source: NBC
So many music reality shows focus on the singers and the talent. But if the words of the song don’t move you, the song is never going to work, no matter how great the vocal is. All of these songwriters can definitely sing but their talents lay in their wordsmithing. Each contestant brings a song to the judges and hopes that it gets picked. In Ryan’s own words, the top two most consumed things are food and music. We’ve got plenty of cooking shows, there are no shows about how you cook music. Until now.
What I love about this show is you’re able to see these masters work right before your eyes. Yes, some of it is in the editing, but they can break apart the lyrics of a song and put it back together into a radio bop masterfully. Watching the contestants react as Ryan, Ester and Shane spin and strip down their songs in a jam session is so hopeful and heartwarming. These judges are some of the top songwriters in the business and if you’re listening to the radio, you’re probably listening to something they wrote.
Opportunity Knocks
One of the biggest movies this summer was Hobbs & Shaw. Episode six saw the director David Leitchare and artist Aloe Blacc looking for a song to include in the film. And Jeep needed someone other than Jeremy Renner to sing for their upcoming commercial. In episode eight, songwriters pitched country group Old Dominion songs for their upcoming campaign.
Chart Topping Songs
In eleven short weeks, six songs have made it to the top of the iTunes music charts. Songland releases studio cuts of all three songs presented to the artist and all of them are available to purchase on iTunes. And these songs are great! Whether your a little bit country or a little bit rock ‘n roll, the show has a song for you.
After Songland: The Podcast & Extras
iHeart radio carries the Songland podcast where the judges and artists talk about their songwriting careers and experience on the show. In listening to the Season 1 recap with creator and showrunner Audrey Morrissey and Ester Dean, I found out that even if the contestant didn’t have their song picked the show has changed their lives.
Ester, Shawn, Ryan and the artists have basically started a mentoring camp. Abel Hart who won Jonas Brothers, is more than a songwriter, he’s a producer artist, and creator. Ester had him work with will.i.am on his winning song and Shane and Ryan each had him working. Macklemore took his winning songwriter, Iro with him to Lollapalooza, but is now working with Shane. This show has become such a springboard for great talent.
On Youtube you’ll find digital extras like Megan Trainer talking about her bucketlist dream of collaborating with Ester! There’s so much you’ll find out like filming two episodes a day, Turning a song around in five days from first presentation to an artist to reworking it to final show.
Winning Songs
You can find the winning songs on the playlist Songland put together, but I included Leona Lewis’s song below which I loved. will.i.am picked one song for a single as the show says to be a winner. But then he broke the show. The Black Eyed Peas album was complete until he came on the show. He took three songs off the album and picked all three songs. The one artist that didn’t get picked? will.i.am took him to the studio to help him get the song made and offered to feature on it. Other artists did the similar things.
Pill for This by Sam Derosa did not get picked by her former Berklee School of Music classmate Charlie Puth but it’s still good news for Sam. Her great song had her partnered with Shane McAnally and her star performance on the show led to her signing with his Monument Records. Give her song a listen and a download!
Check out the songs from the songwriters on iTunes by searching “Songland”
Are you the next songwriter?
The show was just renewed for Season 2 and will be back next summer. Are you an aspiring songwriter? Here’s how you submit for consideration for season 2! Click to submit your application!
