I’ve been meaning to produce this for a while, but here it finally is. I’m often asked by music-makers why a track they submitted was not included in my Sound of Freedom conscious music podcast. I’ve always had strict quality control measures in place, and I thought it was time I produced a guide detailing what’s required for a song to make the grade.
Any tracks for consideration need to be sent as mp3 or wav audio file attachments by e-mail to markdevlin2022@protonmail.com
I burn all potential TSOF tracks to CD, (yes, I’m old-school like that) and listen and absorb when out driving.
Many people send me links to YouTube videos, or tracks on Spotify, Soundcloud, etc. These are not instantly downloadable, meaning they can’t be easily burned to CD in line with my preferred method of working. If you have your track in any of the above formats, please convert it to mp3 or wav and e-mail me the result, rather than the links.
All audio files should be fully labelled, with the name of both the artist and the song. I can’t count the amount of tracks I get sent with just the title as the filename. I don’t always have time to listen to tracks as soon as they arrive so I store them in a folder. When I come back to go through them and find a bunch of tracks with only the title showing, I have no way of knowing who the artist is, meaning I either have to spend extra time trawling back through my e-mails to retrieve it, or if I like the track enough, put it out without being able to promote the artist name.
Please make sure tracks are of an adequate audio level. Some arrive mastered to very low volume, so I have to spend extra time giving them a boost to bring them in line with the volume of the other tracks.
Please do not send instrumental tracks, no matter how proud you may be of their creation. TSOF is a lyric-based showcase for songs which convey meaningful messages. I don’t use instrumentals.
I’ll consider play for tracks from any musical genre and style, but lyrical content should always address meaningful subjects - aspects of truth/ freedom/ sovereignty/ personal struggles/ breaking through mind-control and bullshit/ opposing tyranny and dystopia/ conspiracy/ spiritual and metaphysical perspectives, and anything else which wouldn’t stand a chance of getting played on mainstream radio. It is definitely not a showcase for romantic love songs, so please don’t send any of these.
Lyrical messages should be hard-hitting, direct and non-ambiguous. A surprising amount of tracks I get sent are cloaked in allegory, metaphor and tricky wordplay, to the point that the message becomes unclear. If the song won’t leave the listener with a clear appreciation of the message after only one listen, it’s not likely to be included.
A large number of the tracks I receive DO contain strong messages, but are over-mastered to the point that the vocals lie extremely low in the mix, often drowned out by loud instrumentation to the point that it becomes a real strain to make out what is being sung. If the lyrical message can’t be heard clearly, the track may well be rejected as a result.
Though the lyrics are the most important factor, songs do need to contain a strong and memorable melody and/ or hook in order to make an impact. I strive to make every TSOF instalment special, and quality-control measures need to be in place to achieve this. Just one wishy-washy track can affect the entire listening experience.
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If all of the above are adhered to, there’s a very good chance of any tracks submitted in this way of being included in a future instalment.
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