File sharing for music producers: drafts, stems and masters
A routine for producers: send drafts clients play in the browser, then deliver stems and masters behind a password.
File sharing for music producers works best when you treat each file as a different job. A draft mix needs to be heard, a stem pack needs to arrive intact, and a final master needs to reach the right person and nobody else. This article gives you one short routine for each job, so a client or label contact can listen first, then download only what you mean them to have.
It is written for producers, mix engineers and podcast editors who send audio to people who do not live in a DAW. The same routine works for a rough podcast cut as for a mix.
Why file sharing for music producers needs more than email
Audio files are heavy, and a folder of stems is heavier. Attachments bounce, and a plain download link makes the client save a file before they know whether it is the right version. That is how you end up with "mix_final_v3_REAL.wav" sitting in three inboxes.
What a producer needs from a tool is simple: the client can press play in the browser, you decide whether they can keep the file, and the link stops working when the job is done. The rest of this article builds those three things into your routine.
Send a draft mix for approval
A draft is something to listen to, not something to keep. Send it as an audio transfer. Video and audio sharing puts the file on a page with a built-in player, so your client can listen before they download anything.
For audio, the download setting has three choices: listen only, free download and paid download. If you leave the download setting unset, the transfer is listen only, and a request to download it is refused. Listen only helps keep drafts from being passed on as finished work. It is not copy protection, because nobody can stop a person from recording what plays on their own screen. For other file types, view-only transfers let people look at files without offering a download.
Add a short deadline with link expiration so the draft is not floating around next month, and tell the client the date in your message.
Write the time you want feedback by in the message, next to the link: "Listen on any device, reply by Friday noon." A deadline in the message gets more answers than a deadline in your head.
Deliver stems and masters
Final delivery is the opposite job: the client needs the actual files. For this transfer, choose free download so the client can save the files, and pack stems and masters into clearly named folders such as Masters, Stems and Instrumentals. Name the top folder with the artist, the title and the date.
Check size before you send. Free handles files up to 1 GB each, and Pro and Agency handle files up to 200 GB each. If a pack goes over your limit, split it into masters and stems and send two links. More on sending large files is on the send large files page.
Some links should deliver the file and nothing else, for example a link pasted into a document or another tool. A direct download link starts the download the moment it is opened, with no page in between. There is no page there to show your note, so use the normal transfer page when you want the client to read your note and listen first.
If the release includes project files, the routine for handing over sessions is in how to share source files with clients after final approval.
Protect unreleased music
A forwarded link can reach people you never sent it to, so two controls cover most of the risk. Add a password with password protection, which requires the password before anyone can open the transfer, and send the password in a different message from the link. A password only helps while it stays private, so do not paste it in a group chat. Then set an expiry date, so the link stops working after the release window you agreed on.
After you send, check the transfer. Transfer status shows whether a transfer was delivered, viewed or downloaded, so you know whether the label contact opened the link or you need to nudge them.
Use two links for one project: a listen only link with a short expiry for the draft, and a separate password-protected link for the master. If the draft link is forwarded, the master link stays behind its own password.
Get feedback on a mix
Client feedback boards work on images and PDFs. Client feedback turns images and PDFs into a review board that clients comment on and approve with one link, no account. A mix does not go on that board, so for a mix the method is the plain one.
Ask for notes in one reply, with timestamps such as "1:42, vocal too far back", and number your revisions: v1, v2, v3. If you want to send your own spoken notes, audio notes lets you record a voice note and send it to a client with a link. If the client prefers to talk, they can record a voice memo on their phone with any recorder app and send it back through a file request, covered in the next section. When you answer, send the new version as a new transfer and let the old link expire, so there is only ever one live draft.
Receive files from clients and guests
Podcast editors and mix engineers also need files coming the other way: raw interviews, reference tracks, vocal takes recorded at home. A file request is one link that lets anyone send files into the folder you choose.
Set a deadline for the request, and the most a visitor can upload at once. The request deadlines and limits page shows how. Notification emails are on for a new request by default, so you hear about each upload as it arrives. Check that the switch is still on when you create the request.
Say in the request instructions what you need: "WAV, 48 kHz, one file per track, named by speaker." Specific instructions save a round of follow-up.
Keep versions straight
Producers rarely finish in one pass, and version confusion is the quiet cost. On Pro, file versions let you upload a new version of a file, see the history and go back to an earlier one. Free shows the New version and Version history items with a Pro badge. Earlier versions are kept for 90 days from the moment a version is replaced, and they count toward your storage.
Update transfers automatically is off by default. While it is off, and the file is already in a transfer, Tarkle asks "Update the transfer too?" before it changes what recipients see, so you decide whether they get the new version.
Put your music on your own website
If you want the public to hear a track, a mix or a podcast episode, you do not need a transfer link at all. Embed audio shows an audio transfer, with a multi-track player, on your own web page. Embedding needs Pro or Agency, because Agency includes everything in Pro.
If you sell your tracks, paid transfers charge for access to a transfer through your own Stripe account.
Set this up today
Create an audio transfer, pick the download setting you want, and add an expiry date. Put your deadline in the message.
Make a second transfer for masters and stems, with a password and an expiry date matched to the release window.
Send passwords in a different message from the links.
Set up one file request for client uploads, with a deadline. Notification emails are on by default, so check they are still on.
Name every version the same way, and send each revision as a new link.
Free handles files up to 1 GB each. Check your file sizes against the plans on the pricing page before you start. To try the routine, Start for free and send your first draft as a link.
What to remember about Tarkle
Tarkle plays a draft mix in the browser from one link, delivers stems and masters behind a password with an expiry date, and takes files back through a file request. Free handles files up to 1 GB each, and Pro and Agency handle files up to 200 GB each. Start for free and try the routine on one draft.