Completing a song on stems.fm is harder than it looks.
Not the forging part. That's one click. The hard part is getting every stem in the first place. Some are mintable. Some are only on OpenSea. Some are gated behind a single collector who isn't going to sell.
Here's how to actually do it.
Pick a target
Don't try to complete every song. Pick one. Start with a song you actually like, because you're going to spend weeks looking at its stems. Sentiment helps when prices don't.
Check /mint and OpenSea first. Look for songs where:
- Most stems are still available on /mint (cheap entry)
- Or OpenSea has all required types listed at reasonable floors
- And the song hasn't already been completed many times (rarer = more meaningful)
Know what stems you need
Each song has a specific required stem set. Could be drums + bass + vocals + synth. Could be more elaborate: drums, bass, vocals, synth, percussion, FX, guitar.
Each song's metadata on /collection or OpenSea tells you exactly which types it uses. You can't substitute. Need a drum stem? Has to be the drum stem from that specific song. Can't swap in drums from another track.
Source the cheap ones first
Mint what's mintable. Mint price plus gas is usually cheaper than secondary if the mint window is still open.
For stems already minted out, check OpenSea and sort by floor. The cheapest stem types tend to be drums, bass, and FX (high circulation). The expensive ones tend to be the rare types like strings, brass, and woodwinds, produced in lower supply by design.
Watch the chase stems
Every song has one or two chase stems. The hardest to find. Could be a rare type. Could be one a major holder is sitting on. Could be an unrevealed stem nobody has opened yet.
Watch OpenSea listings daily. Chase stems are where you either spend big or wait.
A trick: post a buy order at a price you're actually willing to pay. Sellers move when they see a bid, not when they don't.
Don't forge in a panic
Most mistakes happen here. Collector finally has all the stems, immediately hits /forge, then realizes they overpaid for one piece and could have gotten it cheaper on a Tuesday.
There's no rush. The contract doesn't care if you wait three days. Some collectors wait weeks after gathering all stems just to make sure the market hasn't shifted.
Forge
When you do forge, the contract burns every stem and mints you a Song token. You'll see the Song token in your wallet within one block. The underlying stems are gone forever.
The Song token unlocks the full track audio and gets an ISRC trait. It's rarer than any individual stem because it took multiple burns to create.
Mistakes worth avoiding
- Buying every cheap stem of one type, then realizing the song needed a different type. Read required stems before buying.
- Forging too early. A complete set gives you optionality. Sell individually or forge. Forging removes that.
- Chasing a rare stem at any price. If a chase stem is never going to come up, the song isn't completable. Move to a different song.
- Forgetting the song stays available. Forging doesn't give you exclusive rights. Others can complete it too. The Song token is yours; the audio is still streamable everywhere.
Quick reference
- /mint: primary source for new stems
- /collection: your inventory
- /forge: combine
- /mixer: preview what you've got
- OpenSea: opensea.io/collection/stems-fm
The whole playbook in one line: pick a song, mint or buy each stem type, watch the chase stems, forge when patient.
That's it.
