Song Reveal Guide

Step 1: Decide where to do it 🏡

You've got lots of options when it comes to location, but there are a few things you should keep in mind:

• Background noise - high background noise will make it harder to hear the song's lyrics, so it's best to stick to locations where background noise is low.
• Access to speakers - your song will sound much better when played through good speakers (e.g. your car stereo, or home speakers), so choose a location where you can easily connect to external speakers like these.
• Internet connectivity - make sure you’ll have access to good wifi or cell data so you can play the whole song uninterrupted. If this isn't possible you can also download your song to your device beforehand, provided you have an app to play it through.
• Privacy & comfort - we recommend choosing a location where they feel comfortable, and can embrace the moment fully.

Example locations

• At home (e.g. the living room, or in the kitchen / dining room when you're having dinner)
• In the car (make sure you are connected to the car's speaker/stereo system and perform the reveal safely)
• At a special event (e.g. at a wedding - if that's where you originally planned to play the song)

Step 2: Decide how you’ll reveal it 🙉

For it to be a genuine surprise, you need to get them to pay attention and listen to the song you're about to play, without giving them any indication that it's about them, or that something special is about to happen.

Example techniques

• Say something like - "I heard this song the other day and I really like it" or "I heard this on the radio yesterday, I think you'll like it" - then press play.
• Ask them something like - "Have you heard this song before?” - then press play.
• If you're already playing music e.g. in the car, then just play it immediately after another song finishes and say something like "this is one of my favourites at the moment" after it starts.
• If you can't give it to them in person - just message / email them the link to their song page and write something like, "thought you might like this song". It's bound to surprise them when they play the song!

Step 3: Do a practice run 🔁

It's always a good idea to run through the reveal at least once on your own, just to make sure the actual reveal goes smoothly.

Testing checklist

• Does your reveal reason (e.g. "I heard this song the other day and really like it") sound natural?
• Can you easily connect to your speakers and play the song at the right volume?
• Is your internet connection strong enough to play the song?

Step 4: Film it 🎥

Filming the moment you reveal the song is very much optional, but customers often like doing it because it captures an extremely special moment that you can keep forever. It also means you can get another song from us for free if you choose to share it with us.

Tips

• Make sure you film it without them knowing - the person you're filming shouldn't know that you're filming them, otherwise they'll know something is up and may feel self-conscious.
• Keep the camera in a fixed location - this will produce a stable video (rather than one which is moving around a lot), resulting in a much better video.
• Be in the video too - it's so special when both the person giving the song and the person receiving it are both in the video, so make sure you are positioned next to them.
• Get the camera distance right - you want to make sure that both the giver and receiver are clearly visible, and are close enough that you can see their faces clearly.

Example techniques

• Filming in your car - set up your phone on the dashboard and set it to record without them seeing.
• Filming at home - position your phone somewhere in your house beforehand, where it can record the reveal without them noticing.
• Get someone else to film - this is often the easiest technique. Just make sure whoever does it keeps the camera steady, and does it secretly so that the recipient doesn't realize they are filming.