UMG, the EMI Trust and youth-community charity The eXceL Project have partnered on Secret Studio, a three-day education programme, which has resulted in the release of two new original tracks – ‘Freddie & Will’ and ‘Healing’ – as part of a project to give young people experience in the studio and a foot up in the music industry.

The eXceL Project’s works across nine London boroughs to help under-privileged young people in the capital. Its community leaders selected six individuals, aged between 16 and 20, from different backgrounds to participate in the music project. XLP.

“At XLP we’re focused on empowering young people to establish themselves and ultimately form a brighter and more positive future,” said Ethan Bernard, senior community projects manager. “Together with our friends at the EMI Archive Trust, we came up with an idea that exposed young artists to the earliest sound recordings and allowed them to use their gifts to create something that would resonate with young audiences today.”

The theme of the project was “old becomes new”, drawing on 10 rare wax recordings (made between 1901 and 1906) that are held in the EMI Trust archives. The six individuals picked for the project split into two teams to write, record and mix two new tracks in a former police riot van that has been converted into a mobile recording studio, resulting in ‘Freddie & Will’ and ‘Healing’.

The tracks are being distributed via the UMG-owned Spinnup platform for unsigned acts, with 50% of the royalties going to XLP and the other 50% going to the six musicians who created them.