John Newman’s YouTube guilty pleasures – exclusive interview with Lickd

It’s not often that you come across an artist who writes, produces and performs their own music. Rarer still, is a musician who does it all with as much honesty, feeling and humour as John Newman.

In this exclusive interview with Lickd, John reveals his YouTube guilty pleasures, gives us the intimate details of his most recent projects, (house rebuild included) and tells us more about his journey as a musician so far. 

John Newman’s journey into music

Best known for his hit UK no.1 single, ‘Love Me Again’ – a track that’s eternally rousing, one of the best FIFA songs ever and impossible not to sing along to, (and now available to license on the Lickd platform) – John has sold millions of records all over the world. The triple Brit award nominee has featured on massive Rudimental singles, ‘Feel the Love’ and ‘Not Giving In’ and even collabed with big-time DJ Calvin Harris on ‘Blame’ which topped the charts in Europe and beyond. 

John newman singing for Lickd

 

Despite his huge success, John didn’t grow up wanting to be a musician. His journey into music was a winning combination of sage advice and soul-searching. Growing up in a small town in North Yorkshire, on his brother’s advice, John decided to escape a life of “fighting in pubs at the weekend” to see the world in a different way. 

When he was 16, John looked to the soulful stylings of Otis Redding to help him through the loss of two of his best friends. This experience helped him appreciate music as “a way to yearn and grieve and to find joy and happiness and sadness… music became a healing process and something for the soul”. This turning point in his life and career exemplifies what John Newman is all about – making music that comes from a place of genuine emotion.  

John Newman x Lickd

John identifies as a ‘creator’ as well as a musician and takes an interest in all aspects of his work, particularly his music videos, which he’s always heavily involved in. That’s what makes him especially excited to see how online video creators will use his music now it’s available to license on the Lickd platform. 

License John Newman music for YouTube

John’s new EP, ‘A.N.i.M.A.L’, includes four awesome new tracks: ‘Heart Goes Deeper’, ‘The Hardest Word Is Goodbye’, ‘Without You’ (featuring Nina Nesbitt) and title track ‘A.N.i.M.A.L’. All four songs have a healthy dose of soul with catchy beats that are perfect to edit video to. 

An acoustic version of ‘Mama’ is also available to license, a softer tune that packs a punch with personal lyrics and a chorus that crescendos with emotion. This track would be ideal to use for more poignant videos or a touching montage. 

As for John’s dalliances with YouTube, make sure you check out the video above to hear, first hand, about the videos he loves and loathes to watch. 

What is Lickd anyway?

Lickd offers chart-topping music for YouTube videos from major record labels that your viewers will actually have heard before — not boring background music that’ll put your audience to sleep.

If you’re a new YouTuber, it’s all good. Lickd creates custom pricing that adjusts based on the size of your audience. If you’re not huge yet, you won’t have to pay huge prices.

Lickd lets YouTubers search for high-quality tracks by genre, length, mood, and more. Plus, if you sign up today, you get 25% off your first track!

Content and SEO Marketing Manager

Back To Top