Two new programmes claim to document the creative process. But can the pressures of reality TV really help songwriting?
I'm a big fan of BBC4's Classic Album series. It's fascinating to see what went into making some of the greatest LPs of all time, even the ones that aren't my favourites. Sometimes, like in the documentary on Bruce Springsteen's Darkness On the Edge of Town, you get a glimpse into the writing process, but the focus is mainly on recording. Now Universal Music has launched a video series called Inside the Hit Songs, which promises to provide a "behind-the-scenes look" into the art of songwriting. It sounds like a great idea.
The first episode features the All-American Rejects talking about their song Gives You Hell. Future episodes will see Glen Ballard talk about working with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones on Man in the Mirror (I'll definitely watch that one) and Keri Hilson describing the writing process behind her single with Ne-Yo, Knock You Down. Judging by the initial video, the interviews will under five minutes and edited MTV-style with quick cuts, much like a music promo. Perhaps producers suspect viewers have short attention spans.
The Universal series features writers talking about the creation of songs in retrospect, but a forthcoming show with former American Idol judge and professional songwriter Kara DioGuardi aims to highlight the road to writing a hit. It's being lauded as an "Idol-style" competition for songwriters, "not performers", though Reuters reports that the winner will receive a $100,000 cash prize, publishing deal and recording contract, which suggests contestants will also perform.
The show, Platinum Hit, will see DioGuardi ? who's written for and with artists including Britney, Christina Aguilera, Pink ? and Jewel mentor contestants and pick a winner. In other words, there won't be an audience vote. Jewel said artists need signatures, not just hits: "A lot of great singers are foundering because they haven't found that one song." Perhaps Simon Cowell should take her words to heart and reconsider making X Factor winners release a cover as their first single.
One of the challenges will be to write a song in three hours. It sounds daunting, but can be exhilarating as well ? as I've found at songwriter retreats. We did it in a three-way co-writing setting and it made us go with our gut instinct. Too much analysis can block the creative process. One of the tracks written at the retreat even won song of the year at the Country Music awards.
But will Platinum Hit examine the creative process as it happens? The reality is most songs are not written in three hours. Max Martin, one of the world's most successful songwriters, has said that it usually takes him weeks to finish a hit. Songwriting is an intimate and sometimes painful process, and, in my experience, you need to feel free to come up with ridiculous ideas to get to the good ones, without censoring yourself. Having a camera pointed at you may not be conducive to this.
If they showed what's really involved in writing a hit song, we'd end up watching people staring into space hoping to find the right words to complete a lyric or, in the case of Paul Simon, bouncing a ball against the wall (in the book Songwriters On Songwriting he says the mechanical motion helps free up his mind). Yet a programme showing great songwriters in the process of creating (albeit in an edited version) would certainly get me hooked. If Universal really wants to illustrate the magic and the hard work that goes into making music, they should convince these writers to allow us to take that journey with them.
Sarah Polley Aisha Tyler K. D. Aubert Sara Spraker Alexis Bledel
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