by Henry Wool
Burlington High School (BHS) students have found a platform for their music that their friends and other listeners have been able to enjoy. Musicians self-produce beats and lyrics and upload their tracks onto music media services. Eventually, their peers throughout the school get caught up in their songs, and the music spreads.
SoundCloud is a music application that allows student artists to share their work on a public program through any type of mobile device or computer.
Founded in 2007, the service has gained an exponential following from listeners to uploaders, with roughly 175 million accounts registered. Unlike music services such as Apple Music or Spotify, SoundCloud is free for all artists to upload content.
“I find SoundCloud to be very user-friendly….[ the app ] makes it very easy for anyone to showcase their music,” sophomore Alex Wick said.
Callum Pace and Alex Wick are a duo that have worked on making music together for almost a year. The genre they use is mainly hip-hop and rap, but Wick said they’ve tried to explore different types of sounds and tunes.
“Collaborating with Alex has been fun because we work really well together…He is a technical genius and can play almost any instrument, which is great for producing,” Pace said.
Their top song has exceeded 7,000 streams, racking up over 130 likes.
Sophomore Rasheed Wood is one their fans.
“My first impression of Callum and Alex was that they had a lot of potential…..I thought if they could harness their talents, they are going to be something special,’” Wood said.
Seniors Ellis Hodgson and Maleek Fitzpatrick have united on two pieces together, accumulating a combined 4,000 plays on SoundCloud. Hodgson’s passion for building lyrics off produced beats started his first year at BHS. Releasing five tracks, Hodgson said he’s grown into a style that he likes the most.
Hodgson also creates album covers through artwork and visual arts he puts together online.
“Sharing my music with others and establishing a final product with everything involved is a pretty cool process to be a part of,” Hodgson said.
With hard work and dedication, these student musicians at BHS are showcasing their abilities to sing, rap, and reach a big audience through music media.
