TikTok, Syco, Universal Music Group, Republic Records and Samsung launch StemDrop
- Thursday, October 20th, 2022
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TikTok, Simon Cowell’s Syco, Universal Music Group, Republic Records, Tim Van Rongen and Samsung have teamed up for the launch of StemDrop, which they describe as: “a new evolution of musical collaboration, curation and artist discovery”.
The initiative will see TikTok creators provided with music ‘stems’ – the individual components of a song such as drums, bass guitar, vocal parts etc. – and invited to produce their own versions of a brand-new song written by established songwriters.
The companies said that StemDrop will act as an incubator for new talent, artistry, and creativity by giving all artists and music creators, from anywhere in the world, the opportunity to collaborate with some of the very best and songwriting talents.
Samsung has also created a StemDrop Mixer on TikTok, which will enable creators to experiment with individual effects, harmonies and melodies to create and upload their own unique version of the song.
The platform launches officially on TikTok on 26 October on TikTok, when hit songwriters, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha and Ali Payami will release 60-seconds of their new song, ‘Red Lights’ exclusively on TikTok. As soon as the song drops, the community will be able to access the stems through the StemDrop H5 page and create, record and share their own unique versions of the song.
Max Martin has produced dozens of the greatest and best known Billboard number 1 singles over the last two decades, including Britney Spears’ ‘Baby One More Time’, Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way’, and Céline Dion’s ‘That’s the Way It is’.
The StemDrop Profile will also offer 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.
“Hit songs are like diamonds and they can change an artist’s career overnight,” said Syco owner, Simon Cowell. “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. And I want to thank them so much for believing in this idea. In addition, I want to thank TikTok, Samsung and Universal for their support and enthusiasm. Again, their passionate support of talented people is amazing.”
Paul Hourican, Global Head of Music Operations at TikTok added: “TikToks mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy, and with StemDrop our aim is to provide our creative community, wherever they are, an opportunity to collaborate and create with the worlds most iconic songwriters and their work in a new and original way. The breadth and diversity of musical talent emerging on TikTok every day is breathtaking and were committed to opening doors for artists and propelling new talent to find sustained success both on and off the platform. We cant wait to see what this collaboration brings.”