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The Biggest Mistake Bands Make With Lyrics

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Ari Herstand
Ari Herstand
Ari Herstand is a Los Angeles based musician, the founder and CEO of Ari’s Take and the author of How to Make It in the New Music Business.
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I’ve recently been obsessed with one of the local openers’ albums for my upcoming tour. I hear a lot of new music. Most of it is average. Some of it below average. And very seldom do I hear a record that stops me in my tracks like this one has. I’ve been playing it on repeat on Spotify. The lyrics are intriguing. Quirky. Creative. Unique.

The production is so strong that I ignored the lyrics for the first few listens. That’s just how I consume music. Music first, always. And then if it captures me, I’ll pay attention to the lyrics. If the lyrics are equally strong, I’m sold.

So I made it to the lyric stage with this album, however many of the lyrics I can’t understand. No fault of anyone’s. It was the mixing engineer’s decision to keep the vocals lower in the mix. And it works very well for this album. But now I want to read along. Spotify doesn’t show lyrics. I went to the website, surely there would be lyrics to the new album there? Nope! Googled for them. Nope. Found the album on SoundCloud. No luck there either. I finally found them over on BandCamp.

Don’t make people hunt your lyrics down. Sure, maybe they’re in your CD liner notes. And all 7 people that actually saved those liner notes and are actively listening to your CD, at home (not in their car) appreciate it. But who pops in a CD anymore and follows along in the liner notes to the lyrics? Yeah, vinyl is making a resurgence and you absolutely should include lyrics in your vinyl package, but the majority of your fans are going to be listening to you on Spotify. Until Spotify adds lyrics to the platform, you have to help your fans out a bit.

+How Apple Can Beat Spotify (Digital Music News)

One of THE MOST searched topics on Google is lyrics. If your lyrics do not show up on with a quick Google search that’s a problem.

So get them up on your official website! This should be a no brainer. Because then when people Google “your band name lyrics” your website is the first hit – which is always the goal. Also, any song you add to SoundCloud you should have them included (along with all track credits). Same goes for BandCamp. ESPECIALLY BandCamp. Any fan who downloads your song on BandCamp and plays your song on their iPhone, the lyrics will actually show up while they’re listening! Rad.

Make life easy for your fans. Get your lyrics up on the web!

About The Author

Ari Herstand
Ari Herstand
Ari Herstand is a Los Angeles based musician, the founder and CEO of Ari’s Take and the author of How to Make It in the New Music Business.

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