The Best Music Making Apps for Indie Artists

These are the must-have apps that independent artists, songwriters, and producers should download now.

1. Melody App 

The Melody app is a music production app made for producers by producers. It essentially allows for you to easily find, save, use, and share quality melodies.

Here’s a quick clip on how it works:

One of the cool perks is  “Melody Mondays” where users have the opportunity to download a free melody from an acclaimed producer. The latest was from Steve “Dr.” White.

The Melody app also hosts contests from time to time. Most recently, there was one held for a $10,000 prize. Check out Melody app co-owner and Grammy-award winning, multi-Platinum super producer Hit-Boy announcing the winner:

Further, the Melody app has bios for every creator, including links to their social media and streaming profiles.

If you’re interested in joining their producer team, apply here.

2. BARS

Facebook recently announced the launch of their BARS app. Likened to TikTok, the app allows users to create and share their raps using beats on the platform. 

Features include lyric suggestions, audio and visual filters, as well as autotune. There’s also a “Challenge Mode” where auto-suggested cues guide your freestyles.

While in beta, it seems the app is targeting aspiring and recreational rappers. Nevertheless, anyone who can access the app at this time should certainly take advantage. We’ve already learned with apps like Triller and Clubhouse that it can literally pay to be early.  

The BARS app currently has a waitlist and is available for iOS only at this time.

3. SPIRE

Izotope’s SPIRE is by far one of the best collaborative apps for creators on the go.

It allows for you to import tracks, record, change levels, and export files either as bounces or individual stems. Here’s what artists are saying about the app:

One of the very first songs I worked on in SPIRE in collaboration with a friend ended up being a final contender in a competition hosted by no. 1 Billboard charting multi-platinum producer Supah Mario. So I know first hand how handy it can be!

It’s currently available for iOS only.

4. Voisey

Voisey is a collaborative social media app that allows lyricists of any kind to create songs and post videos to beats within the catalog. (Producers interested in submitting beats can do so here.)

One of the app’s most popular users, pouty face, was discovered on the app. By using Voisey consistently and steadinly growing her fanbase, she attracted the attention of SoundCloud. 

Despite some of its similarities to TikTok, the app is still relatively niche, as it caters to independent artists, songwriters, and producers. I’m particularly fond of how quality the vocal chain is for a phone app that uses iPhone headphones. Voisey has pre-set filters that emulate the vocal chains of Stargate and Billie Eilish, but it also allows for customization of autotune, reverb, delay, harmonies, and more.

Like most social media apps of today, Voisey has trending hashtags, likes, comments, and the ability to follow and tag users. Some of Voisey’s premiere social aspects include: 

Producer features

Challenges

Duets with up to four people (sometimes they’re all you!)

and more.

Voisey’s userbase is growing by the day. And though there are popular users, there doesn’t yet seem to be a frustrating algorithm to compete against. Also, the app is nowhere near saturated, so take advantage of that while you still can.

Voisey is currently available for iOS only.

5. Evernote

Now, this may seem like a peculiar choice given that Evernote is primarily known for note-taking, productivity, organization, and task management. However, Evernote can be rather beneficial for music creatives, especially songwriters. 

Here’s a general guide on how to use all the app’s features:

I discovered the app several years ago and was drawn to its ability to allow for both recording and note-taking in-app. (No more having to insert voice memos into my Notes app, yay!) 

Beyond this, Evernote also allows for tags and placing of the notes in “notebooks”, making it easy to organize the notes by genre, mood, etc. Further, with the annual subscription, notes can be synced across devices and more storage is offered. And, very importantly, notes can be shared with others for ease of collaboration. In essence, Evernote is a songwriter’s best friend.

One popular artist that has expressed her affinity for the app is Kehlani.

Several users on Reddit have confirmed that they like using the app for sketching ideas on the go and collaborating remotely.

It’s available on both desktop and mobile, but I personally stick to the mobile app. Give Evernote a whirl here.

Want to know more about all things music tech? Be sure to tap in with us in our Bounce House club on Clubhouse and follow us on Twitter to stay in the loop. See you next Tech Tuesday!