As artists and composers, we rarely encounter simple, low-effort ways to maximise the impact of our releases. But there are some valuable assets that many artists will already have sitting on their hard drives that hardly ever see the light of day: instrumental mixes.
Artists generally ensure an instrumental version of a track is prepared alongside the main version for practical reasons, such as the possibility of future sync licensing opportunities. If a music supervisor wants to use your track in a film, commercial, or game, they'll probably also want an instrumental to allow for flexible editing. If you don't have one, you might risk losing the opportunity, hence most artists creating instrumentals by default alongside their regular masters without thinking much more about it. But with those instrumental masters just sitting there, waiting for a sync placement that may or may not happen, we could be missing out on an opportunity to connect with our current audience and explore other ways to leverage our music for basically no extra investment.
I think more artists should release their instrumental tracks online. It’s a simple extra step in the release strategy that could have multiple benefits and basically no downsides.
More Than Just a Backing Track: Uses and Advantages
Instrumental versions have a range of uses, perhaps moreso now than ever. Some of these uses include:
1. The Undistracted Listening Experience
Sometimes, listeners want to enjoy music while focusing on a task like studying or working. Vocals can be distracting - after all, they are usually designed to pull our attention. I know that if I listen to music with vocals when I'm trying to focus on something else, my brain struggles to not pay attention to the vocals!
By releasing the instrumentals, you provide a track that maintains your song's mood, harmonic movement, and rhythmic energy without the cognitive interruption of the lead vocal. You’re basically allowing your audience to use your music in a different way.
2. A Deeper Appreciation of Production and Instrumentation
As producers and composers, we spend many hours honing the performance, arrangement, and overall sound of a track. Sometimes, intricate details can get partially overshadowed by the main vocal performance. An instrumental version can reveal different elements of the music.
I’m excited to say that I’ve just released "RAT RACE (Instrumentals)", the instrumental version of my 2022 album, which is what inspired this article. Yes, it’s taken me a while to realise the potential value in this, and those instrumental masters have been gathering digital dust for over three years! While the regular album captures the full intent of my vision, the instrumental version is a completely different listening experience, letting you sink into the soundscapes and production detail.
I've had this experience with Eidola's 2024 album, Eviscerate. I have nothing against the vocalists, but I've listened to the instrumental version far more than the regular one. The instrumental album provides a fantastic soundtrack for long walks and gym sessions, and the lack of vocals allows me to get fully immersed in the detailed post-hardcore instrumentation and progressive arrangements. A big thanks to Eidola for making the instrumentals available!
Releasing instrumentals is an open invitation for people to listen more intently to the instrumentation and production layers. It allows the listener to appreciate the work in a different way, picking up on elements of the mix, the groove, and the production that they may not have noticed before. For fellow music producers in your audience, this is a fantastic peek behind the curtain.
3. Serving the Content Creators
Release plans shouldn't just revolve around Spotify. An increasing portion of music consumption happens via TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
For content creators, having an instrumental version of a song available is incredibly useful for background use. A creator might love the vibe of your track but not want the vocal track competing with their own voiceover or messaging. By making the instrumental available, you’re providing a clean audio asset that encourages people to use your music in their videos, driving further discovery of your work without any hassle on their end. The use of your instrumental track in user-generated content acts as a powerful, organic promotion tool.
Make the Most of Your Work
Whenever you finish a studio recording of a song and get it mixed, ask the mixing engineer to create an instrumental version, and get it mastered at the same time as the regular version. By doing that, you'll tick the box of preparing for potential future sync licensing opportunities, but you might as well add it to your release plan and get more value from the time you’ve already put into the studio. You can add value for your listeners, support content creators, and expand your official catalogue.
💬 What's your favourite track where the instrumental version completely changes the way you appreciate the production? Let me know in the comments!
