You've made the sale. The artist wants stems. Now what? Sending the wrong files in the wrong format is an easy way to lose a customer, get a bad review, or create endless revision requests. Here's how to deliver like a professional.
What Are Stems?
Stems are individual tracks from your project exported as separate audio files. Each stem contains one element: drums, 808, bass, melodic, fx, etc. Artists need stems so they can mix the beat around their vocals, add their own elements, or send to a mixing engineer.
Minimum Stem Package
Every stem delivery should include:
- Drums stem — Kick, snare, hi-hat grouped
- 808 stem — Bass/sub separate
- Melodic stem — Synths, pads, guitars, etc.
- FX/Percussion stem — Risers, impacts, transitions
- Vocal/Ad-lib stem (if applicable) — Optional hooks
Technical Requirements
File Format
- WAV — 44.1kHz, 24-bit (standard, compatible with all DAWs)
- AIFF — Alternative to WAV, same quality
- NOT MP3 — Never send stems in MP3 format, quality loss when mixing
Naming Convention
Use consistent naming that any artist or engineer can understand:
- 01_drums_68bpm.wav
- 02_808_68bpm.wav
- 03_melodic_68bpm.wav
- 04_fx_68bpm.wav
Include BPM in filename so nothing gets exported at wrong tempo.
Time Alignment
All stems must start at bar 1, beat 1, at exactly 0:00.000. No count-in, no pre-roll. If a track has 2 bars of silence before the beat kicks in, trim it or include a separate "intro" version.
Effects Chain
Strip non-essential effects from stems. Keep:
- EQ (basic tonal correction)
- Compression (parallel is okay)
- Volume automation (if it affects the feel)
Remove:
- Reverb (let the artist's engineer add)
- Delay (same reason)
- Distortion/bus saturation (send clean unless it's part of the sound)
Folder Structure
Organize the delivery like this:
BeatName_68bpm_Aminor/
├── 01_drums_68bpm.wav
├── 02_808_68bpm.wav
├── 03_melodic_68bpm.wav
├── 04_fx_68bpm.wav
├── 05_vocals_68bpm.wav (if applicable)
├── BeatName_FullMix_68bpm.wav (reference)
└── README.txt
The README.txt
Include a brief text file with:
- BPM and key
- Track list with timestamps (if applicable)
- Any specific notes (sidechained elements, time-stretched parts)
- Your contact info for questions
- License terms (what they can/cannot do with these stems)
Delivery Method
- WeTransfer — Free up to 2GB, no account needed
- Google Drive — Easy sharing, unlimited storage
- Dropbox — Professional, shareable links
- BeatBread/BandLab — If using their platform for transactions
Never email stems as attachments — most email servers block large files and it's unprofessional.
Common Mistakes
- Exporting at 44.1kHz/16-bit — Acceptable but not professional. Go 24-bit.
- Including master bus processing — Stems should be clean, let the engineer mix
- Not matching BPM in filename — Artist imports wrong tempo, everything's off
- Sending project file instead of audio — Never send Ableton/FL project files
- Zip within zip — Direct folder is fine, extra compression slows everything
Clean stem delivery is a sign of professionalism. Artists remember producers who made their workflow easy. Be that producer.