Monk Turner is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. Known as the “galactic defender of the concept album”, Turner has created a number of multi-genre

concept albums A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...

. He is known for winning the

Free Music Archive The Free Music Archive or FMA is an online repository of royalty-free music. Established in 2009 by the East Orange, New Jersey community radio station WFMU and in cooperation with fellow stations KBOO and KEXP, it aims to provide music under C ...

's competition to create a copyright-free replacement for the song "

Happy Birthday to You "Happy Birthday to You", also known as "Happy Birthday", is a song traditionally sung to celebrate a person's birthday. According to the 1998 '' Guinness World Records'', it is the most recognised song in the English language, followed by "F ...

" whose rights were once owned by

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

Musical career

He often collaborates with other musicians: ''Kaleidoscope'' (2012) incorporated more than 40 artists internationally,Bronwyn Bishop
Eclectic Composer Monk Turner's New Album...
Free Music Archive. Retrieved 11 May 2015 and his narrative album ''Emergency Songs'' (2011) is a co-creation with singer and lyricist Alanna Lin (a.k.a. Fascinoma). It imagines post-earthquake scenarios in Los Angeles, self-styled as “public safety through music and storytelling”. The track “Judicious Jason” from ''Instrumental Friends (Part 3)'' was the chosen soundtrack at the 2015 Blue Ribbon Children’s Festival, when 2,231 students made a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

with history’s largest choreographed ribbon dance. Over the years Turner has released all of his albums via

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has releas ...

licenses “as a means to escape the constraints of traditional music composition / distribution”. He is a former Featured Commoner and has spoken alongside artists such as

Curt Smith Curt Smith (born 24 June 1961) is a British singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and co-founding member of the pop rock band Tears for Fears along with childhood friend Roland Orzabal. Smith plays bass guitar, has co-written severa ...

about the benefits of CC licenses for musicians and other content makers.

The Birthday Song

In 2013,

WFMU WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998 its studios and operating facilities have been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts locally at 91.1 Mhz FM, ...

and the

held a competition to create a copyright-free version of the ubiquitous “

”. Monk Turner's composition with musician Fascinoma entitled “It’s Your Birthday!”Jamie Condliffe
This is Officially the Best Copyright-Free Way to Sing Happy Birthday
Gizmodo. Retrieved 11 May 2015 won the contest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Monk American male musicians American record producers American male songwriters Living people Year of birth missing (living people)