Music moves at such a fast pace these days. Every day, Spotify sees circa 40 thousand new track additions and lists over 50 million songs. If we assume an average track length of 2 minutes, that's 190.259 calendar years worth of audio. ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY YEARS. As far as I know, the oldest humans lived to 146 and 122 years old. They could’ve started listening in the womb and still not made it through the entire Spotify library.
You know those songs you love and believe had the potential to be and deserved to be smashes but they just didn’t manage to cut through the noise? I know you all have that song, I’d be intrigued to know which one it is for you. You almost want to pull an Apple and U2 album moment, but alas we must respect free will. But what if we could simply create space to allow this lost music to be found? This is the idea behind the new label Recycled Records. They are setting out to breathe new life into pre existing tracks, and give music consumers the chance to discover them.
Making music takes time and effort, and for an artist who truly believes in their work, I can back them pushing a pre-existing track. I mean, it was only last month or so that I discovered that Whitney Houston’s “I will always love you” (recorded in 1992), had first been penned 20 years prior by Dolly Parton. Dolly’s original was successful in it’s own right, and then Whitney’s interpretation spent 14 weeks at number one making it one of the best-selling singles of all time, and it's one of my all-time favourite tracks too. Music is timeless. I feel like there’s always room for a fresh take on a bop. Isn’t that what remixes do? And sampling?
This approach to music makes someone like me smile. As I’m typing this post, I have Nelly Furtado’s “Best Of’ album on, simply because I randomly thought about how good “I’m like a bird” was and wondered what else she had created that I had missed out on. For reference, I've just checked my Apple Music and this compilation is a 2010 project. I guess it’s okay for Nelly because she established herself previously, however independent artists seem to get caught in both the pros and cons of this streaming era. On the good side, it’s easier than ever to release music. On the less good side, it’s easy to get swallowed up. I have respect for what Recycled Records are doing as not only are they completely re recording songs, with new vocals and professional production, they’re also giving these independent artists a platform to tell their story.
So now onto you guys, if you could re-record and release any song lost in the music-verse, which one would it be? Share them with me on twitter – they’ll probably end up on my monthly playlist :)
For me, here’s one I’ve been obsessed with since hearing it in an Anna McNulty beginner stretches youtube video LOL:
As always, anyone wanting to talk music, media or the industry, hit me up on twitter/IG! Always happy to connect :)
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