Esta Startup Deixará Você Escrever Uma Canção Com O Seu Músico Favorito

This Startup Will Let You Write A Song With Your Favorite Musician

First of all thanks to Hugh McIntyre for this article.

Songwriting can be one of the most personal things an artist can do in the process of creating a track, but over the years, it has become a much more collaborative experience, especially when big names are involved. Very few songs that make any impact on the charts are penned by one person, and there are plenty of instances of up to a dozen writers appearing on the same track, and sometimes none of them are even the act that ends up recording the tune and making it a hit.

Hookist is taking collaborative songwriting to the next level, and the startup is doing so in a way that helps up-and-coming artists make a few dollars in the process. An artist can partner with the company to launch a competition of sorts, and they then promote it to all of their fans. Those that love their art can submit lyrics one line at a time, which the musician running the show sorts through, choosing as many as they like to compose a final product. Hookiest is a place online where lyrics can be crowdsourced, and while that might sound somewhat impersonal for the artist collecting submissions, it is a way for the biggest fans to open up their hearts and become part of the art they’ve always loved.

Those that want to take part in the fun pay just $0.49 to submit every line, a price point which co-founder Meredith Collins felt was important to keep intact. 

“It’s not going to break anybody’s bank,” Collins suggested, “but it will provide just enough friction so that people actually craft something.” If there wasn’t any money connected to the submission process, artists might be flooded with terrible suggestions, and then it’s not about choosing the best of the bunch, but sorting through the garbage. Most projects receive just under 1,000 submissions, but as the startup grows and more people learn about it, that number could easily double or even triple, and it might soon become difficult for acts to read every submission, even if fans need to pay.

Despite the extremely manageable price of sending in a line, many dedicated followers spend up to $15 per project, because the desire to share a songwriting credit with a favorite band is worth the price of admission, and they want to submit enough lines to ensure at least one will wind up chosen.

So far, Hookist has worked with acts like the Crash Test Dummies and the Spin Doctors, and the legendary Paul Williams even joined the group on a tune created to be the anthem for a charity organization called Facing Addiction.

At the end of the day, Hookist is not meant to alter how artists create full albums, or to take away the task of songwriting entirely. It’s also not a way to bring in a truly meaningful sum of money, though for many names partnering with this startup, every little bit counts. 

Collins calls it “a really powerful fan engagement tool,” and she’s smart to do so. Forming strong connections with those paying to see concerts and buying new albums is incredibly important to every musician on the planet, from bands just starting out to the most famous pop stars on the planet. Hookist allows them to connect on an even deeper level than they already might have been, while at the same time “staying relevant and doing something respectful of the art,” according to the co-founder.