NBC's next big music show could come from those who've helped make The Voice a hit.
The latter's executive producer Audrey Morrissey and coach Adam Levine are teaming with Grammy Award-winning songwriter Dave Stewart on a pilot called Songland. As its title suggests, the project is predicated on the simple premise that the songwriter is king in the music business.
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While artists make money on songs that they record, songwriters have multiple avenues and points at which they can generate hefty revenue from their works. If ultimately ordered to series, Songland will pull back the curtain on the song marketplace and the power brokers within it. The project is expected to feature everyday people with compelling stories who get the opportunity to pitch original compositions to the music industry's biggest producers and artists, all hunting for the next global smash.
Songland is being produced by Live Animals in association with Dave Stewart Entertainment and Levine's 222 Productions. The three-time Grammy winner will be an executive producer on the project alongside Morrissey, Stewart, Live Animals' Ivan Dudynsky and Levine's manager-turned-producing partner Jordan Feldstein.
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The news comes nearly two years after NBC announced it had inked a development deal with the Maroon 5 frontman, though Songland doesn't fall under the first-look as it was created by Morrissey and Stewart. Levine has shrewdly capitalized on the The Voice's success, having diversified his resume with an acting career (Begin Again, American Horror Story), endorsement deals and fashion and fragrance lines.
