CMW chatted with Andy Sharpe, founder of SongDivision, and found out how the company is striving to make business events better with the power of music.
What does SongDivision do?
At SongDivision, we create bonds amongst teams using science, music, and engagement. I started the company in 2003 in Sydney.
I was signed to ACDC’s label during the whole Britpop fad in the UK. When my band broke up, I worked for 10 years at IBM, basically as a finance/sales guy; I have a strange blend of professional music and corporate backgrounds.
It was a couple of friends with sales teams in Sydney who asked if I could create a team-building event. It’s funny because I wasn’t the team-building type – if a team-building event was going on I would quietly disappear! Originally, I was hesitant about [starting SongDivision] but it was my friends who encouraged me. I eventually agreed that I’d rent a top recording studio for the group, bring in some session musicians, bring in some drinks, and we’d all write a song.
After being hesitant, how did the first session go?
The first session we did was with the executive team of a small company, and we couldn’t get them out of the studio! It was such a buzz for them. At that time, I had just finished an MBA (Master of Business Administration) so I thought to myself, “actually, I think that there is a business here”.
We’re in our 20th year, and have teams across the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia Pacific, and a lot of our clients are in the Fortune 100. We work with Google, Microsoft, several governments, and some big charities such as the Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK.
When people attend a corporate event there is a level of stress, such as around meeting people for the first time. Music is a universal language that connects those people.
What experiences do you usually provide now?
Our sessions can range from groups of 15 to 100,000 – such as at Dreamforce. We’ve worked at in-person and virtual awards shows. We create an original song with the audience about whatever it is they’re focusing on, such as a core company value, a charity, or a sales target.
We also take up the role of a ‘conference band’, like The Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. We’ll take lyrics from the audience throughout the events, and then perform a song at the end which wraps up the conference.
Our big team event is the ‘song slam’, where we divide attendees into groups of 3. They’ll write and perform a song in their chosen genre with their band, whose members always have great credentials and experience. Performing can usually be the kind of thing where guests might be tempted to make a run for the door, but with the slam, they always have a good experience.
Spending a day in the studio crafting a song with amazing producers is different to doing a conference opener to 15,000 people in Dallas, but they’re both very effective.
How did sessions during COVID-19 go?
Before the pandemic, we’d already been discussing going virtual. We thought: “let’s focus on the big sales kick-offs, incentives, and integration meetings.” When the pandemic hit, the head of our UK team, Sam McNeill, started running free happy hours for the meetings and events community – such as MPI and IMEX. Those early happy hours mostly took the format of pub quizzes or Rock’n’roll game shows.
We weren’t sure about it during rehearsals, but after the first Zoom session we had great feedback from participants; they hadn’t previously thought that something like this would work virtually. We went from having zero business at the beginning of COVID-19 to having hosted 2000 virtual events over the two years.
Why do you attend trade shows like IMEX?
We provide ‘instant-hits’ at trade shows, where we attend trade booths who want to muster up engagement and social media activity. Since exhibiting at IMEX, we’ve become close friends with the IMEX family and have become partners with the show. It’s a lovely place to do business; it’s the events marketplace and everyone is here.
SongDivision is an international business with operations on four continents, so the IMEX shows bring all our friends, future friends, and clients all to one place.
