‘Songland’ Puts Jonas Brothers & John Legend In Search Of Next Great Songwriter
The new NBC reality competition series Songland will feature some of the world’s biggest musicians listening to pitches from some of the most talented songwriters in the country in search of their next great hit song.
Musicians and songwriters such as The Jonas Brothers, John Legend, Charlie Puth, Meghan Trainor, will.i.am, OneRepublic, Kelsea Ballerini, Macklemore, Aloe Blacc, Old Dominion, and Leona Lewis will listen to some of the most creative and unheard songwriters in hopes of scoring their next big hit.
This 11-episode limited series is a peek into the creative process of songwriting and provides one talented winner per episode with the opportunity to have their song recorded and released worldwide.
Each week one guest recording artist will come to Songland to hear unknown songwriters pitch their original material. Four songwriters will perform their original tracks in front of the guest artist and three of the most successful and sought-after producers in music, including Ryan Tedder, Ester Dean, and Shane McAnally.
Each song’s lyrics, arrangements, beats, melody, and story will be considered by the panel as the producers and the guest artist will then find ways to adapt the tunes to fit the style of the recording artist that is featured that particular week.
After the performances, the recording artists will choose three songwriters to move forward to the studio and pair them each with the producer best suited to perfect their song. The producer and songwriter will then try and craft the tune to suit the superstar performer.
Songland is executive produced by Emmy Award-winning producer Audrey Morrissey (The Voice), director Ivan Dudynsky, Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart, Chad Hines, and Grammy-winning recording artist, Maroon 5 lead singer, and The Voice coach Adam Levine.
Oprah Magazine reported that Ryan Tedder, who is also the lead singer of the band OneRepublic, has won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year three times, due to his work on Adele’s albums 21 and 25, as well as Taylor Swift’s 1989. He is also listed as a producer on the series.
Ester Dean was called a “song machine” by The New Yorker, as she has penned hits for Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Christina Aguilera, Florence + The Machine, Beyonce, Drake, Selena Gomez, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Ciara, Usher, Britney Spears, and Lil Wayne.
Shane McNally is one of country music’s most amazing and in-demand songwriters, and can claim to have scored 39 No. 1 country records and dozens of songwriting award nominations. He has worked with Walker Hayes, Kacey Musgraves, Kelly Clarkson, Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire, Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban, Brandy Clark, and Miranda Lambert.
Songland will debut May 28 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
