Written by: Guilherme Canineo
Editor: Nekia Fondren
Last week, NBC’s songwriting competition concluded its 11-episode inaugural season. In the series finale, panelist and One Republic’s frontman, Ryan Tedder, switched roles and took the guest artist’s chair alongside bandmate Zach Filkins to select a song from an outside writer for the first time in the band’s history.
“We’ve never taken an outside song as far as the writing community is concerned,” Tedder said. “They know that we don’t take outside songs. [But] we’ve been together for 12 years now, [so] why not? We have nothing to protect or hide. We are writing for a new album and the timing couldn’t be better.”
Created to provide undiscovered and talented songwriters a platform to showcase their original material, Songland was first envisioned in 2012 by 3-time Brit Awards 'Best Producer' winner and show’s co-founder and executive producer, Dave Stewart. He wanted to highlight the strenuous and sometimes unappreciated lyrics composition process to the general public.
“In 2012, I was actually visualizing a show where songwriters could come on instead of singers and tell a story,” Stewart said. “It might be emotional, and people could connect with the idea that people from different parts of America are writing songs in their bedroom. People want to express themselves emotionally and songwriters, fortunately, have a way to do it.”
Each week, four selected songwriters present an original composition to a judging panel formed by Tedder, a 3-time Grammy-winning producer, Ester Dean, a Grammy-nominated producer and songwriter, and Shane McAnally, a 3-time Grammy-winning songwriter, in addition to the week’s guest star. To keep viewers engaged and serve the desired competition format, one of the participants is chopped by the guest artist after the first audition. The remaining three are paired up with one of the panelists to modify and polish the songs, in both lyrics and production, in order to adapt it to the artist’s style. Finally, each participant pitches and performs the newest version striving to get their song chosen and cut by the popular recording artist.
Now that you are (hopefully) all familiar with the format and background history, one of the questions that stand out is, WAS IT SUCCESSFUL?
Before we talk numbers, understand that the corny "everyone has a different definition of success” statement does not apply to television, especially nowadays. Newcomer shows either get well-accepted and build up an audience, or chances of signing a renewal contract are next to nil. In Songland’s case, it did please the viewers. As a result, it will return for a second season. According to NBC, it averaged “a 1.1 rating in adults 18-49 and 5.1 million viewers overall. It’s the summer’s #1 most-watched new alternative series.”
WHAT ABOUT THE MUSIC THAT WAS RELEASED?
In terms of sales, several songs did really well on iTunes. “We Need Love” by John Legend (#1 R&B Chart), “Be Nice” by will.i.am (#1 Rock Chart), “Better Luck Next Time” by Kelsea Ballerini (#1 Pop Chart and #2 Overall Chart), “Greenlight” by Jonas Brothers (#1 Overall Chart), “Shadow” by Macklemore ft. IRO (#1 Hip-Hop/Rap Chart), “Solo Quiero” by Leona Lewis, Cali y El Dandee and Juan Magán (#1 Billboard Latin Pop Digital Song), and “Somebody To Love” by OneRepublic (#2 Overall Chart). Additionally, Old Dominion’s “Young” was featured in the new Jeep Wrangler TV commercial while Aloe Blacc “Just Getting Started” was included in the soundtrack of Universal Pictures’ Hobbs & Shaw.
Finally, WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE SONGWRITERS AFTER THE SHOW?
Able Heart, winner of Jonas Brother’s episode, is one that has kept busy.
"Able is a producer, songwriter, artist, mixer, creator, [and] visual director,” said Dean. “I had him start working with me, Ryan had him starting with him, and Shane started [as well]. We started to mentor Able because you couldn’t see this kid and think that he is not supposed to be winning in the industry right now.”
Israeli-born singer IRO, who’s familiar to some electronic music fans due to his two collaborations with Brazilian DJ and producer Alok, not only won his episode, but is a credited feature on the song and was invited by Macklemore to perform their collaboration at Lollapalooza Brazil. He has also been working with Shane. Darius Coleman, who had his song chosen by Kelsea, has also been working with Tedder. Sam DeRosa, featured in Charlie Puth’s episode, got signed by Monument Records. Rafferty, who scored second place with Leona Lewis, has been invited out to perform with her.
“[This show] is demystifying what [songwriting] is,” said Audrey Morrisey, Songland’s showrunner and executive producer. “It’s showing the talent, creativity, and showing people that these are jobs. The other thing that blows me away about Songland is watching people collaborate and that’s what songwriting is. People are really loving that there is a new way to music on TV.”
Songland premiered on Tuesday, May 28th. You can watch it on www.nbc.com/songlandor on YouTube TV and Hulu. You can also listen to their podcast for exclusive takes and insights.
Comments