Monk Turner

Monk Turner is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. Known as the “galactic defender of the concept album”,[1] Turner has created a number of multi-genre concept albums. He is known for winning the Free Music Archive's competition to create a copyright-free replacement for the song "Happy Birthday to You" whose rights were once owned by Time Warner.

Musical career

He often collaborates with other musicians: Kaleidoscope (2012) incorporated more than 40 artists internationally,[2] and his narrative album Emergency Songs (2011)[3] 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”.[4] 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 with history’s largest choreographed ribbon dance.[5][6]

Over the years Turner has released all of his albums via Creative Commons licenses “as a means to escape the constraints of traditional music composition / distribution”.[7] He is a former Featured Commoner and has spoken alongside artists such as Curt Smith about the benefits of CC licenses for musicians and other content makers.[8]

In 2020, Turner released the concept album Divided States, a collection of songs addressing political and social division.[9] He followed this with the four-part EP series Emotional Baggage (2021), a project exploring sixteen human emotions across multiple releases.[10]

Turner has continued to release concept-driven albums spanning a variety of themes, including mythology, color, and personal relationships, maintaining a prolific output of multi-genre conceptual works.[11] In 2025 he released the collaborative holiday-themed album Holiday Party!.[12]

The Birthday Song

In 2013, WFMU and the Free Music Archive held a competition[13] to create a copyright-free version of the ubiquitous “Happy Birthday to You”.[14] Monk Turner's composition with musician Fascinoma entitled “It’s Your Birthday!”[15][16] won the contest.

Discography

Albums

  • Holiday Party! (2025)[17]
  • Emotional Baggage, Part 4 (2021)[18]
  • Emotional Baggage, Part 3 (2021)[19]
  • Emotional Baggage, Part 2 (2021)[20]
  • Emotional Baggage, Part 1 (2021)[21]
  • Divided States (2020)[22]
  • God Complex (2016)[23]
  • Instrumental Friends Part 3 (2013)[24]
  • Kaleidoscope (2012)[25]
  • Emergency Songs (2011)[26]
  • Live on KXLU (2011)[27]
  • Coordinates (2010)[28]
  • Love Story (2009)[29]


References

  1. ^ Frostclick, Hello! Mr. Galactic Defender of the Concept Album. Retrieved 11 May 2015
  2. ^ Bronwyn Bishop, Eclectic Composer Monk Turner's New Album..., Free Music Archive. Retrieved 11 May 2015
  3. ^ L.A. Record, Monk Turner + Fascinoma "Emergency Songs". Retrieved 11 May 2015
  4. ^ "FASCINOMA - Alanna Lin / Alanna Lin". Archived from the original on 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  5. ^ Los Angeles County Annual Report, Blue Ribbon Festival. Retrieved 11 May 2015
  6. ^ "Ribbon-dancing 5th graders set World Record - Newsroom - Los Angeles County". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  7. ^ Case Studies / Monk Turner, Creative Commons. Retrieved 11 May 2015
  8. ^ Parkins, Cameron (26 June 2008). "Curt Smith and Monk Turner discuss CC/Music". Creative Commons. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  9. ^ https://monkturner.bandcamp.com/album/divided-states
  10. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/index.php/music/Monk_Turner/bio
  11. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/index.php/music/Monk_Turner/bio
  12. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner/discography
  13. ^ Free Music Archive - "Happy Birthday". Retrieved 11 May 2015
  14. ^ Why we need a new 'Happy Birthday' song, Take Two (KPCC).
  15. ^ David Haglund, Here's the New Birthday Song, Browbeat (Slate). Retrieved 11 May 2015
  16. ^ Jamie Condliffe, This is Officially the Best Copyright-Free Way to Sing Happy Birthday, Gizmodo. \
  17. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner/holiday-party
  18. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner/discography
  19. ^ https://music.apple.com/us/album/emotional-baggage-pt-3-ep/1591945542
  20. ^ https://music.apple.com/ca/album/emotional-baggage-pt-2-ep/1586503618
  21. ^ https://music.apple.com/us/album/emotional-baggage-pt-1-ep/1580385239
  22. ^ https://monkturner.bandcamp.com/album/divided-states
  23. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner/discography
  24. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner/discography
  25. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner/discography
  26. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner/discography
  27. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner/discography
  28. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner/discography
  29. ^ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner/discography
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