The World’s First Crowdsourced Singing Voice

Published Jun-20-16

Breakthrough:
A novel crowdsourcing contest creates a unique singing voice from the combined singing efforts of thousands of people from across Europe.

Company:
Tele2, Sweden

The Story:

The World’s First Crowdsourced Singing Voice Whether for fun, to create new designs, logos and flavors or to come up with groundbreaking products and innovations, crowdsourcing has found success in many arenas. Initiatives demonstrate how diverse smarts can work together to produce something useful and fascinating, and how organizations are able to reach innovators they might otherwise not have come into contact with.

Firmly in the fun category was a crowdsourced singing project across Europe to tie in with a huge annual musical competition.

The Sound of Europe

Every year, countries from all over Europe - and a few outside - send singers and groups to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest. This musical extravaganza started in 1956 and has grown into a huge event attracting more than 200 million TV viewers.

To celebrate the 2016 songfest, a Swedish telecom giant invited music fans in Europe to help create what was billed as the world's first crowdsourced singing voice.

To take part in Tele 2’s Sound of Europe crowdsourcing initiative, participants had to download a karaoke app and sing along to a specially composed song. The track was called 'One' by Swedish producer Pontus Winnberg, who has worked with such megastars as Britney Spears and Madonna.

Contributions were collected on the Sound of Europe's website, allowing users to follow in real-time as ever increasing numbers of people added their singing voices. Thousands took part from many European countries, and after the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest their voices were merged together to produce the song.

Important Message Behind the Music

There was also a serious point to the crowdsourced singing voice project and that was to highlight the inclusive nature of music. In the same way that the Eurovision Contest aims to strengthen bonds across borders, the Sound of Europe wanted to be a demonstration of connectivity between people from different backgrounds and countries.

"Today, there are walls and borders everywhere. People are divided into religions, nationalities, sexuality… we want to strike a blow against that. Music unites and this is what we at Tele2 can do to contribute," said Karl Skoog, brand concept and engagement manager at Tele2, in an interview with Swedish news service, The Local.

Producer Pontus Winnberg added in a statement: "The song's message speaks for itself and I am convinced that many will appreciate the initiative and contribute with their voice to create a more open and inclusive society.”

Song Released

The finished version of the song with the crowdsourced singing voice went on sale to the general public in May 2016. All of the proceeds go to Radiohjälpen, a charity supported by Sweden’s state broadcaster.

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