A private project page is a single, access-controlled page that holds everything for one job: the audio files, the versions, the feedback and the delivery. Only the people you pick can open it. For an audio professional, that means a client hears your mix without the file ever sitting in a public folder, an email thread or a chat channel.
This guide covers what a private project page is, how to set one up, how to decide who sees and does what, and what to check before you send the link to a client.
TL;DR
- A private project page limits a project to named people, so unreleased audio and feedback stay out of public view.
- Separate who can open the page from what they can do there: view only, view and download, or edit.
- Add a password and download controls for client-facing pages, and keep final files locked until the job is settled.
- Clients should not need an account to listen and comment. Every extra login step slows approvals.
- Review access at the end of every project, and remove people who no longer need it.
Table of Contents
- What a private project page is
- Why audio professionals need one
- How to create a private project page
- Do clients need an account?
- Changing access later
- Privacy and security checks before you share
- Using the page to run the business side
- Our perspective
- How Audome handles private project pages
- A worked example
- Common mistakes to avoid
- FAQ
- Sources
What a private project page is
Most project tools use the same idea. A private project is one that only specific people can reach. In one project-management tool’s help center, a private project is described as one that only team members who were added, plus the organization owner, can open (Lookback). The details differ from tool to tool, but the principle holds: nobody sees the project unless you let them in.
For audio work, the page does more than hide files. A good one becomes the working record of the job:
- The current mix, master or edit, plus earlier versions.
- Notes from the client tied to exact moments in the audio.
- The status of the job: in review, revised, approved, delivered.
- The final download, released when you decide.
The word “private” matters because audio is often confidential before release. An unmastered single, an unreleased podcast episode, a game cue or a film dialogue edit all carry real commercial risk if they leak. If you want a deeper look at why that matters in a studio, see our piece on the role of privacy in studio collaboration.
Why audio professionals need one
Most studios start with whatever is at hand: a cloud folder, a transfer link, an email attachment. It works until it doesn’t. Here is how it usually breaks down.
Links travel. A shared folder link can be forwarded to a manager, a label contact or a friend. You find out only when someone asks why a rough mix is on a forum.
Feedback scatters. The client replies by email at 11 p.m., texts a second note, and drops a third into a group chat. You end up building the revision list yourself from three places.
Versions blur. “Final_v3_REAL_fix2.wav” is a joke because everyone has lived it. When a client says “I liked the earlier one,” you need to know which one that was.
Delivery has no gate. If the client can download the final before the invoice is paid, you have given away your leverage.
A private project page fixes these by putting the files, the feedback and the delivery in one place with one set of access rules. Our overview of file sharing methods for studios compares the common approaches if you want to see where each one falls short.
How to create a private project page
The exact clicks depend on your tool, but the sequence is nearly always the same.
1. Start the project as private
Create one project per job, not one per client. A client with three songs has three projects. That keeps feedback and versions from mixing, and it lets you end access to one job without touching the others.
If your tool allows it, set the project to private at creation. Changing visibility later is possible in most tools, but starting private means there is never a window where the page is more open than you intended.
2. Name who gets in
A common pattern in access settings is to choose “specified people” and then add the people one by one. One help article on project sharing notes that selecting only specified people and adding nobody makes the project private to you (Explain Everything). That is a useful default: the page starts closed, and you open it deliberately.
3. Set what each person can do
Access is two questions, not one. The first is who can open the page. The second is what they can do once inside. The same help article separates the two: access can be limited to specified people, while permissions can be view only, view and download, or edit (Explain Everything).
Translate that to a studio:
| Person | Typical need | Sensible permission |
|---|---|---|
| Client or artist | Listen, comment, approve | View and comment, no download until final |
| Their manager or A&R | Listen and weigh in | View and comment |
| Co-producer or second engineer | Work on the files | Edit and upload |
| Mastering engineer | Receive the approved mix | View and download |
| Podcast host or guest | Review an episode edit | View and comment |
The habit worth building: give the lowest permission that lets the person do their job, and raise it only when asked.
4. Add a password
Naming people controls who is invited. A password controls what happens when a link gets forwarded. For client-facing pages, a password is a second lock that costs the client a few seconds. Send the password in a separate message from the link.
5. Decide what can be downloaded
Streaming for review and downloading for keeps are different things. On a review page, most clients only need to listen. Controlling downloads per file lets you share a preview of a mix while the stems stay locked. We cover this in more detail in our guide to per-file download permissions.
6. Send the link and confirm it works
Open the link in a private browser window, signed out of everything, the way your client will. Check that the page loads, the audio plays, the password works, and nothing is visible that shouldn’t be.
Do clients need an account?
This is where many tools lose the client. A producer sends a link, the client is asked to create an account, remembers a password they never set, and the feedback arrives by email anyway.
There are two ways tools handle this. Some require every viewer to be a named user with an account, which is tight on security but heavy for a one-off client. Others let you share a protected page that works without sign-up, relying on the link, a password and download controls.
For most client work, the second approach fits better. Your client is not a team member. They are someone who needs to press play, leave a note and approve. In Audome, clients can review and give feedback without creating an account, which is a deliberate choice: fewer steps means faster decisions. Collaborators who work on the project alongside you are a different group, and our article on what a collaborator space is explains how that side works.
Changing access later
Projects change. A client brings in a new manager. A freelancer finishes their part. A track is released and you want a public listening page. Plan for each case.
Adding someone
Add them by name, give them the lowest permission that works, and tell them what the page is for.
Removing someone
Removing a person should end their access right away. One project tool’s help center states that removing a collaborator revokes their access immediately, while the comments they left earlier stay visible (awork). That second part matters: you keep the history of what was asked, even after the person is gone. Check how your own tool behaves, because some remove the comments too.
Making a page public
Switching a private page to public changes who can see everything on it, including old versions and comments. Before you flip it, look through the page for rough mixes, internal notes, unapproved takes and client comments you would not want a stranger to read. In many cases it is cleaner to create a separate public page with only the approved material than to open the working page.
Your tool’s visibility options also matter here. We break down the choices in project visibility settings.
Privacy and security checks before you share
Run through this list before the first link goes out.
- Is the project set to private, not just unlisted? Unlisted usually means anyone with the link can open it.
- Is there a password? Especially for pages sent to more than one person.
- Are downloads off for review files? Turn them on deliberately, for final files only.
- Who is on the access list? Remove old collaborators, test accounts and anyone from a past job.
- Are comments visible to everyone? Some clients write candid notes. Know whether other viewers can read them.
- Is the audio quality adequate for review? Reviewing a lossy preview is fine for taste decisions, but for technical sign-off a client may need the full-resolution file. Our guide on sharing WAV files without losing quality covers when each makes sense.
- Who owns the files? You should be able to export or delete your material whenever you choose.
- What happens after delivery? Decide whether the page stays live, locks, or is archived.
None of this is paranoid. It is the same care you already put into backing up a session.
Using the page to run the business side
A private project page is also where you set boundaries. When feedback, versions and delivery sit on one page, the rules of the job are visible to everyone.
- Revision limits. Say up front how many revisions are included. When feedback is collected on the page, counting rounds is easy instead of arguable.
- Paid extra revisions. If a client wants a fifth round, the page can ask for payment first, rather than you sending an awkward invoice after the fact.
- Payment before final download. Holding the final files until payment clears removes the “I’ll pay next week” problem.
These are the points where generic file-sharing tools stop and studio tools begin.
Our perspective
We built Audome because audio pros were running their business out of tools that were never meant for it. A cloud folder doesn’t know what a revision is. A transfer link doesn’t know the client hasn’t paid. A chat thread doesn’t know which version a comment refers to.
We think a private project page should do three jobs at once. It should protect the work, so unreleased audio only reaches the people you chose. It should make the client’s life easy, so they can listen and comment without creating yet another login. And it should protect the engineer, so revision limits, paid extra rounds and payment before final download are part of the page rather than a conversation you have to have each time.
Our view is that privacy and friendliness are not a trade-off. A password, a branded client portal and per-file download controls can sit on the same page as a one-click listening experience. The studios that do this well tend to get faster approvals and fewer awkward money conversations, because the process is clear before the first note arrives.
— Kreg
How Audome handles private project pages
Audome gives each project its own secure, password-protected page. You can upload unlimited high-resolution audio, up to 96kHz/24-bit, collect timestamped feedback directly on the waveform, track versions automatically, control downloads, and bring clients in without requiring them to create an account. You can also cap free revisions, charge for extra ones, and require payment before final downloads unlock, using Stripe Connect.
Plans are published on the Audome pricing page: Studio is $12.50 per month or $150 per year, and Pro is $48 per month or $576 per year. Both are sold as subscriptions after a free trial. Collaborators are unlimited, so adding a second engineer doesn’t add a seat charge; see unlimited collaborators for audio studios for how that works. You can see the whole product on the Audome homepage.
A worked example
Say you mix a four-song EP for an indie artist.
You create one project per song, all set to private. You add the artist’s name to each, set their permission to view and comment, and add a password. You upload mix v1 of song one at 24-bit and send the link and password separately.
The artist listens on their phone, and leaves three notes at 0:48, 1:32 and 2:10. You answer each note on the waveform and upload v2. Version history keeps v1 available, so when the artist says the vocal was better earlier, you can compare the two in seconds.
At approval, you move the project to delivery. Downloads are still locked. The artist pays the balance, the final files unlock, and you remove their manager from the access list now that the job is done. Total email chains: zero.
The same flow works for a podcast producer sending episode cuts to a host, or a post-production house sending dialogue edits to a director. The only thing that changes is who sits on the access list.
Common mistakes to avoid
Using one project for a whole client relationship. Old feedback and old files pile up, and access gets harder to manage. One job, one page.
Giving everyone download rights. If a client only needs to listen, they don’t need the file.
Sending the link and password in the same message. If the message is forwarded, the lock goes with it.
Never cleaning up. A page that stays open for years after a job ended is a risk with no benefit. Archive or close it.
Mixing internal and client notes. Keep your private working notes off the page the client sees.
FAQ
What is a private project page?
It is a page for one project that only chosen people can open. In audio, it holds the files, versions, feedback and delivery for a single job, so none of it is publicly visible.
Can a client use a private project page without an account?
That depends on the tool. Some require a named account for every viewer. Audome lets clients review and leave feedback without creating one, with the page protected by a password and your download settings.
What happens when I remove someone from a private project?
Their access should stop right away. In at least one project tool, the comments they already left remain visible, so check how yours behaves if you need those notes kept or removed.
Can I make a private project public later?
Usually yes, but doing so exposes everything on the page, including old versions and comments. Review the page first, or build a separate public page with only approved material.
Sources
- Set permissions for others to access your project, Explain Everything
- Private Projects, awork Help Center
- Creating Private Projects, Lookback