NBC's Songland shows the difficulties of applying The Voice format to songwriting

Variety

"Insisting on a market-tested sort of perfection, the show runs up against the difficulty that there is no market niche it can fill, or that it cares to," says Daniel D'Addario. "Unlike on The Voice, where singers’ peculiarities are cherished and nurtured (these, putatively, are what might make them stars, though the show’s success rate is vanishingly low), Songland embraces the sublimation of whatever makes its writers themselves. It’s likely a very accurate depiction of what it takes not merely to break into a risk-averse industry but also to write songs for an artist with a clearly defined persona of his own. But that doesn’t make it, necessarily, TV worth turning your chair for."