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flabbergast

> What Makes a Hit

1. find a hit from the past you really enjoy

2. copy 90% of that song in terms of sound, structure, base melody etc..

3. just change a little of most parts so it doesn't sound like a straight copy

4. have a smart producer who can do this

5. have a great mastering studio to let it sound big

6. use the right channels for promotion (publishing, (radio)dj's, television, social media, etc)

7. have heaps of luck, right timing etc..

Most people in this world have no clue at all that this is what actually makes a hit. It's very rare to see a 'Hit' to come out of nowhere, although it does happen. It's an illusion that a talented musician can achieve this on his own without insane amounts of luck.

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Or, read "How To Have a Number One" by The KLF [0], which is very fun read and echoes your points.

[0]http://freshonthenet.co.uk/the-manual-by-the-klf/

It's a great little book. I had a copy which I gifted to a friend, thinking I'll just buy myself a new one... Turns out they go for over 100 pounds a pop...

I spotted a copy at the local Half-Priced Bookstore the other day, behind the counter with all the other expensive stuff. It was priced over $100. I wish I either had the money or an elaborate scheme to distract the guy at the counter and make off with it. I've read a nice chunk of it in TXT form, but to have the physical copy would be very nice.

And that would probably have sat well with the KLF if you did.

As side note, Drummond was doing this project a while back (maybe still does): http://www.the17.org

While 1-7 is a pretty clever tongue in cheek perspective, it's not at all what Max Martin does. Arguably he's the king of modern Pop music hits - I mean, he's orders of magnitude more successful than second place. It's rare to find interviews with him but he does drop some hints at his methods and approach (balanced lines, extreme vocal comping detail work) which takes a lot of the mystery out of it.

Basically though #6 explains how acts like Cardi B can chart, because Pop music is a commodity, it's not art. Something like Gotye's hit definitely falls into #7 in that regard. "What's good isn't always popular, and what's popular isn't always good."

What goes behind the process of creating a hit is something that fascinates me, but, something I never had the time to really research.

Also, I've always been kinda bipolar on this subject; sometimes I'm 100% convinced that most popular hit songs are fabricated and sometimes I want to believe that there is real talent and creativity behind them; not formulas.

I find the following to be true most of the time for hit songs:

- The singer (male or female) is young, and most of the time good looking.

- The first time you listen to the song you hate it, but after they play it multiple times on the radio you start to like it.

- At a given time, you can see the radio/popular mediums pump up a given singer. For example, I noticed a rise in Cardi B songs, previously it was Camila Cabello. This makes me think there is actually a force pulling the strings.

- A lot of time they are one hit wonders, new "artists" appear and dissapear all the time.

- They usually sing about current hot topics: feminism, be yourself, love thyself, don't worry if you're fat, let's enjoy life. And usually with very bland messages to appeal the masses.

- The music: of course the beats are familiar and following a known structure that arouses emotions.

To my point, a friend once shared with me the following "parody" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBDNvlvR8vA which expresses better what I'm trying to say.

Don't get me wrong, I love music. I love listening to all types of music, from Merzbow to the #1 hit they're playing on the radio.

But as a geek, I love to also analyze the pop music phenomenon. I'm not really familiar with the process behind them, and would love if someone who knows could share it! I mean the process behind actual hit pop songs: Post Malone, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, Drake, Cardi B, Dua Lipa, etc.

- Do they write their songs? How much they get censored?

- Are they good singers? I know some of them are really talented.

- How to they rise to fame so quickly? Casting? Personal contacts?

- Do they really have a say on the structure of their songs and the music behind them?

These are some of the things that don't let me sleep at night.

Another possibility:

- A music video that goes viral

I don't think Gangnam Style is a good match for the formula, but the video was well produced and just weird enough that people would want to share it. I'm convinced it only became popular because of the video.

The best part of Gangnam Style is it was a critique of what it became.

Indeed. Even the lyrics read (in Korean) like a parody of Cake's "Short Skirt Long Jacket".

you are 100% right, a song without a video is just a track

I think it’s a little bit more complicated (and perhaps more “authentic” too) than you’re making it out to be. Labels definitely have strong influence in what gets played on the radio, but in your Cardi B example, Bodak Yellow was extremely popular on SoundCloud before it got any radio plays.

For your other questions, you can see in the credits of a song how many people are involved in radio hits. Labels invest money in creating hits so they can make money. The involvement and talent of artists varies from label to label and artist to artist but it’s generally not the organic process you seem to be hopeful about. At the end of the day, these artists have to perform not only in the studio but while touring, so they can’t be talentless hacks since some talent is required to be a profitable artist.

I agree completely, but what you say about my comment does not reflect the spirit of it, I'm sure I expressed myself wrongly. I understand, because it may seem that I'm criticizing pop music/artists when I'm really not. Also, I'm ignorant on the subject of music production, I just enjoy listening to it a lot.

I'm geniunely curious about the process. Because the level of production behind these songs and artists makes me believe that a lot of it could be orchestrated and pushed to us.

I could be totally overthinking it yes, and probably they follow the same rules as any business: decent product + marketing + a bit of luck.

I'm convinced Bodak Yellow was the result of a bet to see just how bad a "talent" producers could make a star on the basis of one good song.

Then I guess they took the test too far, because she's had two #1s and several very successful features.

There's a video by the NYT chronicling the creation of "The Middle" by Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey. [1]

It began with a girl who recorded a short demo on her phone. After a year of workshopping and 15 different vocalists, they finally had their radio hit.

It's like a blockbuster movie. Big money goes in, big returns are expected, and lots of suits are involved. It's fun entertainment that needs to sell, but there's real talent there too.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/video/arts/music/100000005858557/wat...

Awesome! thanks for this. This is what I meant. It seems that this NYT journalist is releasing a series on this. Really cool.

You'll find a lot of the songwriters are the same people, and the producers - who literally birth the entire song - are also the same people again and again.

How to make a Eurovision hit parody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv6tgnx6jTQ

Don't forget the unbreakable criteria:

<= 3:30; shorter is better

No more than three verses made of at most two straight-rhyme couplets.

Repeat chorus at least four times, more is better.

Keep all instrumental interludes short and simplistic. Cliche pentatonic guitar solos only.

Edit: almost forgot the most important one: be hot, use your body to sell the music.

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