IGNITE GUIDE
Guides for musicians who finish songs together
Finishing a song with musicians you met online takes more than musical skill. It takes a way of working together. How to make first contact, what format to trade files in, and when to talk about credits and splits are questions most people only run into after the work has started.
These guides are written for musicians who team up on IGNITE, covering what you actually need before and during a collaboration. Even if you're not planning to enter a competition, they're useful for anyone making music remotely with other artists.
All guides
- 01
Starting Your First Online Music Collaboration
A practical guide to your first online music collaboration: choosing a partner, writing the first message, and agreeing on goals, timeline and roles.
- 02
Recording Vocals at Home: What to Fix Before You Buy Gear
Practical guidance on home vocal recording — room placement, gain staging, monitoring, take management, and how to prepare files for a remote collaborator.
- 03
Roles in a Music Team: What Each Person Brings
What producers, vocalists and rappers, songwriters, lyricists, session musicians and sound engineers each bring to a team, and what to watch for.
- 04
A Remote Collaboration Workflow for Musicians
Running a remote music project: matching BPM, key and sample rate, exporting stems, naming and versioning files, reference tracks and useful feedback.
- 05
Credits and Splits: What to Agree On Before You Create Together
General guidance on credits and rights in co-written music: credit format, recording who wrote what, putting splits in writing and avoiding disputes.
- 06
IGNITE Competition Checklist
A stage-by-stage checklist for IGNITE competitions: entering, forming a team, making and submitting your track, voting and the winner announcement.
- 07
Building a Profile and Portfolio That Gets Collaboration Offers
How to fill in your IGNITE profile, from roles and genres to your bio, portfolio links and team availability, so other musicians actually reach out.
- 08
Giving and Taking Demo Feedback Without Bruising Anyone
How to write feedback on a work-in-progress track, decide how much of it to act on, and agree on revision limits before the back-and-forth starts.
- 09
Preparing Your Tracks Before Handing Off a Mix
How to split stems, name files, leave headroom, and brief a mix engineer or collaborator so their time goes into the sound, not into cleanup.
- 10
What to Prepare Before Your First Release
A checklist for first-time releases: master files, cover art specs, credits and metadata, and how far ahead to set the release date.
Put these guides to work on a real team
IGNITE is a collaboration competition platform where musicians form teams, finish one original track and have it evaluated by community voting.