- in Production by Bobby Owsinski
2 Tips For Editing Songs With Playlists In Mind
I’ve posted many times about how streaming has changed song structure, and how many songs are now written primarily for streaming distribution. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t stand by your creative impulses and take a song wherever it needs to go – it just means that you might have to do a bit of editing later while keeping the nature of playlists in mind.
I realize that the idea of editing a 5 minute song down to 3 minutes or less is abhorrent to many artists, but remember that this has been done for decades already with edits made specifically to fit into radio formats. Yes, we hated these if we were already familiar with the full song, but they got the job done by exposing the song to a larger audience, which is what you’re trying to do here.
Plus a playlist edit provides something that every artist needs, and that’s more material to release. Your fans love it when you offer them different versions, and every release is a new event to promote. The longer original version of the song clearly fits the bill.
The Edits
So what kind of edits are required to make a song more viable for a popular playlist?
1. Start the song with the main hook or chorus. The idea is to keep the listener from skipping to the next song and for them to hang in there with you for about 30 seconds so you get credit for a listen. If the song has a long intro, edit it down to 10 seconds or less, or eliminate altogether.
2. Cut out the fat. You may have played a great guitar solo but it may be adding an unneeded (at least in this case) 30 seconds to the song that might prevent someone listening to the end. Cut it out, as well as any long outros or fades.
Did you hack up your song? Yes, you’ve probably made it significantly shorter. Are you happy with it? You might be surprised and find that the shorter version is more to the point and flows better.
That said, remember that the idea here is to expose more people to you and the song, and by making it playlist-ready you’re doing just that. And don’t worry – people will still hear the full version of the song if they really want to when you release that too.
You can read more from The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook and my other books on the excerpt section of bobbyowsinski.com.
