American rapper and songwriter Nicki Minaj has revealed that she often rewrites her song lyrics up to 10 times because she wants her songs to be perfect every time.
Trinidadian-born Minaj—the most-charted female rapper in the history of the Billboard Hot 100—feels it is important for up-and-coming songwriters to realise that getting to the top of the charts isn’t an easy process.
“Even now, I still rewrite verses five and six and seven and eight and nine and ten times because I want it to be perfect,” she recently told Redbull.com. “Don’t rest on your laurels. Keep trying, as if it’s your first day on the job. That’s how I think of it. When it comes to creating, I always feel like, wait a minute, I can’t take any shortcuts … People have to know I spent quality time on it. That’s my motto.”
One of the biggest mistakes that inexperienced songwriters often make is to think their latest song is finished as soon as they’ve added the final chord or found a rhyme for the last line. The first draft could, of course, prove to be the one and the song may be ready for the demo studio. But in the majority of cases, ‘finishing’ a song is just the beginning.
As someone once said: “Great songs aren’t written, they’re rewritten …”
Every new song will probably need several rewrites before you have the final version. Some experienced writers have admitted that creating a hit song usually requires 10% writing and 90% rewriting.
Pro writers often produce a first draft of a new song, put it down for a few days, and then listen to it again. That’s usually when they can tell if the song truly has potential. Listening to it from a fresh perspective enables them to spot the weaknesses and assess how the song can be improved.
And strengthening a song often means having to change or leave out some of the favourite lyrics, rhymes, melodic phrases, chords (or even complete verses) that you started out with.
If you’ve already gone through the agony of having songs rejected by a publisher or a record company, ask yourself: ‘Could I have made my songs better if, like Nicki Minaj, I’d spent more time polishing them?’
Photo: Fer Morrell
# # # #
![“HOW [NOT] TO WRITE A HIT SONG! - 101 COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID IF YOU WANT SONGWRITING SUCCESS” is available from Amazon as a paperback and also as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple's iTunes Store, Barnes and Noble's Nook store, and from KoboBooks.com.](https://thehitformula.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/how-not-to-write-a-hit-song-smashwords-cover-blog-widgit-188x282.jpg?w=144&h=216)
“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and from KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
According to Spotify’s latest annual music rankings, Drake was the world’s most streamed artist in 2015. He has racked up 1.8 million streams this year on the platform and reached 56 million listeners.
Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran was named the most streamed artist of the year in the UK on Spotify as well as being the most streamed artist of all time on the service. He has more than three billion streams to date.
The most streamed female of 2015 was Rihanna with over 1 billion streams and 57 million listeners.
Justin Bieber set the record for the most streams in a single day with 36 million streams on November 13.
Here’s the full list of Spotify’s 2015 rankings:
Global Results
Top Five Global Artists (also Top Five Global Male Artists)
- Drake
- Ed Sheeran
- The Weeknd
- Maroon 5
- Kanye West
Top Five Global Female Artists
- Rihanna
- Ariana Grande
- Nicki Minaj
- Beyoncé
- Ellie Goulding
Top Five Global Tracks
- Lean On (feat. MØ & DJ Snake) – Major Lazer
- Cheerleader – Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit – OMI
- Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson
- See You Again (feat. Charlie Puth) – Wiz Khalifa
- Love Me Like You Do – From “Fifty Shades Of Grey” – Ellie Goulding
Top Five Global Albums
- Beauty Behind The Madness – The Weeknd
- If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late – Drake
- Peace Is The Mission – Major Lazer
- Stories – Avicii
- Title – Meghan Trainor
Top Five Global Viral Tracks
- Sugar (feat. Francesco Yates) – Robin Schulz
- Hotline Bling – Drake
- Ain’t Nobody (Loves Me Better) – Felix Jaehn
- Can’t Feel My Face – The Weeknd
- Here – Alessia Cara
Top Five Global Playlists
- Today’s Top Hits
- Afternoon Acoustic
- Baila Reggaeton
- Hot Country
- RapCaviar
# # # #
![“HOW [NOT] TO WRITE A HIT SONG! - 101 COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID IF YOU WANT SONGWRITING SUCCESS” is available from Amazon as a paperback and also as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple's iTunes Store, Barnes and Noble's Nook store, and from KoboBooks.com.](https://thehitformula.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/how-not-to-write-a-hit-song-smashwords-cover-blog-widgit-188x282.jpg?w=157&h=236)
“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and from KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
Adele has unveiled a brand new song—titled ‘When We Were Young’—which was co-written with Canadian singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr. The song is taken from Adele’s new album, 25, which is available from November 20.
Jesso’s music has been compared to singer-songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s such as Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson and Emitt Rhodes.
Commenting on teaming up with the 30-year-old Canadian, Adele said: “I loved Tobias Jesso Jr’s song ‘Hollywood’ and I reached out to him when I was working on 25. I say I reached out… I got my manager to contact his manager. I’m pretty behind on social networking culture, I’d have no idea how to do it. Also I didn’t want to ask and have him say, “Absolutely not, I think you’re shit.” At least if my manager asks, he can absorb the rejection and just never tell me. Anyway, he was well up for it.”
And here’s the stunning result of their collaboration…
# # # #
![“HOW [NOT] TO WRITE A HIT SONG! - 101 COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID IF YOU WANT SONGWRITING SUCCESS” is available from Amazon as a paperback and also as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple's iTunes Store, Barnes and Noble's Nook store, and from KoboBooks.com.](https://thehitformula.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/how-not-to-write-a-hit-song-smashwords-cover-blog-widgit-188x282.jpg?w=138&h=207)
“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and from KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
“In order for me to feel confident with one of my songs it has to really move me. That’s how I know that I’ve written a good song for myself – it’s when I start crying. It’s when I break out in tears in the vocal booth or in the studio, and I’ll need a moment to myself.
“You have to write about real life because otherwise how can you be relatable?”
—Adele (in an interview with New York Times)
# # # #
A new study by Help Musicians UK shows that musicians are four times more likely than the general population to suffer hearing damage, and they have a significantly greater risk of developing tinnitus.
But few musicians are doing anything to lower the risk, the study found.
This is despite the fact that several major stars—including Ozzy Osbourne, Pete Townshend, Neil Young and Phil Collins—have publicly discussed their hearing loss and tinnitus in the past.
Now, Help Musicians UK—the leading UK charity for professional musicians of all genres—is setting out to educate musicians about the importance of looking after their ears. This follows recent research conducted by the organisation which found that 41% of musicians tend to experience hearing problems during their career, with the vast majority of them blaming their profession.
Nearly 700 professional musicians of all genres and types, singers and instrumentalists took part in the Help Musicians UK study. Just over 40% said they had experienced hearing loss and 20% said they did not know if they had been affected—meaning that less than half were confident their hearing was okay.
Some 78% of the musicians who reported a problem said they believed their career was a major factor in their hearing loss. 57% had suffered tinnitus, 21% hyperacusis (excessive sensitivity to sound) and 4% diplacusis (confusion in hearing pitch).
Despite the increased risk, 68% of the musicians surveyed said they hadn’t had a hearing test within the previous three years. And while 89% believed they should be using hearing protection, only 66% actually used it … and only 8% used it every time they played.
Nigel Hamilton, Help & Advice Manager at Help Musicians UK, said: “We know that hearing is one of the most important tools a musician has and when we started looking into musicians’ hearing more closely we realised how fragile it can be. Noise-induced hearing loss is completely preventable but also completely irreversible. Once it’s gone, it’s lost forever. As the leading charity for musicians, we felt we had to do something”.
As part of the #HearForMusicians campaign, Help Musicians UK is offering advice on hearing protection via its website, as well as providing financial support for hearing tests, hearing protection and hearing aids. Find out more HERE …
# # # #
![“HOW [NOT] TO WRITE A HIT SONG! - 101 COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID IF YOU WANT SONGWRITING SUCCESS” is available from Amazon as a paperback and also as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple's iTunes Store, Barnes and Noble's Nook store, and from KoboBooks.com.](https://thehitformula.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/how-not-to-write-a-hit-song-smashwords-cover-blog-widgit-188x282.jpg?w=131&h=190)
“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and from KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
“Knock on every door, and write seven days a week. I know that sounds kind of harsh, but let that be your priority. Write, write and write some more.
“Your work ethic has got to be to the bone. Writing songs should be your first love, and give it all the time it needs until you feel like you’ve accomplished or gotten the song that you think is worthy of letting the world hear.”
—Lamont Dozier (in an interview with American Songwriter magazine)
# # # #
To pave the way for a remixed, deluxe edition of his classic album Pipes of Peace, Paul McCartney has released a new remix of his 1983 hit with Michael Jackson, ‘Say, Say, Say’, which was originally produced by George Martin. The song became Jackson’s seventh Top 10 hit in a year.
In the video below, McCartney talks to Manic Street Preachers’ frontman James Dean Bradfield about what it was like to write songs such as ‘Say, Say, Say’ with Michael Jackson.
McCartney reveals that the song was written quickly, with Jackson and himself face-to-face around a piano in the former Beatle’s London office.
“It came very easily because I was excited to be writing with him and he was excited to write with me,” said McCartney. “We just popped off each other.”
![“HOW [NOT] TO WRITE A HIT SONG! - 101 COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID IF YOU WANT SONGWRITING SUCCESS” is available from Amazon as a paperback and also as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple's iTunes Store, Barnes and Noble's Nook store, and from KoboBooks.com.](https://thehitformula.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/how-not-to-write-a-hit-song-smashwords-cover-blog-widgit-188x282.jpg?w=119&h=172)
“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and from KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
Since the 1980s, a debate has been raging about whether an artificially intelligent computer system could ever be truly creative. Could computer algorithms ever be used to write a ‘real’ hit song – even if the machine was programmed and trained just like a human songwriter … and given enough data and fed hundreds of chart hits by its programmers?
An old adage says that a monkey sitting at a typewriter could eventually write the complete works of Shakespeare. By the same token, could a computer ever create a work of art that could match the creativity of Beethoven or Mozart? … Or Bob Dylan?
IBM has cleverly used this debate as the basis of a new US TV commercial for its cognitive system IBM Watson – an artificially intelligent computer capable of answering people’s questions posed in natural language.
In the TV ad, IBM’s ‘Watson’ is seen discussing songwriting with Bob Dylan …
# # # #
Photo: Eva Rinaldi
“I’ve only ever written songs from the heart. I don’t really see the point in making music if it’s not an expression of self or a form of therapy.
“I could go three months without writing a single song and in one week I’ll write twenty. But I never want to write a song just to have a hit. I write a song because I want it to make me feel better. Other people have different ways of letting off steam. Mine is writing songs.
“It’s like when you’re angry with someone and you write an email or a letter to that person, and you write everything down … but you don’t give it to them. Songwriting is my way of getting out anger, aggression, happiness and love. It’s just about getting it out – and making you feel better.
“So it’s never been about the audience or pleasing people, or trying to fit in. It’s just been about myself and my love for music.”
—Ed Sheeran (in an interview with Charlie Rose of PBS)
# # # #
![“HOW [NOT] TO WRITE A HIT SONG! - 101 COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID IF YOU WANT SONGWRITING SUCCESS” is available from Amazon as a paperback and also as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple's iTunes Store, Barnes and Noble's Nook store, and from KoboBooks.com.](https://thehitformula.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/how-not-to-write-a-hit-song-smashwords-cover-blog-widgit-188x282.jpg?w=121&h=175)
“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, a UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and from KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK)
Country superstar Garth Brooks recently learned the hard way that if you’re going to record and store song ideas on your phone you have to make sure you always keep the phone backed up … otherwise you run the risk of losing everything.
And that’s exactly what just happened to Garth Brooks. He lost six months’ worth of new music ideas for his next album when the personal cell phone on which he’d recorded them decided to stop working.
“All the new stuff I’ve been working on for six months was on a phone that’s been fried, and I can’t get the phone to come back up,” said Brooks. “It’s like losing your briefcase back in the Nineties! This is what happens when the old guy gets into technology …”
Brooks says he’s now counting on an IT tech specialist being able to somehow extract the memory from the dead phone and rescue his ideas for what would become his tenth album. Brooks fears the fried cell phone may have set back production on the new album which is intended to be the follow-up to 2014’s Man Against Machine.
The country legend’s experience is similar to that of Metallica’s longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett. He recently lost his iPhone which contained more than 250 unused Metallica song ideas and riffs for the band’s next album. “I was crushed. It didn’t get backed up,” said Hammett. “When it happened, I was bummed out for about two or three days. I’m still looking for it to this day …”
Hammett added: “All you musicians out there who use your phone, make sure it’s backed up, right?”
In 2013, British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran lost a phone which contained the only recording of his new, unreleased album (later released under the title x). Fortunately for Ed, the missing phone was eventually found in the back seat of a limo that had transported him to an awards ceremony in London.
So new songwriters beware!
If that potential hit song you’ve just written has been entrusted to digital media, make sure it is backed up. And if it’s the only copy of what could be your breakthrough song, play extra safe … and back it up more than once!
# # # #
![“HOW [NOT] TO WRITE A HIT SONG! - 101 COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID IF YOU WANT SONGWRITING SUCCESS” is available from Amazon as a paperback and also as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple's iTunes Store, Barnes and Noble's Nook store, and from KoboBooks.com.](https://thehitformula.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/how-not-to-write-a-hit-song-smashwords-cover-blog-widgit-188x282.jpg?w=108&h=162)
“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and from KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
SONGWRITING: THE HIT FORMULA 