Simon Cowell To Launch Talent Show On TikTok

Simon Cowell isn't making another Idol or X-Factor. 

This time, the Got Talent creator and Syco Entertainment founder is partnering with Universal Music, Republic Records, Samsung, and the prolific songwriter and producer Max Martin (Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Celine Dion, Ariana Grande) to launch a talent show on TikTok called StemDrop.

While your typical talent shows spearheaded by Cowell have lost popularity, artists on TikTok have massively grown in recognition. The platform revealed that over 70 artists who blew up on the app have since signed record deals, including Claire Rosinkranz, Dixie D'Amelio, Powfu, Priscilla Block and Tai Verdes. 

So, it makes sense that the English television personality wants in on a lucrative opportunity. TikTok has called it a "groundbreaking new evolution in global music collaboration". 

"StemDrop will act as an incubator for new talent, artistry, and creativity by giving the opportunity for all artists and music creators from anywhere in the world the opportunity to collaborate with some of the very best and most iconic songwriting talents of all time.

"Made possible by Samsung, there will also be a first of its kind 'StemDrop Mixer' on TikTok where creators of all levels can experiment with individual effects, harmonies and melodies to create and upload their own unique version of the song," reads a TikTok statement.  

StemDrop will launch on TikTok on 26 October as a "never-before-seen platform for artists to showcase their talent to the world." 

As well as Martin, songwriters Savan Kotecha (One Direction, Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera) and Ali Payami (Taylor Swift, The Weeknd) will release a 60-second version of a brand-new song, "kicking off this new generation of global music collaboration," exclusively on TikTok. 

As soon as the song lands on the app, users will immediately be able to access the "stems" - the individual components of the music like drums, bass guitar, vocal parts, and keyboard - through the StemDrop H5 page "and can create, record & share their unique versions to kick-start their music careers." Yep, people on TikTok will record their own music over a foundation laid by modern pop songwriting legends.

This is when StemDrop becomes a talent show. From here, Universal Music Group will look for the best talents to sign to Republic Records on a social media platform of over a billion monthly users. 

On the launch of StemDrop, Cowell said, "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. 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. In addition, I want to thank TikTok, Samsung and Universal for their support and enthusiasm. Again, their passionate support of talented people is amazing."

The official StemDrop channel (@stemdrop) is live now.

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