For many years I have been fortunate enough to work in a collaborative songwriting setting. Producers send me tracks and I try write a melody and lyrics in advance or on the spot in a studio setting. I have never known any different and the approach is one that works for me.
Fleshed out, this process adds a number of writers, producers and musicians to recreate the general midi musings. In the commercial music world it is known as the "writing camp"
Stock, Aitken, Waterman - the aptly named "hit factory" churned out top 40 tunes effortlessly and we recognised the signature sound, all the while rolling our eyes at the manufacturing of yet another "act" propped up by the talent of others.
Of course there has always also been solo, duo or trios (ie; The Matrix) of ridiculously saavy hitmakers licensing their catalogues of ready made hit songs to labels and artists so their people can pick which ones are suitable and add them to the latest album offering.
So the concept of collaborative writing, the factory or writing camp is one that has been working for a long time and I of course knew all of this existed, no surprises there. What I DIDN'T know was which acts and labels utilised these writing camps regularly and more importantly - the COST of writing a hit song in todays fast paced music industry, using these methods, until I read this article.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/07/05/137530847/how-much-does-it-cost-to-make-a-hit-song?sc=fb&cc=fp
My apologies if this is all very common knowledge and I have just been living under a rock.
The moral of the story is, it got me thinking about how many talented musicians and artists there are in NZ that could do something similar to the writing camp and really make some money (however we may have to start charging a little less than a cool mill for the first few tracks) and as a collective be a force to be reckoned when approaching labels or publishers for licensing and publishing deals (think The Roots business model - that's a whole other blog) let alone the creative solidarity and camaraderie.
So how would one make this happen??? Are there enough popstars lining up at labels here in NZ wanting to be made famous if only they had the right song. Do overseas labels look offshore for creative musical ideas? Are people ALREADY doing this here? Do we have the get up and go to sustain creative momentum in a structured setting and would any recognisable songwriters or musicians be interested in "selling" their creative ideas, let alone doing it and "creating" in a group setting?
Let me put these questions to you people cos I welcome your thoughts.
There is only so much I can read in books and on the internet about the business of music so am dying to hear the ponderings of my fellow musos, industry peeps, heads and lovers of good music in general.
Holler back......
