideas that you have in your head
you grab my waist throw me onto my bed
all the checked-off boxes on my bucket list
those once-in-a life-times you don’t wanna miss
it’s the blood rush to my brain when I see
you looking over your shoulder smirking back at me
I can’t remember what life was before
with you by my side it’s always an adventure

You’re covered in flags and I know that they’re red
but my heart is so convinced that they are green
you see
you’re no good for me

you make me wanna change the way I’ve lived
every day of my life until the day I met you
I know it’s wrong
but I’ll still go along

you wash my hair when I’m just too tired
and though I know that I am playing with fire

I love those crazy ideas that you have in your head
when you grab my waist and throw me onto my bed
all the checked-off boxes on my bucket list
those once-in-a-life-times you don’t wanna miss
It’s the blood rush to my brain when I see
you looking over your shoulder smirking back at me
I can’t remember what life was before
with you by my side it’s always an adventure

They say time flies when you’re having fun
it seems our time is over before it has begun
they say don’t risk it all or you are bound to lose
but all I think about it how I’m missing you

and those crazy ideas that you have in your head
when you grab my waist and throw me onto my bed
you’re checking boxes off my bucket list
so many once-in-a-life-times that we haven’t missed
I miss the blood rush to my brain when I see
you looking over your shoulder smirking back at me
I can’t remember what my life was like before
it was a shadow of the life entwined with yours
with you by my side it’s always an adventure

 

 

 

A New Project

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I thought I would share the lyrics to the song I wrote about a month ago which I am trying to polish enough to put on Spotify. I’m currently looking for someone to collab with who will sing the guy’s part I wrote over the bridge, so the progress has been stalled for the present moment, but here it is!

The title is under construction, but I’m currently calling it “i used 2 sleep with my phone”

 

(I thought I saw you last night)

I’m setting a reminder in my phone for early May (across the bar, yeah you caught my eye)
saying if I’m still talking to you it’s time to go our separate ways (I went home with another guy)
yeah it’s harsh, kinda cold (you were never mine)
but I best do what I’m told (you were never mine)
cause now you’ve got her to hold, hold you (you were never mine)

thinking back on everything that’s happened; I’m feeling kinda down
all those late nights that I stayed up hoping you would come around
I would sleep with my phone
ringer on, all alone
wondering if you took her home again

you’re not mine to lose
but if I could choose
the place that you’d have is by my side
I know that it’s wrong
to feel so in love
with someone who’ll never change his mind
but I can’t excuse my feelings for you tonight

we had a good long while of talking every day
and I’d hang up with a smile; you made colors out of gray
but pack it up, signing off
won’t wait around for your love
now you’ve got her and that’s enough for you

you’re not mine to lose
but if I could choose
the place that you’d have is by my side
I know that it’s wrong
to feel so in love
with someone who’ll never change his mind
but I can’t excuse my feelings for you tonight

wake up faster (I thought I saw you last night)
make it better (across the bar with some other guy)
move in closer (true you were never mine, but when he held you tight)
remember (I said “I’m fine;” I lied)
all those evenings (tell me girl, did I hurt you?)
I spent feeling (I know I did, but what did I do?)
things I thought you (and when you took him home, I called a girl I know)
were also feeling (couldn’t be alone, would’ve lost control)

but it’s okay (now I’m with her instead)
I know you better now (but you’re still in my head)
I won’t wait (I bite my tongue and try to say, anything except you’re name)
not gonna wait around (would you ever wait for me?)

you’re not mine to lose (all those evenings) (I thought I saw you last night)
but if I could choose (I spent feeling) (Cross the bar with some other guy)
the place that you’d have is by my side (things I thought you were also feeling) (true you were never mine, but when he held you tight, I said “I’m fine;” I lied, can’t you see I’m crying?)
I know that it’s wrong (but it’s okay) (tell me girl did I hurt you?)
to feel so in love (I know you better now) (I know I did but what did I do?)
with someone who’ll never change his mind (I won’t wait) (when you took him home, I called a girl I know, couldn’t be alone, would’ve lost control)
but I can’t excuse my feelings for you (I’m so confused; I know I used you)
no I can’t excuse these feelings for you (I never knew that I would lose you)
no I can’t excuse my feelings for you tonight (how can I prove I’ll always choose you?)

(can we go back to last night?)

TikTok Songwriting Trends

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Yes, I know. TikTok is in my blog post title. How very Gen Z of me. However, I think there is something to be said about a trend I’ve been following on the app for the last few months. It’s been super cool to watch, and has taken off quickly in the TikTok community.

The first time I saw a TikTok of someone playing original music, I didn’t think all that much of it. Sure, it was cool, but people post original music on SoundCloud, Youtube, Instagram, etc. I didn’t see how TikTok could do anything more for creators than these other platforms. I think it’s safe to say now that I was wrong.

Since I joined the app in September, I have witnessed songwriters years younger than I am blow up for posting just 15-60 seconds of a song.

I remember scrolling through my For You Page and coming across a video of a blonde girl singing an original song into a microphone. It was a simple video. The lyrics started “I’m mad at Disney, Disney / They tricked me, tricked me / Had me wishing on a shooting star”

Chances are, if you have ever spent time on TikTok, you are familiar with those words. The song blew up big time, and now serves as the audio for over three MILLION videos.

“How can you miss someone you’ve never met / Cuz I need you now but I don’t know you yet” (IDK You Yet Alexander 23)

“Low key f*** 2020” (F2020 Avenue Beat)

“Don’t stay away for too long / don’t go to bed / I make a cup of coffee for your head” (Death Bed Powfu)

“Now I could write 10 songs about 9 ways you ****ed me over” (Never the 1 ROSIE)

“I would rather be distant with you / than feel distant with someone who / is standing in front of me” (Long Distance JORDY)

“Cuz I never meant to fall out of love with you” (Out of Love With You Avery Lynch)

I’m betting you’ve heard at least one of these lyrics before. Each and every one of these songs was written, posted, and born from the TikTok platform. This just goes to show that the world of music is changing RIGHT NOW. The artist ROSIE, for example, posted “Never the 1” on TikTok after her boyfriend broke up with her less than a year ago, dropped out of school a few weeks later, signed with a major record label, and is now recording music for a living. Social media has such power in all aspects of life–and songwriting is no different!

Other notable examples of TikTok music include Ratatouille the Musical–a full musical written/created by TikTok users, Bridgerton the Musical–a musical in progress being written and scored by @abigailbarlowww and @mlebear, song-a-day challenges like the one being undertaken by Vaultboy, and many more super cool projects. If you’re already a TikToker, I recommend checking all of these people out! If you’re not, I still recommend giving at least some of their content a listen! TikTok can be a time-sucking addictive mess, but there is definitely good to come out of the platform.