Gift Your Melody vs BeatJar: an honest comparison

How Gift Your Melody works

You fill in the story, pick a genre from fifteen, pay $49.95, and within 48 hours (24 for $10.95) an MP4 video of the song and a PDF of the lyrics arrive by email. You hear the song for the first time when it arrives. Their FAQ is direct about this: "Can I hear my song before ordering? We don't offer previews, That's because your song is crafted in a professional studio an epic process that takes time to make it truly one-of-a-kind!"

If something is wrong, the product page says "we'll revise it for free until you're completely happy. No stress, no risk". The refund policy says: "For orders that have already been fulfilled, we offer up to two revisions for the songs", and "Each revision can take up to 7 days to be delivered." Requests go by email, "our team will review if the request fits our guidelines", and "changing the artist isn't possible": if you chose a male voice, the song stays male. Once delivered, "we cannot accept returns on custom songs". If a song is late, the remedy is "your next song is free".

On who makes it, the hero says "crafted by real artists" and "in a professional studio". One line of the homepage FAQ adds "and the help of our In House AI technology". The same FAQ question on the product page has that clause removed.

How BeatJar works

You type the story. We write the lyrics and show them to you, and we play you the first 45 seconds before you pay. If a name or a line is wrong, you change it in the lyrics before the song is recorded. Then you pay US$37.95, less than their $49.95, pick the delivery window at checkout, and the MP3 is yours.

Revisions after delivery stay free, without a cap or a seven-day wait, because the hard part happened before you paid. 30,800+ songs have gone out this way and the Trustpilot rating is 4.9 from 1,050+ reviews. The song above this section is a real one, with the story the customer typed next to the lyrics it became.

What Gift Your Melody does better

Stated fairly: their catalogue of things to put the song in is the broadest we have seen. A photo slideshow video, a music box, a photo album, a puzzle, lyric art, a YouTube or Spotify upload, a gift card for someone who does not have the story yet, and a tip jar for the artist. Delivery as a video makes the song easy to post. They market songs in several languages. Their reviews mention a support rep by name more than fifty times, and when the service works the warmth is real; 471 of their 824 positive reviews praise the quality of the vocals and production. They also state a concrete remedy for lateness, a free next song, which most rivals do not.

If you want the song inside a keepsake, and you are comfortable paying before you hear it, they have more to sell you than we do.

Before you order from either

• Decide whether hearing it first matters. BeatJar also costs less, so you give up nothing by listening before you pay.
• Read both revision statements. "Free until you're completely happy" and "up to two revisions ... up to 7 days" are on the same site. The policy is the one that applies.
• Check the voice choice. At Gift Your Melody it cannot be changed after ordering.
• Know the refund line. Nothing after delivery there. Nothing needed at BeatJar, because you pay after hearing it.