NBC has renewed the hit songwriting competition series Songland for a second season. According to an NBC press release, the series is averaging a 1.1 rating in adults 18-49 and 5.1 million viewers overall in “live plus seven day” Nielsens, making it the summer’s #1 most-watched new alternative series. Songland stayed remarkably steady, even after a five week hiatus and a day and time change.
Songland has produced multiple chart-topping hits including six songs that have achieved a #1 ranking on an iTunes music chart. The show provides viewers with the ability to immediately download or stream the winning song following the episode.
Check out statistics from the show’s most popular releases.
- “Greenlight” by Jonas Brothers (Songwriter Able Heart) – Following the Jonas Brothers episode, “Greenlight” hit #1 on the iTunes Overall Charts.
- “Better Luck Next Time” by Kelsea Ballerini (Songwriter Darius Coleman) – Following the Kelsea Ballerini episode, “Better Luck Next Time” ranked #1 on the iTunes Pop Chart and #2 on the iTunes Overall Charts.
- “Be Nice” by Black Eyed Peas (Songwriter Adam Friedman) – will.i.am chose to put all three songs on the upcoming Black Eyed Peas album. He featured Snoop Dogg on the track and included him in the music video. Additionally, “Be Nice” ranked #1 on the iTunes Rock Charts.
- “Shadow” by Macklemore ft. IRO – Macklemore asked songwriter and Songland contestant IRO to be featured on the track, where he can be heard singing the hook. Following the Macklemore episode, “Shadow” ft. IRO ranked #1 on the iTunes Hip-Hop/Rap Chart.
- “Solo Quiero (Somebody to Love)” by Leona Lewis, Cali y El Dandee and Juan Magán. (Songwriter Rozee) – Leona Lewis chose to release her song from the episode with Latin superstars Cali y El Dandee and Juan Magán. Following the Leona Lewis episode, “Solo Quiero (Somebody to Love)” reached #1 on the iTunes Latino chart.
- “We Need Love” by John Legend (Songwriter Tebby Burrows) – Following the John Legend episode, “We Need Love” ranked #1 on the iTunes R&B chart.
Songland created two special partnership episodes in its first season – one in which Aloe Blacc (Songwriter Kyle Williams) found a hit song that was featured in Universal Pictures’ blockbuster film Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and one in which Old Dominion found a song for a Jeep® brand commercial, in which Jeep® chose to feature the winning songwriter, Katelyn Tarver.
The series’ innovative format takes an inside look at the creative process behind songwriting, and each episode provides one up-and-coming songwriter the opportunity to have their song recorded by a chart-topping artist and released immediately after the episode airs worldwide. Songland season one guest recording artists include Jonas Brothers, John Legend, Meghan Trainor, Macklemore, Charlie Puth, Kelsea Ballerini, will.i.am, OneRepublic, Aloe Blacc, Old Dominion and Leona Lewis.
The show features powerhouse producer-mentors Ryan Tedder (lead singer of OneRepublic and Grammy Award-winning producer of Adele, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Jonas Brothers), Ester Dean (Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer of Rihanna, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj) and Shane McAnally (Grammy-winning songwriter and producer of Kacey Musgraves, Kelly Clarkson and Sam Hunt with 40 #1 country records).
Songland is executive produced by producer Audrey Morrissey (The Voice), director Ivan Dudynsky, Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart, Chad Hines, and Maroon 5 lead singer and former The Voice coach Adam Levine. Josh Gummersall serves as producer along with Ryan Tedder.
The search for the next hit song continues! Visit www.songlandcasting.com to apply for the opportunity to have your song featured on season two of Songland.
