Simon Cowell‘s Syco Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Republic Records and Samsung have teamed on global music collaboration initiative StemDrop – A Song for the World.
StemDrop aims to act as an incubator for new talent by providing an opportunity for artists from anywhere in the world to collaborate with iconic songwriting talents.
The initiative will see Max Martin who has produced Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time,” Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” Céline Dion’s “That’s the Way It is,” Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” and The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights”; and his hit-making team of Savan Kotecha and Ali Payami, releasing 60 seconds of a new single exclusively on TikTok on Oct. 26. As soon as the song drops, the community will be able to access the ‘stems’ (the individual components of the song like drums, bass guitar and vocal parts) through the StemDrop page and can create, record and share their own versions.
The StemDrop Profile will also provide TikTok users and creators a window into the StemDrop process, as new versions of the track from around the world are curated weekly by each of the individual songwriting teams as well as TikTok, Syco, Republic Records and Universal Music Group. TikTok music curator Ari Elkins, singer-songwriter Astrid S and Your Boy Moyo will act as global ambassadors for StemDrop and host daily content on the @StemDrop channel on TikTok.
Cowell said: “Hit songs are like diamonds and they can change an artist’s career overnight. With tens of thousands of songs uploaded every day this idea will give aspiring artists the opportunity to collaborate with some of the most successful songwriters in the world. The premise was always very straightforward – ‘What would happen if the best songwriters in the world wrote a song for the world?’ – We have no idea what’s going to happen. I do know there are so many incredibly talented people who are trying to stand out and I hope and believe this could make a big difference to their careers. It says everything about Max Martin, Savan and Ali that they have decided to give this song to the TikTok community to record and collaborate with them.”
Ole Obermann, global head of music at TikTok, said: “Every day, brilliant, undiscovered artists and songwriters turn to TikTok to share their music and find a global audience; StemDrop will put a spotlight on this talent and act as a springboard to help them build their careers.”
Lucian Grainge, chair and CEO of Universal Music Group, said: “UMG exists at the intersection of innovation and talent discovery, so we’re excited to partner with Simon and the incredible team he’s assembled to launch this new platform, harnessing the scale of TikTok, to leverage the artistry of creators worldwide.”
StemDrop co-creator Tim Van Rongen added: “I feel it’s the exact right moment to launch a music project where the creative process is fully in the hands of the creators on TikTok. I can’t wait to see what everyone will come up with and think that the world will be surprised by the enormous creative variety that StemDrop and the TikTok community will deliver.”
