Billboard: The Climate is So Good for Singer-Songwriters

An article in Billboard Magazine caught my attention. The article talks about a parade of guitar-toting male troubadours who have climbed, slowly and sensitively, on to pop radio, with acoustic singles over the last 12-15 months.

And they include James Arthur's "Say You Won't Let Go" to Niall Horan's "Slow Hands".

Described in the article as, “strum-happy tracks, which tend to be subdued even while expressing desire or angst, also offer the opposite of rap's buoyant energy. (Additionally, their lethargy separates this recent period of acoustic popularity from a similar surge that took place in 2012 and 2013, when the Lumineers and Mumford & Sons scored hits with songs meant to inspire arena clap-alongs.) But they continue to get airwave play.”

"Ed Sheeran really led the way for this," says Nadine Santos, Director of Programming for Music Choice, which controls audio content for cable TV subscribers. "He had the same sound that came off so adult contemporary, but you went to his shows and saw 12-year-old girls. Everyone picked up on that, and this year you saw a lot more of it."

I have to say, this quite excites me. I feel a sense of déjà vu with this one. Cos I’ve just released an acoustic EP myself—just for the heck of it—but who knows where it’ll end up. If demand for acoustic continues to grow, the future certainly looks bright for contemporary acoustic pieces. Read the full Billboard article Return of the Top 40 Troubadour: How Singer-Songwriters Reclaimed Pop Radio.

A couple of weeks prior to the release of my memoirs 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach, I released an acoustic pop EP titled Twisted, containing an eclectic mix of my acoustic recordings from 2010 to 2017. Distributed by London-based Africori, Twisted is now available on all major download/stream platforms: iTunes, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play, Amazon, Akazoo and Spotify. Download/Stream Twisted EP Here!

And would you like to follow the acoustic trail yourself? You'll find plenty of vocal warm-up tips and piano scales audio tapes in my new book 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach, now available in paperback for a WHOPPING 25% DISCOUNT here!

You are the Instrument, Learn to Sing Like a Pro!

JOETT — Vocal Coach

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