If you love music, then you are probably familiar with NPR’s Music Tiny Desk series. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, let me introduce you to one of the most exciting platforms to enjoy and discover new music. Tiny Desk is a wonderful space where musicians play a few of their songs live in NPR’s headquarters in Washington, DC. These performances are recorded and uploaded to NPR Music’s YouTube channel. What makes these performances different from other well-known ones are the deeply intimate renditions of top hits, usually acoustic takes. Tiny Desk demonstrates that music is for everyone by constantly featuring diverse artists–from established musicians to emerging marginalized voices–reminding us that the musical soundscape expands beyond race, gender, sexuality and spirituality.
Tiny Desk’s catalog features thousands of performances, so not surprisingly, a plethora of genres and subgenres are just a click away. NPR Music has made it their mission to be as inclusive and diverse as possible. In the most recent years, Tiny Desk has been a major player in introducing Latino, BIPOC, and queer voices into the mainstream media. Bad Bunny, Chappell Roan and Doechii have had successful performances in the last year.
This is not to say that only historically marginalized voices are available on NPR Music’s YouTube channel. Megan Moroney, Lainey Wilson and Chris Stapleton, prominent voices in modern country, have been featured on the channel before. Likewise, global pop icons such as Harry Styles, Sabrina Carpenter, Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift rank among the most-watched performances in Tiny Desk’s series. This wide range of artists makes it nearly impossible not to find at least one performance that speaks to you.
The organization is so passionate about making music easily available for listeners that not even the pandemic could stop them. During the pandemic, Tiny Desk Home replaced traditional concerts at NPR’s headquarters, allowing musicians to intimately share their art from home. Leaving behind the familiar Zoom backgrounds of the time, a lot of musicians used creative sets to elevate their performances. Alternative folk artist Phoebe Bridgers belted her hit song “I Know The End” in a recreated Oval Office. Just as creatively, Hardcore punk band Turnstile played inside an art installation by John Scharbach which surrounded the band with dozens of stuffed animals. Another standout is Reggaeton legend J Balvin’s performance on a barge in the East River. His performance was recorded using a traditional camera crew and drones, the latter giving viewers a panoramic view of the Brooklyn Bridge behind him.
The impact of Tiny Desk is undeniable which is why NPR has struck deals to license international versions in recent years. Tiny Desk Korea hit the public in 2023, offering emerging and established K-pop musicians a platform to gain success globally. In September of 2023, global phenomenon and member of BTS, V, made his appearance on the platform, amassing over four million views. Similarly, in mid-2024, another international deal was made: Tiny Desk Concerts JAPAN. Skillful pianist and popstar, Fujii Kaze, has a performance with an astonishing 18 million views on YouTube. What makes these global efforts so valuable is that they expand the brand to an audience outside of the US and facilitate the cultural diffusion of music. The regular listener sticks to what is familiar in the American mainstream, but Tiny Desk encourages the discovery of all types of music.
Constant change is scary but the evergreen nature of music discovery is helpful and joyful. Tiny Desk performances are a reminder that music can be a powerful way to cope with the isolation and instability that often come with growing up and moving around. At The Village School, where students from all parts of the world experience constant change, music becomes a blanket of comfort and connection. Whether in a tiny office or continents away, Tiny Desk proves that there is a place for everyone in music.
Resources:
https://www.npr.org/about-npr/1239996860/npr-and-nhk-bring-the-international-tiny-desk-concerts-series-to-japan
https://www.npr.org/about-npr/1188730804/npr-licenses-international-version-of-tiny-desk-concerts-to-lg-u-in-south-korea
