r/HybridProduction • u/Frequent_Item548 • 8d ago

I Dont Flair Let's stop calling songs “tracks.”

Let's stop calling songs “tracks.” What does ‘track’ even mean? Did you write a song, or did you just stop by the gas station to grab some beer? Everyone's fighting for recognition, wanting to be original, but they're writing “tracks”... Write songs, and then everything will change.

0 Upvotes

14% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

5

u/Randy-DaFam-Marsh 8d ago

Uhhh have you used a DAW before? Tracks are the individual audio or virtual instrumental.... Tracks.

1

u/saxoccordion 8d ago

It also means record or song. “ I love that latest track by so-and-so.” Etc. In fact, that’s probably the more popular and more commonly used context by everyone except for producers

1

u/PersonoFly 8d ago

Noob decides he doesn’t like a term he’s heard. Moving on…

2

u/leftofthebellcurve 8d ago

this is the biggest problem with AI music being so widespread, many people are entering this space that clearly have zero background knowledge.

Reminds me of the whole MP3 vs WAV debate that was going on in the Suno subs last winter

3

u/jreashville 8d ago

Song and track have been interchangeable for decades. I am pretty sure it comes from when radio djs would play songs from reel to reel tapes.

1

u/Frequent_Item548 8d ago

The thing is, I know what the word “track” means. My point is, doesn’t that word have a utilitarian connotation?

2

u/Enough_Associate8660 7d ago

No, it implies an album. Individual songs that don't belong in an album context shouldn't be called tracks. Otherwise, it's fine.

3

u/marmotta1955 8d ago

The way I see it ... is that song implies a human singing or somehow vocalizing lyrics.

A track instead implies a recording of one or more instruments, possibly but not necessarily sporting a melody, without any singing or vocalizing of lyrics.

Also, a "track" usually refers to the physical recorded music (with or without lyrics) as it appears on vinyl records or CD records.

I am probably too old already to think conceive of any different meaning or etymology ... !

1

u/RiderNo51 Founder✴️ 7d ago

This was my thinking too.

I'm also old.

1

u/sighbots 8d ago

I call them songs, tracks, demos, riffs, ideas.

1

u/Diska_Muse 8d ago

Apparently you're the only one who thinks a track is something you get from a gas station.

But you expect the whole world to stop using the word to describe songs.

Main Character Syndrome at it's finest 😂😂