How do I get a track to a producer?
Producers will often direct you to where a track has to go - an email to them or the DJ (Disk Jockey, the person who plays music on the night from the decks), on a USB, or a link to the track on Spotify.
There are a couple of ways to create a track to send over email or put onto a USB. The cheapest and fastest way, in our opinion, is to find the track on Youtube and convert it to an mp3. Here are the steps for this:
1. Search Youtube.com for the song you have in mind. It's a pretty huge database, so if it's a commerically released track its very likely to be there. IMPORTANT: Listen to the Youtube video you have chosen all the way through, to make sure you're able to perform the entire number and ensure there are no parts added that aren't in the song (for example, some videos have outro or intro music).
2. When you have the video you intend to use, visit the URL at the top of the page and copy the link.
3. There are a million websites that will convert a Youtube video into an mp3 file, and sometimes they are taken down or expire. For now, here's the one that the Editor in Chief uses!
4. Put the URL in, so the converter can find the video, and hit 'Convert'. When it's done, download the file onto your computer, somewhere easy to find (like your downloads folder or your desktop). There are a few things you can do from here:
- Import the mp3 file into a music editing software (like Audacity) to edit out unwanted choruses or turn it into a mashup with another mp3 file.
- Insert a USB into your computer or phone, and transfer the file. Keep this USB safe, and give it to the DJ on the night.
- Attach the file to an email, and send the file before the show
All these are completely sound ways to get an mp3 file to the producer, and pay attention to which one the producer asks for specifically. They may request a Spotify song, which can be done below:
Spotify is a massive music database that competes with Youtube in showcasing indie releases, but is a much more commercial platform and therefore does not have many popular mashups or song edits that may have gone viral online.