You mixed it, you mastered it, and the file that came out the other end is a WAV. That is the version you want people to hear. It is also the version that is hardest to send: too big to attach to an email, and awkward to open on the phone most people will actually listen on.
Here is how to share WAV (and FLAC) files so the person on a laptop hears your master, the person on a phone hears it start straight away, and the person who needs the file can still download it.
Why WAV files are hard to share
A WAV is uncompressed audio, so its size follows directly from its format. The arithmetic is worth knowing:
- 16-bit, 44.1kHz stereo (CD quality) runs at 1,411kbps, about 10.6MB a minute. A four-minute song is around 42MB.
- 24-bit, 48kHz stereo, a common mastering format, runs at 2,304kbps, about 17MB a minute. The same song is around 69MB.
- A 320kbps MP3, the highest standard MP3 bitrate, is about 2.4MB a minute, or around 10MB for that song.
FLAC is lossless too, and smaller than WAV for the same audio, but how much smaller depends on the music. It is still many times the size of an MP3.
None of that matters on a computer on a decent connection. It matters a great deal on a phone on mobile data, where the player has to fetch a large file before it can keep playing, and a locked phone may stop the page before the next track has loaded.
The usual ways, and what goes wrong
- Email attachments: most email services cap attachments well below the size of a single WAV, let alone an EP.
- File-transfer and cloud-drive links: they move files well, but the person gets a folder of files, not your release in order with its artwork. Many listeners will download before they listen, and once a file is downloaded you have no say over where it goes.
- Converting everything to MP3 first: playback starts quickly everywhere, but the engineer, the label checking a master, or the collaborator who needs stems never hears the real thing.
The problem is that different listeners need different files, and the usual tools make you pick one for all of them.
Who needs which file
- A label, A&R or press: they need it to play, now, wherever they are. Most will hear it first on a phone. Streaming is right, and quick playback matters more than bit depth.
- A mastering engineer or mixing collaborator: they need the original file, downloaded, bit for bit.
- Someone judging the sound itself (a mastering client, a sync library, a producer approving a mix): they want to stream the lossless file, on good speakers or headphones.
- Fans hearing an advance: they want it to play. A 320kbps MP3 on a phone is more than good enough, and a stall is the thing they will notice.
How Gatefolded handles it
Gatefolded handles that split for you, so one share link can serve all of those people.
Upload the master as it is
Upload your WAV or FLAC files directly, up to 500MB each. Gatefolded accepts MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A and OGG; if your DAW exports AIFF, export a WAV instead. While a WAV or FLAC uploads, your browser also makes a 320kbps MP3 copy from it. If that step fails, the track still uploads, just without the copy.
Computers stream the original, phones and tablets get the MP3 copy
When someone opens your release on a computer, the player streams the file you uploaded. On phones and tablets, WAV and FLAC tracks stream as the 320kbps MP3 copy, so playback starts quickly on mobile data. A track with no MP3 copy streams the original everywhere.
If a release has to be lossless on every device (a mastering client checking on their phone, say), turn on Always play the original file in the Share Settings for that release. Every device then streams the upload. It is set release by release, and only the owner of the artist can change it.
Downloads, only when you want them
A new release starts with downloads off; turn them on with the Downloads switch in its Share Settings. When they are on, each track offers its original format (a WAV upload downloads as a WAV) and, where there is one, the MP3 copy as well, so the engineer takes the WAV and everyone else takes the smaller file. Download All gets the originals for the whole release at once.
For a release that only needs to be heard, leave downloads off. Then there is no download button, and the audio plays through short-lived links rather than a permanent file address.
Control who hears it
Unreleased masters usually should not be open to anyone with the link. A password or an invite list of email addresses limits who can open it, and an expiry date limits how long the link works. Our guide to sharing unreleased music covers which to use when.
A checklist before you send
- Upload the master WAV or FLAC, not an MP3 you made from it.
- Decide who needs the file itself. If nobody does, leave downloads off.
- If someone is judging the sound on a phone, turn on Always play the original file for that release.
- Protect anything unreleased with a password or an invite list, and set an expiry for advances.
- Open the link on your own phone before you send it, so you hear what they will hear.
Sending a label or press your music? How to send demos to record labels covers the pitch itself.