Highnote Review

In-depth walkthrough of a cool new collaboration tool!

“I found a cool tool that I really like!” - Me

Personally, I’ve been trying to do more collaborating this year… And I think you should too!

Whether you're a seasoned producer, a burgeoning artist, or a music label executive, finding the best platform to share and discuss mixes, podcasts, and masters with your team, clients, and collaborators is essential.

Enter Highnote: a dynamic collaboration tool designed to streamline communication and project management within the music industry.

Serving as a versatile alternative to traditional platforms like Dropbox, Soundcloud, and Google Drive, Highnote.fm offers a tailored solution for musicians, record labels, and members of the music press alike, promising seamless integration and enhanced efficiency throughout the creative process.

Overview

Highnote is basically a central place to store all of your assets and mixes pertaining to whatever release (album, EP, or single) you're currently working on.

You can share albums or individual mixes with your collaborators and share comments, voice notes, and feedback right on top of the WAV file. You can listen in standard definition or high definition audio, and you can seamlessly toggle between different versions!

User Experience

It took me a minute to get the hang of dragging my notes onto the timeline. Otherwise it was pretty intuitive. “Spaces” is how they refer to a given project. In my case, I was collaborating on an upcoming single. So my “Space” was the name of the single, and I shared this space with my collaborator Emma.

I can also use this space to add other multimedia items pertaining to the single release like album artwork, press photos, and lyrics.

Key Features

The most obvious application is the visual waveform and the ability to mark it up with your notes and ideas. But it’s the hidden features that actually make this tool 100% essential for indie artists AND record labels…

The ability to essentially create a press page that you can send to curators, journalists, friends, etc. That’s a big deal! They can stream the track (download it if you allow) and view the attached assets (artwork, lyrics, etc).

Collaboration

The standout feature of Highnote lies in its ability to foster crystal-clear communication among collaborators.

Just yesterday, I found myself exchanging emails with a flutist regarding a solo I envisioned at the 4-minute and 6-second mark of our project. However, things got confusing in our back and forth emails… was this timestamp based on the mix she sent me, or perhaps from the beginning of her DAW session?

This is where Highnote would’ve been helpful, I could’ve easily dropped a marker exactly on the spot where I wanted the solo to start. Not only that, I could’ve sang a little example of what I wanted the solo to sound like (luckily for her, I didn’t do that).

To be honest, this tool makes me want to do more collaborations, because we can all see the progress together… toggling back and forth between versions, chatting on the side panel, and hearing (and seeing) it all come together!

Pros

The best parts of Dropbox, Google, WeTransfer, Soundcloud all rolled into one
Really affordable pricing
Collaborators don’t need to pay for an account
High playback quality
Can be used as a press kit
The ability to store other files (lyrics, photos, one-sheets)
Version toggling is my favorite part

Cons

No dedicated mobile app (yet)
Storage could get filled up quickly with high-resolution files
Takes a minute to get used to adding notes to the timeline

Pricing

There are a few options for pricing that actually start at $0.00, (which is my favorite kind of pricing) and goes up based on the amount of storage you need.

Final Thoughts

I love it! I’m actually surprised something like this doesn’t already exist.

It’s pretty intuitive and I can see a dozen ways musicians and record labels could benefit from it.

I think it will not only bring more clarity to your projects but it will spur us all on to be more creative… especially when most of our collabs these days are happening remotely, online, and often with people we’ve never met in real life!

Whether you're fine-tuning a masterpiece or orchestrating a marketing campaign, Highnote.fm proves itself as a worthy companion on the journey of musical creation and collaboration.

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10 STEP RELEASE PLAN

Collaboration stands as a cornerstone for both indie record labels and independent artists, offering a multitude of benefits that extend far beyond mere musical creation.

For indie labels, collaboration opens doors to diverse talent pools, enriching their roster with fresh perspectives and innovative sounds. Through partnerships with artists, labels can amplify their reach, tapping into new audiences and markets.

Simultaneously, indie musicians find solace in collaboration, pooling their strengths to navigate the complexities of the industry, ultimately amplifying their impact and amplifying their voices in a crowded musical landscape.