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...
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Amy Allen's A-List Playlist
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
2023 Songwriter of the Year Grammy nominee Amy Allen is one of the most in-demand songwriters in pop music. Her credits include songs written for Selena Gomez, Halsey, King Princess, Charli XCX, Harry Styles, Lizzo, Alexander23 and many more. She has landed a coveted spot on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List and was featured as one of Variety’s “Hitmakers of the Month.” In 2021, Amy was honored at the Ivor Novello Awards, along with Tyler Johnson, Kid Harpoon and Harry Styles, for their GRAMMY-nominated song “Adore You.” On this episode Amy talks about her roots in Maine, what it...
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Esperanza Spalding is always evolving
VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast
This episode is about all that jazz. Esperanza Spalding is a five-time Grammy Award-winning bassist, singer, songwriter and composer. Recently, she has expanded her gifts to include work with fellow creators, teachers and practitioners in various fields to explore the therapeutic potential of music. Her last two albums, 2018’s 12 Little Spells and 2021’s Songwrights Apothecary Lab, reflect this new direction in her evolution as an artist. She wrote an opera with Wayne Shorter, which premiered in fall 2021, and is presently working with Harvard University to co-create and learn with...
info_outlineSinger, 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 with amped up, guitar-driven, rockstar energy, continues to gain new fans all over the globe and crank out more modern classics like “Watermelon Sunshine,” “Smell Like Smoke” and “Hold My Halo.” She has been headlining and selling out shows all across the map, while also gracing festival stages at Lollapalooza, Stagecoach and at arenas with the likes of Luke Combs and other leading country stars.
She just made history by nabbing nine 2023 CMA Award nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Single of the Year, Album of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year. She is the only artist to top the nominations list in her first two appearances on the final ballot. This on the heels of winning big at the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, receiving, among others, top honors for Album of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year. She also received Billboard’s Women in Music “Rulebreaker” Award this year and is the most nominated woman at the People’s Choice Country Awards as well.
Full of heart, soul, grit and gratitude, Lainey shares what has inspired and challenged her, advice for fellow music creators and how she feels about this hard-won moment in her career.
Also, Jordan Smith Reynolds, the winner of our Green Theme Song Contest, powered by Studio Green @ ASCAP, joins to chat and share a special in-studio performance of his winning work.
Check out Lainey’s website.
Watch the video for Lainey’s multiple CMA-nominated song “Heart Like a Truck”
Learn more about Studio Green @ ASCAP