Songwriters, producers behind Drake, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran to represent Spotify’s Secret Genius
Spotify is continuing its commitment to amplifying the creative forces behind today’s biggest stars by announcing the next class of Secret Genius, which spotlights songwriters and producers.
Ali Tamposi, Ben Billions, Benny Blanco, Frank Dukes, Ina Wroldsen, Jamie Scott, Murda Beatz, Shane McAnally, Sky A. Ramirez and Tayla Parx have been selected as ambassadors for the initiative the streaming service announced.
This year’s class was responsible for writing or producing hits for Camila Cabello, Selena Gomez, Liam Payne, The Weeknd, Maroon 5, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Halsey, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Cardi B, Calvin Harris, Drake, Migos, Travis Scott, J Balvin, Sam Hunt, Miranda Lambert, Janelle Monáe, Demi Lovato and Julia Michaels.
“Diversity is very important to us, as far as backgrounds of the songwriters and where they came from in the world,” said Tiffany Kumar, Spotify’s global head of songwriter relations, of this year’s class.
As part of the program, the creators will host songwriting camps throughout the year, detail their creative process for podcasts hosted on the service as well as curated playlists. They will also be honored at the second annual Secret Genius Awards later in the year.
“We know how important producers and songwriters are to the process … but how do you educate the consumers to that process and amplify them that as well?” said Troy Carter, the streamer’s global head of creator services. “Once physical started eroding, credits went away. We saw this as a way to [remedy] that.”
During a dinner at his home in honor of the initiative last month, Carter said the mission of Secret Genius was to foster community among creatives.
As part of that mission, Spotify unveiled its Secret Genius Studios in Los Angeles, Nashville, Atlanta and London. The studios offer up-and-coming songwriters access to the latest recording equipment and time with a seasoned engineer free of charge.
“The idea was to be able to open up pop up recording studios around the world,” Carter said. “What it turned into was this curation of songwriters bringing in other top songwriters to work on projects — and we really saw hit songs come out of there.”
To celebrate the launch of the studios — and mark Women’s History Month — Meghan Trainor, Jhené Aiko and Charli XCX selected emerging producers and songwriters to be the first ones to work there.
In recent weeks Secret Genius has hosted several songwriting camps, including a three-day camp for work on former Fifth Harmony member Normani’s highly anticipated debut album.
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