Music + Mental Health with Dr. Chayim Newman and Zack Borer
Release Date: 05/19/2023
Behind the Songs with Justin Tranter
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
For the past decade, megahit songwriter Justin Tranter has penned hit after beloved hit for massive acts like Chappell Roan, Selena Gomez, Imagine Dragons, Fall Out Boy, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, Janelle Monáe – the list goes on and on. Justin’s keen ear for catchy hooks, resonant lyrics and an endless supply of infectious melodies has secured their near constant presence on the top of the charts for the past 10 years – and their ambitions only grow stronger with every smash, most recently Chappell Roan’s undeniable anthem “Good...
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Aoife O'Donovan Moves Folk Forward
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan got her start as lead singer with the celebrated roots music group Crooked Still. She also founded the Grammy-winning folk trio, I’m With Her, alongside Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz, and has released three critically-acclaimed solo albums, including 2022’s Age of Apathy, which garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album. She has performed, recorded and collaborated with an extraordinary number of musical artists, from the Boston Pops Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra to folk, jazz and bluegrass luminaries such...
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The ASCAP Lab Gets Down to Business with AI
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
The ASCAP Lab is ASCAP’s innovation initiative, where the organization experiments to create the ASCAP of the next 100 years. Its mission is to explore advanced technologies, new business approaches and creative collaborations with the intent to foster and expand new ways to serve and support ASCAP members - all part of our commitment to being “creator first, future forward.” One way it is achieving this goal is with the ASCAP Lab Challenge. Launched in 2020, this annual innovation accelerator program, operated in partnership with the NYC Media Lab led by the NYU Tandon School of...
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Ingrid Michaelson's Musical Embrace
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
Following her debut as a composer for Broadway’s The Notebook, singer, songwriter and producer Ingrid Michaelson released For the Dreamers, a masterful collection of orchestral pop songs and treasured classics that feels like a golden-hued, heartwarming musical hug for our anxious times. She talked to VERSED about the joy of making the album, following your artistic muse, facing your creative fears and building a trusted team. Then, pianist, composer and bandleader Joe Block, hailed by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of “jazz’s most promising young composers” and a recent winner of an...
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Lenny Kravitz Hits the Road
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
Singer-songwriter extraordinaire, actor, designer and superstar Lenny Kravitz has been crafting his unique fusion of rock, funk, reggae and soul for more than three decades, creating such massive hits as “It Ain’t Over ‘til It’s Over,” “Again,” “Let Love Rule,” “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” “Fly Away” and “American Woman.” He’s a Grammy winner and has won numerous awards, including American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Music Awards, Brit Awards and has old over 40 million albums worldwide - all done with his distinctive flair, passion and drive. As...
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Cirkut: Record Maker, Record Breaker
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
Over his 15-year career, writer-producer Henry “Cirkut” Walter has quietly emerged as one of the most trusted collaborators in music. He’s worked with a veritable Mt. Olympus of today’s biggest artists, from Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna to Maroon 5, Sam Smith and The Weeknd. You can hear Cirkut’s production skills on many of the most iconic pop songs and albums of the past decade, including Katy Perry’s “Roar” and “Dark Horse,” MiIey Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball,” and The Weeknd’s multi-platinum Starboy album, which earned him a Grammy in 2018. While...
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What Drives Lainey Wilson?
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
Singer, songwriter, superstar Lainey Wilson left Baskin, Louisiana and moved to Nashville in a camper trailer 12 years ago. She spent her early years building her career, song by song, show by show, before breaking through with her #1 hit “Things a Man Oughta Know” in 2021. Since then, Lainey’s been on a wildly successful ride. Her second #1 song, “Never Say Never” with Cole Swindell in 2022 was followed by the #1 hits “Heart Like a Truck” and her collaboration with HARDY, “Wait in the Truck.” Her critically-acclaimed 2023 album, Bell Bottom Country, overflowing...
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Steve Aoki Talks Health and Heritage
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
Counting nearly 3 billion music streams to his name, Steve Aoki is a true visionary. A two-time Grammy-nominated music producer, artist, fashion designer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, NFT futurist and Dim Mak Records founder, he has been described by Billboard as “one of the most in-demand entertainers in the world.” He holds the Guinness World Record for the “Most Traveled Musician in a Single Calendar Year” and has performed at nearly every top music festival around the world, including Coachella, Ultra Music festival, Lollapalooza, Fuji Rock Festival, Tomorrowland, Electric Daisy...
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Music + Mental Health with Dr. Chayim Newman and Zack Borer
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. And as the weather warms up and music festival season starts, so many artists will hit the road to do what they do best - share their music, live-in-person, with the world, and bring joy to millions of people. But the challenges of being a touring artist can take a terrible toll on creators’ mental and physical health. In a 2022 paper in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, Dr. Chayim Newman and Zack Borer - revealed some sobering statistics from a 239-question survey of more than eleven hundred touring professionals. They discovered that people working...
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Maroon 5's James Valentine Riffs on Sustainability in Music
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
As part of our Earth Day celebration in partnership with Studio Green @ ASCAP, we talk to James Valentine, founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist for one of the biggest bands on the planet - three-time Grammy Award winners Maroon 5. James’s work with the band has led to more than 135 million albums sold and created a steady stream of hit singles, including “She Will Be Loved,” “This Love,” “Payphone,” “Moves Like Jagger,” “Maps,” “Sugar” and more. James also serves as an advisory board member for REVERB, the non-profit environmental advocacy organization made...
info_outlineMay is Mental Health Awareness Month. And as the weather warms up and music festival season starts, so many artists will hit the road to do what they do best - share their music, live-in-person, with the world, and bring joy to millions of people. But the challenges of being a touring artist can take a terrible toll on creators’ mental and physical health. In a 2022 paper in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, Dr. Chayim Newman and Zack Borer - revealed some sobering statistics from a 239-question survey of more than eleven hundred touring professionals. They discovered that people working in the music industry have rates of depression, anxiety and suicide risk five to 10 times higher than the normal population. That’s an astonishing statistic, but probably not surprising to many of our members who spend much of the year on the road facing many challenges.
Newman and Borer recently launched Amber Health, a company that offers a broad suite of mental health services to help treat the root causes of this mental health crisis and to provide solutions for the music industry. To date, with science-based research under their belt, they’ve worked with such organizations as the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals, the Country Music Association, Live Nation as well as top artists in the industry.
In an illuminating conversation, Newman and Borer share insights into the unique challenges artists face as working music professionals and some of the ways we can take care of ourselves and each other.
Check out the ASCAP Wellness Program
Read how the industry is confronting music’s mental health crisis
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