How to Release Music on Substack (Part 2)

Song journals

This post is the second in a series about how to release music on Substack. In my first post, I discussed why you might want to release music on Substack, and highlighted four musical artists who are taking interesting and varied approaches to doing that.

And, by the way, I think that most, or all, of the ideas in this series could be applied to any art form.

In this post, I’ll focus on one particular way of releasing music on Substack - a post where an artist shares a song and also writes about it. I like to call these song journals.

What Is a Song Journal?

I’ll start with an example of what a song journal could look like:

A musical artist has released a new song or is revisiting an older song, and the body of their post discusses that song. As part of that discussion, they could describe how the song was recorded, how the song was written, the meaning behind the song… there are many possibilities. Then, at the end of the post, they share the song.

If the song journal is well written, then by the time the reader gets to the end of the post, they should be really excited to hear the song. They should be ready to give it their full attention. A song journal can perfectly set up a song.

A Deeper Connection

I think it’s fair to say that song journals have historical influences. Musical artists have been blogging about their songs for decades. Facebook and Instagram posts can sometimes look like a song journal. Songwriters in the round have existed for decades. In the 90s, there was a show called VH1 Storytellers, where famous artists would talk about their songs before playing them.

However, I think that, over time, song journals on Substack could come to be seen as a unique art form. And I believe that Substack is uniquely qualified to host this art form.

The main reason being that readers on Substack are ready for longer-form posts. They’re prepared to give you at least 5 to 10 minutes of their time, as opposed to the users of other social media platforms.

And that longer form creates intimacy. The connection made via song journals is so much deeper than the connection that’s formed when someone hears your song in a Spotify playlist while they’re ironing their pants. On Spotify, the listener might not even notice your name. Your music can be lost in a torrent of anonymous sound.

And it’s hard to form that connection on the other social media platforms where people are frantically and mindlessly scrolling through reels.

In a comment on one of my Notes, Substacker Shartaya Mollett alluded to this, and to the multi-faceted nature of a song journal - “... yes, I think we’re witnessing the birth of something new, a fusion of sound and story. The artist becomes both musician and narrator. It feels more intimate than Spotify, more layered than a blog.”

Song Exploder

In my opinion, what feels most similar to a Substack song journal is the Song Exploder podcast. In case you’re not familiar, a Song Exploder episode is usually about 20 minutes long. The host interviews a musical artist about their song, and then plays the whole song at the end.

By the time I’ve reached the end of a Song Exploder podcast, I’m ready to give my full attention to the song. I can’t wait to hear it. It’s an incredible way to set up the song and fully engage the listener.

I think that we Substackers could learn a lot from this podcast. I recommend checking it out. They always find a way to make the song interesting.

Why Call Them “Song Journals”?

I just want to acknowledge that I did conduct a poll about a month ago, asking people what they thought this type of post should be called, and these were the results -

1. “song stack” (40% of the vote)

2. “song journal” (27%)

3. “song story” (13%)

I have the utmost respect for my fellow Substackers, but “song journal” is what feels right to me.

You can, of course, call these types of posts whatever you want. It’s really none of my business. I have no official capacity here. Do what you want!

Song Journal Examples

What I would like to do now is to share some of my favorite song journals (and I will be sharing more in an upcoming post):

Tyrone Birkett

Jazz Riffing, Spirit(uals) and Ways of Being

Tyrone describes himself as - “Saxophonist, Music Conceptualist. Wanna-be mystic. Exploring modes of transcendence. Intersecting Coltrane, Howard Thurman, James Cone, Sun Ra and early Black Pentecostalism.”

Tyrone is relatively new to Substack, but he seems to have an inherent knowledge of how to use it. And he’s a remarkably accomplished musician and composer.

In this song journal, he presents his song in sections, writing about each, and then shares the full song at the end. Check it out here.

Wu Fei

Wu Fei’s Music Daily

Wu Fei is another remarkably talented musician and composer. She travels the world playing a Chinese instrument called a guzheng, singing, and playing piano. She has collaborated with musicians such as Bela Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Jeff Coffin, John Zorn, Shanir Blumenkranz, and Fred Frith.

She publishes a new improvisation daily. And she often accompanies these improvisations with writings.

In this short song journal, she shares a guzheng improvisation, which was inspired by the Early Azalea flower. Check it out here.

Sam

Snowman Skeletons

Sam has one of the more creative and abundant Substacks I’ve run across. He actually found it necessary to create a table of contents, and I would suggest that you use it (see the link below).

Just some of the art forms his Substack contains: indie folk and indie rock songs, “stories (with colorful fonts)”, “satirical philosophatizing”, “spoken word visualizers”, and poems… it’s quite the looking glass.

I’d like to feature a chapter from his story How to Cure Snake Oil. (Note: I’m not sure that this would technically be classified as a song journal, but that’s OK.) In this post, he shares a song, and he also shares the lyrics in an exciting, visually striking way.

Just a note that the lyrics for this song are a bit disturbing, but they are not gratuitous. This is taken from a story that discusses sexual abuse, albeit in an abstract way. As Sam says in Chapter 1 of this story, “These [subjects] are not brought up lightly. Nor are they meant to be romantized [sic].”

Check it out here.

And check out Sam’s table of contents here.

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If you’ve shared anything on your Substack that might be considered a song journal, then please let us know in the comments.