stayc main image

Why Jay-Z Was Named The #1 Rapper Of All Time

February 23, 2023

Who is the greatest rapper of all time? Is it even possible to crown just one person? Well, Billboard and Vibe did exactly that. And, according to them, that person is Jay-Z. In honor of Hip-Hop’s

Read more
stayc main image

Behind Kaytranada’s Unique Sound

February 18, 2023

Kaytranada (Louis Celestin) is a Haitian-Canadian record producer and DJ. He is a highly acclaimed electronic artist, having earned two Grammys and countless other awards for his work. Kaytranada has

Read more
stayc main image

The Creative Act: Rick Rubin’s Knowledge Turned Into A Book

February 17, 2023

What happens when a famous music producer takes an interest in self-help books? The Creative Act is your answer. But who is Rick Rubin? Without a doubt, Rubin has an impressive track record in the

Read more
stayc main image

Behind the Music: The Audio Engineer

February 14, 2023

The music industry is a place full of musicians, producers, and creators who have the magical ability to make those perfect sounds we hear everyday through our digital devices. We want to listen close

Read more
stayc main image

Koji Kondo: Nintendo’s Melody Maestro

February 14, 2023

What do popular video games franchises Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Star Fox all have in common? They were all produced and published by Nintendo, and the iconic music themes that you hear in...

Read more
stayc main image

Taylor Swift on Industry Sexism and Music Rights

February 8, 2023

Being a successful woman in the music industry is no easy feat. Not only do they deal with the typical trials and tribulations of being a musician, but there are also gender-specific challenges.

Read more
stayc main image

What’s the Ideal Length for a Single— Are Songs Getting Shorter?

February 8, 2023

“Is it just me, or are songs getting shorter these days?” This is a question I have often pondered, especially in the last few years. It appears that in the era of social media, attention spans are

Read more
stayc main image

SG Lewis: Who Is He - and What’s Next For This Rising Star?

February 6, 2023

SG Lewis (Samuel George Lewis) is a rising star in the dance/electronic music realm. He is a DJ/producer turned singer-songwriter, and is known for his disco-inspired, transcendent sound. He routinely

Read more
stayc main image

Lessons to Learn From the Launch Of Sam Smith’s “Unholy”

February 4, 2023

Sam Smith just released their new album “Gloria” on the 27th of January. As described by Pitchfork, “Gloria flips between hyperpop, country, dancehall, disco, 2-step, and intimate, Kehlani-esque R&B”.

Read more
stayc main image

Are Virtual Idols the Future of Music?

February 5, 2023

Virtual reality and the metaverse have become popular topics in the music industry where more and more technology and music have been combined, creating something that could revolutionize the entire

Read more
stayc main image

Grammy Awards Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical: The Category Songwriters Deserve

February 5, 2023

The 65th annual GRAMMY Awards are here, and there's a long-awaited addition to the awards. This year marks the introduction of a new category: the Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical Award. For all

Read more
stayc main image

How Zach Bryan’s Authenticity Makes His Music So Appealing, Even to Non-Country Fans

January 31, 2023

Zach Bryan released his first album in 2019, and in the short time since he has become one of the biggest names in country. His biggest album, “American Heartbreak”, broke single-day album streaming

Read more

Ryan Tedder’s Studio Review: Writing Three Songs From Scratch

stayc main image

Photo: Studio

Ryan Tedder is a highly accomplished and sought-after music producer and songwriter. He is known for his work with a wide range of artists including: Adele, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and OneRepublic. He has won multiple awards for his production and songwriting, including multiple Grammys. In his pop songwriting and production class with Studio, he teaches a class about the best way to efficiently create music starting from conception all the way to mastering. The cost for this course begins at $19/month and goes to $279/year if you want to utilize more of Studio’s classes. There is great demand for this course and it even has a waitlist at times, when it isn’t running, but is it worth waiting for?

The course promises that you’ll leave the course with three fully completed songs. From concept to recording to production and mastering, Ryan guides you through the process in four short weeks, including helpful plugins, tech like MIDIs and audio interfaces, and melodic inspiration. In comparison to other popular online music courses, the output is much greater and Ryan helps by providing time management skills he has picked up for the artistic process throughout his career. The output promise of the course also comes with a time commitment on the student’s part, with most reviewers saying that they spent more than 10 hours a week to complete the assignment requirements. So if you don’t have that much time in a week, it may need to be put off until you have that kind of time. 

To help you with the time dependent process, each student is put into a small group to work through ideas together and give each other feedback. The small groups really support students in their process and encourage each other to create. These small groups are very important for building the community base that many people enjoy about the course. From these groups, students will find collaborating partners whom they’ll make their third song with. Many students said that this process was very helpful in making them create much more efficiently with a partner as they are given about 4-5 days to finish a collaborative song. Within this, they learn to give each other feedback live and grow in their own respects. Feedback is also a core base of the course and how musicians learn to create better melodies and supporting sound for their tracks. In some instances, Ryan Tedder also will give feedback on some group’s tracks. The students who received feedback said that having an industry professional view their work and respond with constructive praise and criticism, was very helpful and supportive to their process. That being said, very few people got feedback on their songs and for most reviewers, they only had one group of songs have a feedback session from Ryan. For this course, it is very self-directed so don’t expect to be guided along the way, and feedback may be far and few between from Ryan.

Photo: Inc. Magazine

This course will challenge you. From time constraints to fast-paced collaboration to sharing music for feedback, this course will take you out of your comfort zone, in the best of ways. Many reviewers loved the challenge of having to create in such an intense time frame and said it made them create some of their best work. 

Many said that this course would be good for beginner to intermediate songwriters because it succinctly describes some of the basics of melody writing and song structure. Sometimes, it does jump around between concepts, and skip over some explanations of harder concepts though. 

Overall, Ryan Tedder’s Studio Course is an excellent resource for those looking to get into music production or take their skills up a notch. With its comprehensive approach and clear explanations from one of today’s top producers, this course is sure to provide viewers with valuable insight into the world of music production. For the price, the course is worth it for a self-directed and passionate music maker. Be ready to be challenged and sign up!

If you want to watch Ryan react to songwriter’s songs from his class follow the link below!