Netflix has a whole slate of reality content coming our way later this year, as well as next year as well! There's one series that arrives very soon, and it's giving us the same feels as a NBC reality show that was cancelled back in 2020. If you miss Songland on NBC, then you might want to check out Netflix's new reality series, Hitmakers.
When you look at what it's about, the new show kind of feels like a rip-off of Songland. If it does well, that's great! But we all have to remember that it was NBC who did it first. Hitmakers premieres Thursday, July 24, 2025 and will be a total of six episodes. While the network television version had more of a competitive feel to it, the Netflix one is more of a docuseries.
So basically, Hitmakers follows a number of "gifted songwriters" as they create songs and hits for "music's biggest stars," per the synopsis. After all, not all artists write their own music. If you think about it, some of the most famous and well-known tunes that we love to listen to were penned by a songwriter, not the artist actually singing it.
So we're going to see a total of 12 songwriters and producers at "high-stakes writing camps" to do what they do best for big stars like John Legend, Shaboozey, and Lisa of Blackpink. The point of the show is to basically see how tense it can all be with little time to produce a great song, and for viewers to see everything it takes to do this including "creative chaos, emotional stakes, and personal breakthroughs" for these people who want to become hitmakers.
So basically as mentioned above, this new Netflix docuseries is very similar to an idea NBC already brought back in 2018 with Songland. The broadcast television iteration was meant to give undiscovered songwriters the chance to prove their talent and write a hit, while audiences saw all the steps that go into writing a song that will resonate with people.
The contestants worked with producers and recording artists, and those that did well enough get to actually have their songs recorded. Unfortunately, Songland only lasted two seasons, coming to an end in April 2020. It featured hosts Ester Dean, Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic, and Shane McAnally.
It's definitely a very interesting process to see, and I'm eager to learn more with the new Netflix show. Of course it's our favorite singer or band who sort of get the credit for these hits that we consantly replay. But really, it's thanks to the songwriters and producers behind it all that there's a song in the first place. So it will be really cool to highlight the work that they do. I just hope there isn't too much drama, as teased in the trailer, along the way!
Hitmakers premieres Thursday, July 24, 2025 on Netflix.
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