We are constantly encouraging artists to publish lyrics to the main lyric databases. So, we felt it would help if we also share a few of the tools that we have.  Here are the links to the tools that we have created and are actively using while processing lyrics for use in various lyric databases. The workflow  You can use these tools in any order you please, BUT we personally get the most out of these tools when we work in the following order... Musixmatch   Genius LyricFind Format checker for Musixmatch URL:  https://nzwaneveld.github.io/lyricformatter/mxmformatter.html How to use:  Transcribe or use the lyric transcript provided by the artist.  Note: This tool only triggers when you drag & drop content into the white area of this tool.  If the lyric transcript is in another browser window, you can drag and drop text from that browser window into this tool.  If the lyric transcript is not yet in another browser window, then copy & paste the lyric into the Genius tool. Select

So you've written, produced, and mixed a masterpiece, and it's time to share it with the rest of the world. If you are an independent artist, the next step is to figure out how to distribute your music. This article provides a summary of the options we believe are the most popular for getting your music distributed to Spotify and other major streaming platforms. What Options Do You Have? There are plenty of music distributors who can help you get your music on Spotify and other streaming platforms. Some take a percentage of your royalties in exchange for allowing you to list your music for free, while others charge a fee upfront in exchange for allowing you to keep 100% of your royalties. Some distributors offer additional services such as mixing and mastering, as well as tracking and marketing tools for your music. It all depends on your needs as an artist and your budget. Every music distribution platform has its own advantages and disadvantages. The overviews will help you t

Have you ever wondered how the lyrics appear in the songs on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Shazam, etc.? Become part of the largest catalog  of music data on the planet, by joining a family of music lovers The largest catalog of lyrics ever has Christian lyrics contributed by Christians from around the world. Isn't that awesome?  Musixmatch is the portal for getting lyrics published on several streaming services. You don't need us to join Musixmatch... but we have a dedicated workspace with like-minded contributors / curators that understand the jargon, spelling rules, etc. associated with Christian music.  Here is what we have to offer:  Access to a (new) community of music lovers that share the passion to transcribe & share Christian lyrics Community members guide / mentor each other in a manner that one may expect in any Christian community (always based on constructive feedback) If you'd like more permissions / functionalities / paid activities, we will coac

It is difficult for emerging artists to find a marketing approach that suits their ambitions, needs, and means from the many marketing options available to them. In the past, radio play could only be secured by big-name musicians on major labels who had large networks of influence. Despite all of the social media and online streaming platforms that we have today, having your songs played on the radio continues to be an essential component of any music career. The big question is, how do you get radio play? What makes radio exposure so important? The rise of social networks and new distribution channels (Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and other streaming platforms) has brought both opportunities and challenges to music promotion. Everyone can leverage these platforms because they are free. Nowadays, it is possible to distribute your music on most streaming platforms at a relatively low price. On the other hand, reaching potential listeners is more complicated because it's hard to com

Having fake followers on Spotify playlists reduces your chances of being placed on the algorithm-driven playlists, provides you with low royalties, and reduces your chances of receiving streams. In today's modern music industry, one of the indicators of success for an artist is how many streams they have. (This is also the primary reason why we ignore sales data when compiling our Top 100 charts.) You, as an artist, have better bargaining power and more monetary compensation the more streams and followers you have. You may gain more exposure through large Spotify playlists, but here's the catch... It is possible to find a lot of large independent playlists comprised entirely of fake accounts! Just the fact that they use fake accounts should be enough to steer clear of them. In making these playlists, curators exploit artists who seek exposure from Spotify playlists to leverage their popularity in the music industry. As a result of these exploits, not only are the artists' n

Spotify's competitive edge is the amount of data it holds on listeners and the way it uses that data to increase engagement. ... Using the same underlying data and technology can provide unique insights to record labels and artists about who's listening to what and help them reach more listeners. The Spotify algorithm sets itself apart from other digital music streaming services. The algorithm is an AI system known as BaRT (an abbreviation of Ba ndits for R ecommendations as T reatments). Basically, BaRT’s job is to keep listeners listening. It does this by playing and suggesting songs it knows the user is familiar with, while dropping in some fresh tracks it thinks they might like, but most importantly, haven’t heard before. This makes sure the listener is engaged, but things never get boring. BaRT decides what to suggest to listeners by combining two concepts – Explore and Exploit. This combination is the key to the platform’s recommendation system. Exploit uses the listene

Is Your Songwriting Inspiration-Dependent? by Kapa Freeman Talent may be keeping you from your songwriting goals, but not in the way you think. There's an idea in the songwriting community that's really harmful. It's the idea that you have to have "talent" to write songs that people love. I know, because I used to think that too. It was crippling. When you run into negative feedback on your songs, you feel like you should quit because you "Just don't have the gift.". We get this idea because hit songwriters make it look so easy, but watch any documentary on a hit songwriter's life and you'll see how many bad songs came before their good ones... and how many drafts went into the classic ones. Talent can actually be a songwriter's handicap if it's not combined with skill. The talent-only songwriter essentially relies on inspiration to give them songs that people connect with, but inspiration can be a crutch... a pretty unreliable crutch