Collaboration and sharing ideas have always been at the heart of making music. In recent years keeping musicians connected while apart has become more of a necessity, but in the modern tech age of digital everything, it has never been easier. Now we have an infinite number of projects of varying complexity for music professionals of all kinds. In this article, we will talk about audio collaboration software that can help you work on the next banger with your team without ever having to meet in the same room at the same time.
What is music collaboration software
Music collaboration software is various apps and applications on computers and smartphones which help professionals from the sphere of music collaborate. At the most basic level of collab, you can simply share your files, and some file sharing and storage services also come bundled with other software you may already use.
Yes, musicians have been sharing files online all the time, but now there are real-time online music collaboration tools that you might find more convenient. For example, you can build a well-organized workflow, communicate, and work on your music projects together, sometimes even simultaneously.
Why use music collaboration software
Musicians who used to work in studios bring in a few performance options for a session and fine-tune their projects based on feedback from the producers and other professionals. But if you’re alone in your own home studio, you might not be able to get the real-time feedback quick enough until the inspiration fades. Instead, you can send a few options, wait a few hours or days, and get feedback on things to change. Then you should go back, make edits and do it all over again, repeating the process until everyone’s happy. And that’s the experience that many performers that know how to collab musically don’t want to have.
Audio file collaboration software helps minimize latency, but it’s still not going to feel as natural as being in a room with your band. If you’re working on a song with one or two other musicians, it’s something you’ll probably be able to handle. But if you add more people, there will be a higher probability that problems with task flow and communication will slow down your work.
Special music collaboration tools will help you get feedback faster and improve its quality to avoid unnecessary work when making edits. You can customize your workflow and make it optimal regardless of the number of people working on the project.
The best music collaboration software
When talking about the best real time music collaboration software, we should always consider the purpose of their use. It can be recording sessions, online jams, or collaborative music production. Some programs are more suitable for each objective than others, although many have a good set of features to be considered universal.
Here are some examples:
- Bandhub is more like a musician’s space. If you are a vocalist or play some instrument, it is a great place to find your virtual bandmates. Create your account, upload your work directly to the platform, choose your genre, and get suggestions according to your taste. You can gather up to 30 musicians to work on the same project. And yeah, it’s still free music collaboration software.
- Soundtrap by Spotify is a robust modern online DAW that helps you easily create music at home. A simple interface will help you start right away and record your own music or podcast. The basic version allows users to work on up to five projects, 210 instruments and sounds, and 900 loops — all for free. Also, it is easy to invite friends from across your social media channels who know how to collaborate musically online on your sessions.
- Pibox is a great example of a long-distance music collaboration instrument. It is reflected in the features like live chat, screen-sharing, checklist, version history, file managing, and time-stamped commenting right on a track. You can create templates of to-do lists, change file statuses, automate file forwarding, archive or download projects, and use different APIs to improve your workflow. Truly an all-in-one tool for your best music collaboration software experience.
How Pibox can help
We want to talk a bit more about Pibox, as it’s a truly versatile and powerful collaboration tool, and also because it’s our blog.
Pibox is free music collaboration software, and it is such a great help during the remote song collaboration process as it lets musicians work together on one platform instead of going through multiple apps. Designed to keep the complex workflows of musician teams productive, the task manager feature is a comprehensive checklist that keeps musicians on the same page even during the most complicated projects. Universal, Epidemic Sound, and the Michigan Technical University have already checked out all the conveniences of this online music collaboration software and use it to the fullest.
Share music files with each other
Pibox’s platform allows musicians to share information and ideas freely and seamlessly. You and your teammates can send messages, screenshots, and sessions to keep track of your progress and discuss projects through the chat feature.
Rather than relying on clunky Dropbox or iCloud file sharing, Pibox audio file collaboration software lets you store, manage, and share files without leaving the platform. Any formats, unlimited shares.
Create new music together
A team of musicians, engineers, producers, and other professionals working together and taking into account each other’s experience can create a much better product than just a good track. That is why Pibox considers all possible aspects of the communication process when working with audio, which includes not only chat and file sharing. Work process flexibility and customization directly affect the quality of any project created in a particular online music collaboration software.
Pibox allows you to add members of your team and clients who can immediately evaluate the quality of work and guest users who do not need to register and who can quickly make the necessary changes or discuss project details in a general chat. You can add a guest by sharing a link, and their number is unlimited. I know, right?
How to collaborate on Pibox
Pibox helps multiple musicians to manage their production workflows over a simple, easy-to-use platform. Create a project, upload your audio, add your team members and start your music collaboration!
If you know how to collaborate with musicians online, you understand how hard it can be to get clear feedback on a particular part of the song. With Pibox you can highlight specific sections of audio tracks and leave comments directly at specific points in a song. This feature adds visual and instructional elements to music that keep you and your team in the loop. Discuss every detail in private or team chats, share and store files, manage each production step to get the best result possible.
