How do I find and download stems?
Stems are the individual instrument tracks that make up a song, like drums, bass, and vocals. On Pro plans and higher, you can preview each stem and download them individually as WAV files from any Soundstripe song that has them.
What you'll learn here
- What stems are and which songs include them
- How to spot a song that has stems
- How to preview individual stems before you download
- How to download the exact stems you need
- Which plans include stem downloads
How to find and download stems
Stems are the individual instrument tracks (drums, bass, guitar, vocals, and more) that make up an original Soundstripe song. They're great when you want to isolate or remix parts of a track in your edit.
Not every song has stems. You'll only see stem options on Soundstripe songs that include them.
Spot a song with stems
- Look for the stems icon in the action area of a song row while you're browsing. That icon means the song has stems.
Preview a stem
- Expand the song row to open the player.
- Select the Stems tab, next to Alternates.
- Each stem is listed by name with its own waveform and play button. Press play to hear that instrument on its own, and its waveform highlights as it plays.
Download stems
- Open the Download Song modal for the song.
- Expand the Stems section. Every stem is listed separately, each with its own download button.
- Download just the stems you need.
Good to know
- Stems are WAV only. There's no MP3 version of a stem. The full track and alternate versions are still available in both MP3 and WAV.
- Downloading stems is included on Pro plans and higher.
Tips & tricks
- Want to browse only songs that have stems? Open the Advanced filters and select Stems.
- Alternate versions aren't stems. Alternates are shorter cuts of the full song with full instrumentation, while stems are the isolated instrument tracks.
- You can preview stems before downloading, so you can check a track has the parts you need first.
Still have questions? Our support team is always happy to help.