An indie pop singer just proved you do not need an expensive recording studio to make a massive hit. Bryanna Noelle Sebring, who goes by the stage name Brye, recently revealed that her hugely popular song Lemons was entirely produced using free software. She crafted the track that eventually reached over 100 million streams using only GarageBand on a standard-issue high school tablet and a cheap plug-in microphone.
She built a massive quarantine hit using free school technology
In a recent video on TikTok, the singer shared the surprising backstory behind her breakout track. Back in 2020, during the quarantine period, her high school gave all the students an Apple tablet for their daily classes. She used to spend her free time making beats and writing school musicals directly on the device.
When she decided to record a quick demo for Lemons, she simply used that same iPad setup paired with a low-quality microphone. She originally posted the song just to spite a guy who was treating her poorly. Before long, the track exploded in popularity. It ended up playing on Sirius XM radio and even charted on global viral top fifty lists.
This massive success story perfectly highlights the original vision Steve Jobs shared when he first launched GarageBand back in 2004. He promised the software would give anyone the tools of a professional recording studio for free.
Brye noted that her experience shows you do not need a fancy degree or a massive budget to launch a real career in music. All it takes is a clever idea and the digital tools that might already be sitting in your backpack.
