One song. One thousand people. One million streams.
It started with a dream.
In my dream I was driving with a group of new friends and we pulled into a parking space. Right behind us was another car, filled with a group of friends from my past. The car I was in, with my new group of friends, took the only available parking spot. As the other car started to leave, since there was no space to park, one of my new friends jumped out of the car I was in and drew a new parking space on the road with chalk. My old friends pulled their car into the new space my friend had created and parked and got out to join us.
For some reason this dream stuck with me and for the next few days I kept thinking about what it could mean and how it might relate to my life. There was the idea of "coloring outside the lines" and "thinking outside of the box". There was also the idea of making room for old ideas and goals and integrating them with newer ones. There was also the idea of arriving at a destination and reaching a goal.
As I thought about this dream, an idea came to me, inspired by my thought process of trying to decipher what this dream could mean.
A few years ago I had an idea for creating an "album" of music, using dozens of musicians from all over the world. All individually recording parts and having a producer mix and master everything remotely. The idea was to create something together, that would be greater than its' individual parts. I thought if I could get dozens of musicians involved and excited in a project, that together we could pool our collective resources, both creatively and in terms of marketing and social media, and generate more interest and attention than we could on our own. Strength in numbers.
But, like many of my "genius" ideas, the more I thought about the idea, the more I discovered and invented reasons why the idea would never work and why it was probably just too crazy to pull off.
So, I forgot about it. Until my dream.
For some reason the idea came back to me. I started asking myself, how could I take my old dreams and goals and integrate them with the path I'm currently on. How can I integrate my life long dream of making it big in the music business, with my more recent goal of utilizing the internet and social media to help other artists reach their goals? How could I do both?
Then, I had an idea that was a little different, and more elegant and simple, than my original idea.
The thought went something like this....
What if you started with one really good song about how we're all connected and a part of the same human race. An important message in these crazy times we're living through.
What if you then had one person with a large social media following and they used their social reach to get the word out about the project via Facebook posts, Tik Tok, Instagram, tweets, Youtube videos, blogs and email? The project would probably generate a little bit of attention.
But it would probably fail to reach any real momentum or buzz. It would most likely get lost in the sea of music that's out there like most recording projects do.
Then i thought...
What if you had two people with a large social media following and they used their social reach to get the word out about the project via Facebook posts, Tik Tok, Instagram, tweets, Youtube videos, blogs and email? It would probably get a little more interest. But it still would most likely fail to reach the needed tipping point for mainstream success.
Then I thought...
What if you had four people with a large social media following and they used their social reach to get the word out about the project via Facebook posts, Tik Tok, Instagram, tweets, Youtube videos, blogs and email? It would probably do even better with four people all kicking ass in getting the word out.
Then I thought...
What if you had eight people or ten people?
Then I thought what if you had 15 or 20 people?
Then I thought, what if you had hundreds of people or even a thousand.
So I emailed my producer Gary and asked him, how many vocalists could we have on one song without it becoming sonically too busy and "muddy". Gary said we could potentially have hundreds of voices, or even a thousand or more if done correctly.
Then I had a lightbulb, aha moment.
If there were hundreds or more people, with large, or even small to medium sized social media reach, all working together to promote an amazing music project, wouldn't that be enough to generate real buzz?
Wouldn't it be possible, together, to reach a "tipping point", where enough people would check out and support the project that we could, for example, generate hundreds of thousands of streams or even millions? I mean, it sounds kind of crazy, but yet why wouldn't it work?
There is strength in numbers after all.
The more I thought about the idea, the more excited I got. Sure, I could try to pull this off and it could fail. But so what? Would I or anyone participating be any worse off? What If I tried it and it succeeded, but didn't meet the goal of generating millions of streams, but myself and everyone who participated still managed to get a fair amount of attention and press? That would still be pretty cool and better than had I not tried at all.
Then I thought, what if it actually succeeded and I put together a team of amazing and passionate musicians, that share the same vision for getting their music out on a wider scale? It could actually work!
You may say I'm a dreamer...
Then, I thought, Screw it. I'm doing it. After all, what do I really have to lose?
Does this project sound like something you want to be involved in?
Do you want to make internet history and be involved in a new, collective way of promoting ourselves and our music together?
Do you want your voice to be heard on a song that generates hundreds of thousands or even millions of streams on Spotify, Youtube, etc?
Do you want to reach a wider audience?
Do you believe in the idea of "Strength In Numbers"?
If so, here's what you need to do.
1) Check out the following song.
In my dream I was driving with a group of new friends and we pulled into a parking space. Right behind us was another car, filled with a group of friends from my past. The car I was in, with my new group of friends, took the only available parking spot. As the other car started to leave, since there was no space to park, one of my new friends jumped out of the car I was in and drew a new parking space on the road with chalk. My old friends pulled their car into the new space my friend had created and parked and got out to join us.
For some reason this dream stuck with me and for the next few days I kept thinking about what it could mean and how it might relate to my life. There was the idea of "coloring outside the lines" and "thinking outside of the box". There was also the idea of making room for old ideas and goals and integrating them with newer ones. There was also the idea of arriving at a destination and reaching a goal.
As I thought about this dream, an idea came to me, inspired by my thought process of trying to decipher what this dream could mean.
A few years ago I had an idea for creating an "album" of music, using dozens of musicians from all over the world. All individually recording parts and having a producer mix and master everything remotely. The idea was to create something together, that would be greater than its' individual parts. I thought if I could get dozens of musicians involved and excited in a project, that together we could pool our collective resources, both creatively and in terms of marketing and social media, and generate more interest and attention than we could on our own. Strength in numbers.
But, like many of my "genius" ideas, the more I thought about the idea, the more I discovered and invented reasons why the idea would never work and why it was probably just too crazy to pull off.
So, I forgot about it. Until my dream.
For some reason the idea came back to me. I started asking myself, how could I take my old dreams and goals and integrate them with the path I'm currently on. How can I integrate my life long dream of making it big in the music business, with my more recent goal of utilizing the internet and social media to help other artists reach their goals? How could I do both?
Then, I had an idea that was a little different, and more elegant and simple, than my original idea.
The thought went something like this....
What if you started with one really good song about how we're all connected and a part of the same human race. An important message in these crazy times we're living through.
What if you then had one person with a large social media following and they used their social reach to get the word out about the project via Facebook posts, Tik Tok, Instagram, tweets, Youtube videos, blogs and email? The project would probably generate a little bit of attention.
But it would probably fail to reach any real momentum or buzz. It would most likely get lost in the sea of music that's out there like most recording projects do.
Then i thought...
What if you had two people with a large social media following and they used their social reach to get the word out about the project via Facebook posts, Tik Tok, Instagram, tweets, Youtube videos, blogs and email? It would probably get a little more interest. But it still would most likely fail to reach the needed tipping point for mainstream success.
Then I thought...
What if you had four people with a large social media following and they used their social reach to get the word out about the project via Facebook posts, Tik Tok, Instagram, tweets, Youtube videos, blogs and email? It would probably do even better with four people all kicking ass in getting the word out.
Then I thought...
What if you had eight people or ten people?
Then I thought what if you had 15 or 20 people?
Then I thought, what if you had hundreds of people or even a thousand.
So I emailed my producer Gary and asked him, how many vocalists could we have on one song without it becoming sonically too busy and "muddy". Gary said we could potentially have hundreds of voices, or even a thousand or more if done correctly.
Then I had a lightbulb, aha moment.
If there were hundreds or more people, with large, or even small to medium sized social media reach, all working together to promote an amazing music project, wouldn't that be enough to generate real buzz?
Wouldn't it be possible, together, to reach a "tipping point", where enough people would check out and support the project that we could, for example, generate hundreds of thousands of streams or even millions? I mean, it sounds kind of crazy, but yet why wouldn't it work?
There is strength in numbers after all.
The more I thought about the idea, the more excited I got. Sure, I could try to pull this off and it could fail. But so what? Would I or anyone participating be any worse off? What If I tried it and it succeeded, but didn't meet the goal of generating millions of streams, but myself and everyone who participated still managed to get a fair amount of attention and press? That would still be pretty cool and better than had I not tried at all.
Then I thought, what if it actually succeeded and I put together a team of amazing and passionate musicians, that share the same vision for getting their music out on a wider scale? It could actually work!
You may say I'm a dreamer...
Then, I thought, Screw it. I'm doing it. After all, what do I really have to lose?
Does this project sound like something you want to be involved in?
Do you want to make internet history and be involved in a new, collective way of promoting ourselves and our music together?
Do you want your voice to be heard on a song that generates hundreds of thousands or even millions of streams on Spotify, Youtube, etc?
Do you want to reach a wider audience?
Do you believe in the idea of "Strength In Numbers"?
If so, here's what you need to do.
1) Check out the following song.
2) If you like the track and want to contribute your vocals to the track, download the file here. You can also download a lead sheet here with the notation.
For this project we're only looking for people to contribute vocals to the songs' outro, since all the instruments are already recorded. It doesn't matter if you're not an amazing, lead vocalist. If you can sing in tune and add background vocals, that's sufficient
For this project we're only looking for people to contribute vocals to the songs' outro, since all the instruments are already recorded. It doesn't matter if you're not an amazing, lead vocalist. If you can sing in tune and add background vocals, that's sufficient
3) Record your vocals (melody and/or harmony/ies) clearly, in tune, and with no distortion. Start singing after the Guitar Solo on the lyric "We're Only Human".
NOTE: You CAN sing in your native language as well as in English if you're native language is not English. If so, include both the English Version file(s) and a translation of "We're Only Human" in your native language. We may be mixing individual non-English languages together in separate choruses. In your email to us, let us know what language(s) you sang in.
NOTE: You CAN sing in your native language as well as in English if you're native language is not English. If so, include both the English Version file(s) and a translation of "We're Only Human" in your native language. We may be mixing individual non-English languages together in separate choruses. In your email to us, let us know what language(s) you sang in.
4) Email a download link to your 44.1 Sample Rate 24 Bit Depth WAV Files to my producer Gary Gray at musignition@gmail.com AND ALSO to his Lead Intern Diane at diane88s@gmail.com.
Make sure each WAV file is exported as one continuous file and is not in pieces.
DO NOT USE WE TRANSFER or any file sharing system with download links that expire. Use a file sharing system with download links that do not expire. For example: Box, DropBox, Disco.io, etc.
Make sure each WAV file is exported as one continuous file and is not in pieces.
DO NOT USE WE TRANSFER or any file sharing system with download links that expire. Use a file sharing system with download links that do not expire. For example: Box, DropBox, Disco.io, etc.
5) Be sure to download and return the following contract here and send your contract with your stem files.
We'll be splitting any royalties earned 50/50 with everyone involved. 50 Percent will go to the songwriter, producers and performers, and the remaining 50 percent will be split equally amongst everyone else who participates.
The amount you earn, as I'm sure you can imagine if you're familiar with what streaming royalties pay will fluctuate greatly based on how many streams the song racks up and how many people participate.
We'll be splitting any royalties earned 50/50 with everyone involved. 50 Percent will go to the songwriter, producers and performers, and the remaining 50 percent will be split equally amongst everyone else who participates.
The amount you earn, as I'm sure you can imagine if you're familiar with what streaming royalties pay will fluctuate greatly based on how many streams the song racks up and how many people participate.
6) When sending your files, use the following SUBJECT LINE in your email:
"WE'RE ONLY HUMAN" VOCALS / I AGREE THAT AARON DAVISON OWNS 100% RIGHTS TO HIS SONG AND RECORDING
"WE'RE ONLY HUMAN" VOCALS / I AGREE THAT AARON DAVISON OWNS 100% RIGHTS TO HIS SONG AND RECORDING
7) Optional: You can also video yourself while singing and include the video file along with your audio files. We will assume that you have given us full legal rights and permission to use your visual likeness and video footage in various music videos and in order to help promote this project once we receive a video from you.
If you know any Celebrities and/or social media influencers, please ask them to join in and submit vocal files/video files!! Or, simply help us spread the word :)
My suggestion is to not do this for the money but to participate in a unique, experimental project and way of promoting music online collectively. If we all work together and promote the track, who knows, maybe we can actually get this track to go legitimately viral. Wouldn't that be cool?!
We'll share in all the marketing and spreading the word on social media to build a substantial buzz that will lead to press, streams and ultimately, if all goes well, internet music history.
If you're going to dream, you might as well dream big!
If you choose to participate in the project we'll be holding at least one zoom call where we'll go over the strategy for working together to promote the project and how we can maximize our efforts to get as much attention as possible.
I'll also be keeping everyone who participates abreast of the project via email leading up to the songs' release.
Sound interesting?
Join us in this exciting project and together let's make music history!