If the executives at Milk & Honey are studying Netflix‘s charts even harder than Spotify‘s this month, you can understand why.
The Los Angeles-headquartered management company represents three writers whose work is highly visible across two priority Netflix releases: record-breaking smash KPop Demon Hunters, and behind-the-curtain music biz ‘docu-reality’ series, Hitmakers.
Jenna Andrews and Stephen Kirk both contribute songwriting and production to music on KPop Demon Hunters, on the tracks Free and What It Sounds Like.
Meanwhile, Andrews and Kirk also appear as featured songwriters on Hitmakers – alongside fellow Milk & Honey signee, JHart.
Hitmakers follows a group of songwriters – all well-known in music biz circles – as they seek to pen the next global smash for artists such as John Legend, Shaboozey, Usher, and BLACKPINK’s Lisa.
The show is created and exec-produced by Adam DiVello, whose other credits include Netflix reality staple Selling Sunset and MTV’s The Hills.
As you’d expect from that resumé, Hitmakers isn’t precisely what you’d call all about the music; there’s plenty of (melo)drama to be mined from the competitive nature of the songwriting camps featured within.
There’s also more than a touch of that Selling Sunset sheen. Opulence and luxury (locations! fashion! real estate!) are constantly on display in Hitmakers, which may seem slightly alien to your average charting songwriter, famously plying a trade that pays considerably less than other segments of the music biz.
Yet with Recording Academy chief, Harvey Mason Jr., as one of the show’s producers – and an array of real-life songwriting talent featured – Hitmakers bears some resemblance to the real-life workings of the modern pop music factory.
For JHart, aka British artist/writer/producer James Abrahart, Hitmakers is an opportunity to teach Joe Public about songwriters’ craft (and their challenges), wrapped up in a Hollywood bow.
“Being a part of a show like this, a first of its kind, was terrifying but exciting in the thought that we could introduce the average viewer to a world they didn’t know existed, in a format that felt familiar to them,” he tells MBW.
“I hoped this platform would afford me the opportunity to talk about the things that matter to me and the greater community, like the need for fair pay in the streaming era and creative ownership in the age of AI.”
JHart on Hitmakers
He adds: “I think all of us had an understanding going into this that we needed to strike that balance of entertainment value and a real glimpse at the writing process.
“I personally hoped this platform would afford me the opportunity to talk about the things that matter to me and the greater community, like the need for fair pay in the streaming era and creative ownership in the age of AI.”
JHart has previously co-written songs cut by Justin Bieber, Camila Cabello, Troye Sivan, and Charlie Puth, while collaborating as a performer on tracks with Kygo, KREAM, and Felix.
He’s currently building on the exposure he’s receiving through Hitmakers by pushing his artist career forward via new track, Can’t Relate. It was released on July 25, the day after the Netflix show premiered.
“My hope is this visibility is compounding… and that the general public will be able to recognize songwriting as a standalone career, not just as a piece of the pie for multi-millionaire songwriter/artists who also earn touring and merch income and don’t need to be fought for in the same way that we do.”
JHart
Yet it’s the songwriter community that JHart says is most on his mind when he watches Hitmakers – on which he appears with Andrews and Kirk, plus Tommy Brown, Trey Campbell, Ferras, Harv, Ben Johnson, Whitney Phillips, Sevyn Streeter, and Nova Wav.
Adds JHart: “My hope is that visibility is compounding for us, and that the general public will be able to recognize songwriting as a standalone career, not just as a piece of the pie for multi-millionaire songwriter/artists who also earn touring and merch income and don’t need to be fought for in the same way that we do.
“I definitely felt more comfortable knowing Harvey Mason Jr. was a producer and was there every step of the way, reassuring us on the quality of the project.”
Hitmakers is available on Netflix now. Watch it here.Music Business Worldwide
