I Write the Songs... And Now You Can, Too!

I was glad when I learned earlier this year that singer-songwriter Imogen Heap was working on a new album and intrigued when it was announced she was going to crowd-source the composing of the songs, with an anticipated schedule of one new song every three months. She's been a one-woman band for a while; what a smart way to use social media to shift the dynamics of her creative process, right? Heap welcomed recorded sounds, words, pictures, art and video from fans, uploaded to her Web site and then proposed a two week assembly and tweaking process before she formally released the song, originally titled "heapsong1." She promised appropriate credit and pay for contributors and also invited fans to use all the uploaded resources to compose a work of their own.


What a fun, fresh, creative and transparent enterprise. So then why is the result so flat, so, well, God-awful, not even up to the least of her previous work? Is crowd-sourcing creativity a roadmap to FAIL?

Before I could even ponder that, Becca Johnson, a member of the Popular Music Project's student work group with 2011 Artist in Residence Raymond Roker, wrote a blog post about the band Maroon 5 teaming up with Coca Cola on a "24 Hours Session," where the band took on writing and recording a song in 24 hours based on fan tweets. Now, no one outside of Brentwood (the band's hometown) thinks Maroon 5 offers much other than the occasional pop hit with a catchy hook sung by pin-up lad Adam Levine (now a judge on NBC's The Voice), so crowd-sourcing song composition ought to work just fine in this case. But Lord-a-mommy, as a co-worker used to say, this song just hurts!

Doesn't the music industry have enough grief already? Do these sorry efforts simply reflect the chasm between short, instantaneous thoughts and what might be called "true" lyrics, which tend to come from a very deep place or are painstakingly crafted to appear that way?

What's to be made of this new trend? Well, perhaps it's not so new and there's reason for hope in the long run. A recent New York Times piece on the Cole Porter song "You're the Top" noted that Porter asked his fellow passengers on a cruise down the Rhine to name the most wonderful thing they'd seen or done. And then he used some of their replies in the lyrics. So, kind of an analog version of crowd-sourcing. Listen to this great version of YTT.

Maybe there's still hope for Imogen and Adam.

RIP: TV On The Radio's Gerard Smith

TV On The Radio bassist Gerard Smith died Wednesday, April 20, at age 35 after a brief battle with lung cancer. The band announced on its website, "We are very sad to announce the death of our beloved friend and bandmate, Gerard Smith, following a courageous fight against lung cancer. Gerard passed away the morning of April 20th, 2011. We will miss him terribly."



Listen to Princeton's Daphne A. Brooks fascinating talk "Staring at the Sun: Remixing the Diasporic Drone on TV on the Radio’s Return to Cookie Mountain" from a 2008 USC Annenberg Research Seminar presented by the Popular Music Project.

Re: EMP Roundtable - Branding, Music & Money in the Digital Age

Adding to the list of brands teaming up with artists, Maroon 5 and Coca Cola recently worked together on the "24 Hours Session", where the band was tasked with writing and recording a song based off fan tweets, all in 24 hours (free download link via Coca Cola below). Apparently Coca Cola is on a mission to bring fans closer to the music they love, considering that they are also working with Taio Cruz and American Idol on the "Perfect Harmony Collaboration," a project that gives one lucky fan a chance to co-write a song with Cruz. Whether or not you like the result of the "24 Hours Session," it's interesting to see how both Maroon 5 and Coca Cola are attempting to connect with fans by giving them an inside view into what goes into making a record (also, Coca Cola will be donating money to The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation's Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) for the first 100,000 downloads of the song).

A penny for your thoughts: One thing discussed at the EMP Pop Conference Roundtable with Josh Kun and Raymond Roker was how artists and corporations need to be careful when choosing the right partner. What do you think of the above types of musical collaboration, where an artist/band is not only representing a brand to help connect with fans, but the brand is actually playing a role in the music that is created?

To view videos documenting the 24 Hours Session and/or download "Is Anybody Out There": http://www.coca-cola.com/music/en_US/24hrsession/html/Coke24hrs_PostEvent.html

For more information on the Perfect Harmony Collaboration with Taio Cruz: http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/dynamic/press_center/2011/03/create-perfect-harmony-with-taio-cruz.html

Cloudy Future

The music industry has taken another step towards living in the clouds. Check out this article about "Cloud Drive" from Amazon, a music storage system that allows users to upload and access their personal music collection in the cloud.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/amazon-beats-google-apple-launching-172362

This Song is Stuck in My Head! Help Me, Help Me, Please!

Discover the REAL reason pop songs get stuck in our heads in this brilliantly funny and smart RADIOLAB podcast.

Sing a Song of Sondheim: Happy Belated 81st, Steve-o!

What can you say about the best Broadway composer of his generation? His songs are remarkable, often devastating, short stories, his melodies fresh and ear-thrilling, even 40 years on, his wit wicked, his sense of what matters spot on. Thanks for all the hard work and beautiful moments.

RIP: Pinetop Perkins 1913-2011

Pinetop Perkins, among the last surviving members of the first generation of Delta bluesmen and the boogie-woogie piano player in Muddy Waters's last great band, died March 21st at his home in Austin, Texas. He was 97.

It's Spring, People, SPRING!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NAT KING COLE!

March 17, 1919 - Nat King Cole - Wikipedia

Under: Covers - "Blues Run the Game"