It’s not exactly a secret that The Voice is a hugely successful global television phenomenon but has failed to do much for the careers of the contestants who appear on the show.
Whilst it’s provided boosts for the careers of the judges and coaches that appear on the show, The Voice has failed to give us a Guy Sebastian, a Kelly Clarkson, or even a Nollsy.
Ironically, a former coach on the show thinks he may know why The Voice makes for lucrative television but fails dismally as a launch pad for a successful music career.
Funnily enough, it’s the show’s focus on “the voice”. That’s according to Ryan Tedder, professional songwriter and the frontman of OneRepublic, best known for their single ‘Apologize’.
Tedder also works behind the scenes penning songs with the likes of Adele, Beyonce, Sam Smith, U2, Ed Sheeran, and The Killers. He also penned Leona Lewis’ mega-hit ‘Bleeding Love’.
Suffice it to say, Tedder knows a thing or two about launching a career and he told News Corp The Voice‘s narrow focus on simply finding someone with good vocal chops is its undoing.
At least as far as artists are concerned, anyway. Tedder has criticised a lack of focus on creating fully formed artists with charisma, authenticity, personality, and songwriting ability.
“I have heard (OneRepublic’s hit) ‘Counting Stars’ covered 30 times on these shows and Adele’s ‘Turning Tables’ and they can sound great covering those songs but they don’t live it,” he said.
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“Even with OneRepublic, if I put out a record that sounds like me trying to have a hit, it would backfire, it never works,” he continued.
“To answer that billion dollar question about The Voice, I think to make them turn out a proper star they need to find a songwriter with a decent voice, a singer with something to say. Then you will have a hit.”
As for the Aussie artists the hit machine would be interested in working with, he mentioned names like previous collaborator Matt Corby, as well as Tame Impala and Empire of the Sun.
