YORKSHIRE musician George Reid is spending his lockdown collaborating remotely with fellow musicians on the new platform The 99 Second Playlist.
“The platform was launched at the start of quarantine in March with the intention to keep musicians creative during lockdown,” says George, from Penistone, Barnsley. “I also wanted to spread positivity and help to expand people’s ears to music they may not have heard of before.”
Every Thursday, a video is released at 6pm via George’s YouTube page and this Thursday, May 28, will mark the project’s tenth week.
“Over those ten weeks, I’ve created a weekly audience of 300 people that will tune in to listen to the videos. The catch is that every single video must be under 99 seconds,” he says.
“The challenge is to get the best parts of any song into 99 seconds. Not only is this quite a challenge for musicians, but in a world where people flick through social media feeds so quickly, you’ve got a very limited amount of time to capture someone’s attention.
“It dissuades musicians from making long, self-indulgent music videos that we know people won’t watch. The goal is to create projects that musicians and audiences can enjoy in equal measure.”
Since March, George has collaborated with actors George Griffiths, from The Book Of Mormon’s international tour, Eilidh Loan, from Frankenstein’s UK Tour, and Tom Berkeley, from Buddy The Musical, and professional musician Alex Barton.
Songs from The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Ed Sheeran, Bill Withers and Les Misérables have featured in bite-size form so far.
“I have plans to work with even more musicians in the coming months, and I’m aiming to get to 52 weeks of the playlist” says George.
“To follow my journey, you can search for The 99 Second Playlist on YouTube. Any musicians interested, or anyone wanting to hear a specific song, please get in touch at george@georgereid.com.”
For more information, visit georgereid.com/the99secondplaylist or YouTube search The 99 Second Playlist.
Pen portrait: George Reid
GEORGE is an actor and musician from Penistone, Barnsley. He trained at Guildford School of Acting, graduating in 2018, and has performed at Shakespeare’s Globe, London, and in two international Shakespeare tours. He has been gigging since the age of 15 around Leeds, Sheffield, Barnsley and Huddersfield.