Photo: Dwight McCann
“There’s really no art to songwriting. I think it’s a gift. I think that everybody gets a gift, God gives everyone a gift …
“That’s why I’m not one of those songwriters where I have to take myself to an isolated place for two months so I can write. It just happens to me out of the clear blue. I’m on the plane or somewhere and an idea comes. It can be a line, a thought or a melody. There’s no sequence.”
—Smokey Robinson (on CBS This Morning)
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![“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.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/how-not-to-write-a-hit-song-smashwords-cover-blog-widgit-188x282.jpg?w=100&h=150)
“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).
Spice Girls’ ‘Wannabe’ – catchiest hit single in UK chart history
A new scientific study—designed to unlock the secrets of what makes music memorable—has highlighted the importance of getting your intro right in terms of its length and catchy melodic hook.
If you’re aiming to write a song with commercial potential, it’s important to understand how little time you have to attract the listener’s attention at the beginning of the song.
A short dynamic intro that leads quickly into the first verse is often the key to pulling the listener in.
An analysis of today’s hit songs shows that many intros are typically either four bars or eight bars long and, on average, last for about 10 seconds.
However, a recent citizen science experiment—developed by the UK’s Museum of Science and Industry (Mosi)—suggests that songwriters may have even less time than that to catch the listener’s ear
Less than five seconds, in fact.
The study revealed that The Spice Girls’ 1996 hit, ‘Wannabe’, has the catchiest and most memorable intro in UK chart history. Music fans participating in the online experiment were able to recognize the song in just 2.3 seconds, compared with an average of five seconds for other songs.
Lou Bega’s ‘Mambo No. 5’ was in second place (identified within an average of 2.48 seconds), while Survivor’s ‘Eye of the Tiger’ was third (with an average time of 2.62 seconds). Lady Gaga’s ‘Just Dance’ was fourth.
The research was based on an online interactive game, called Hooked on Music. People who played the game were asked if they recognized a song which was randomly selected from more than 1,000 clips of best-selling songs from the 1940s through to the present day. The results were based on data collected from more than 12,000 participants.
Lady Gaga (Photo: Net-a-Porter)
The Hooked on Music concept was created by computational musicologist Dr. Ashley Burgoyne and Professor Henkjan Honing from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Dr. Burgoyne told BBC News: “I work within a group that studies music cognition in general – any way in which the brain processes music – and we were particularly interested in music and memory and why exactly it is that certain pieces of music stay in your memory for such a long time.”
He added: “You may only hear something a couple of times yet 10 years later you immediately realize that you have heard it before. Yet other songs, even if you have heard them a lot, do not have this effect.
“We wanted to see if it was possible to identify whether the most memorable pieces of music shared particular characteristics.”
This, said Dr. Burgoyne, included scientifically testing different hypotheses about the musical hook, including the musical features that make something catchy and the importance of very strong melodic hooks.
The new study’s results show that, from a commercial point of view, it’s a mistake to believe that the perfect way to set the stage for your first verse is to tease the listener with a long, intricate intro designed to create a feeling of anticipation.
An intro that is too long and self-indulgent will simply make the song harder for people to remember. Such an intro is unlikely to make listeners sit up and take notice. It will also take up valuable time and slow down the listener’s journey to the all-important first chorus.
Not all songs require an instrumental intro, of course. Some songs may open with the chorus, a solo vocal, or go straight into the first verse. But, if you feel your song needs an intro, make sure it is memorable and impactful by approaching it in exactly the same way as writing a catchy, melodic hook for your chorus.
Top 10 Catchiest Intros:
1. Spice Girls – ‘Wannabe’
2. Lou Bega – ‘Mambo No. 5’
3. Survivor – ‘Eye Of The Tiger’
4. Lady Gaga – ‘Just Dance’
5. ABBA – ‘SOS’
6. Roy Orbison – ‘Pretty Woman’
7. Michael Jackson – ‘Beat It’
8. Whitney Houston – ‘I Will Always Love You’
9. The Human League – ‘Don’t You Want Me’
10. Aerosmith – ‘I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’
(Source: Hooked on Music experiment/Mosi)
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“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 & Europe).
Physicist, broadcaster and musician Brian Cox (former keyboardist with 1990s band D:Ream, pictured right) is set to chair a special Royal Opera House ‘Insights’ session titled What makes the perfect song?.
The event will explore the relationship between music and physics and will be staged at the Royal Opera House, London on 24 November 2014.
Produced in collaboration with the Institute of Physics, What makes the perfect song? will feature a panel of experts from both disciplines. It will be live-streamed via the Royal Opera House YouTube channel.
“We will look at the structure and lyrics of songs and ask at a scientific level whether there is something in a tune that provokes an emotional response, or just produces something catchy,” said Royal Opera House creative producer Tom Nelson.
He added: “The best arias in opera have some of the simplest tunes, yet some of those arias will last for centuries while other tunes being produced now may be forgotten in a year or two, and we want to ask why.
“You could never forget Luciano Pavarotti’s performance of ‘Nessun Dorma’ being used at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, but are there examples of contemporary songs that we will still be using as the theme tune for the 2116 World Cup? I think it’s a fascinating question.”
Tickets will be available exclusively to people signed up to the Royal Opera House student scheme, but you’ll be able to watch the whole thing live-streamed via the Royal Opera House YouTube channel from 7.15pm (GMT) on 24 November 2014.
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“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).
While it’s true that the melody and the title are regarded as the most important parts of a song, it would be a huge mistake to believe that the quality of the lyrics doesn’t really matter if your song has a strong melody, a catchy hook and great beats.
As the award-winning songwriter and producer Francis ‘Eg’ White once remarked: “If you’ve got a killer tune and a killer set of chord changes and you’ve got no lyrics, you’re screwed.”
And just to prove that writers should never settle for lyrics that they know are second-best, new research from YouTube shows that lyrics are becoming more important than ever.
According to YouTube, searches for the term ‘lyric video’ are now at an all-time high. The Google-owned video-sharing website claims that some 100 days’ worth of videos with ‘lyric video’ in the title have been uploaded so far in 2014 (attracting more than 850 million views). And more major artists are now creating their own official lyric videos as a teaser for their official music video.
YouTube says Avicii’s lyric video for ‘Wake Me Up’ currently tops the ‘most viewed’ list, having been watched almost 199 million times.
Here is YouTube’s list of the Top 10 most popular lyric videos of all time:
1. Avicii – ‘Wake Me Up (Lyric Video)’: 198,525,542 views
2. Avicii – ‘Hey Brother (Lyric)’: 137,056,523
3. Maroon 5 – ‘Payphone (Lyric Video) ft. Wiz Khalifa’: 117,022,809
4. Adele – ‘Skyfall (Lyric Video)’: 98,440,284
5. Christina Perri – ‘A Thousand Years’: 84,700,444
6. Katy Perry – ‘Roar (Lyric Video)’: 76,791,132
7. One Direction – ‘Rock Me (Lyric Video)’: 67,608,064
8. David Guetta – ‘Shot Me Down ft. Skylar Grey (Lyric Video)’: 73,957,630
9. Ariana Grande – ‘Problem (Lyric Video) ft. Iggy Azalea’: 59,862,736
10. Bruno Mars – ‘When I Was Your Man (Lyrics)’: 57,789,851
Here’s the chart-topping Official Lyric Video for Avicii’s ‘Wake Me Up’ …
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“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).
It is generally accepted that the chorus is the part of a song that is meant to get stuck in people’s heads. It’s the section that is really supposed to sell a song and sustain the listener’s interest—usually with a strong dynamic flow in the verse that transports the listener to an emotional lift in the chorus.
The normal means of achieving this is by making sure the chorus has a memorable melodic hook that stands out from the verse and a lyric (with a repetitive title line) that hammers home the message of the song.
But can a conventional chorus be replaced by a riff?
Yes it can, according to Royal Blood, the hotly-tipped two-piece from Brighton, England who are set on “rewriting the rules of rock” by playing an unusual combination of bass and drums.
Royal Blood’s singer and bassist Mike Kerr recently told the BBC’s Mark Savage: “The philosophy behind this band was ‘can a riff be a chorus?’ Can you make verses, choruses and bridges – classic, standard songwriting – out of riffs, without it being disgusting?”
The answer, according to Savage, is a resounding “Yes”—with Royal Blood already being hailed as the “saviours of rock and roll” by several music magazines.
Read the full story by the BBC’s Mark Savage HERE…
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“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).
“I think melodies are like angels from heaven expressing a place for the heart to follow …
“You feel moments of passion in a tender way and moments of passion in a way that’s like ‘Let’s hit it’. Different emotions happen at different times. Some days are very mellow, some days are a little crazy, and that’s the same with music.”
—Stevie Wonder
“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).
Writing songs that are tailored to suit specific artists is as old as Tin Pan Alley itself. And ‘drive-time’ songs have inspired countless themed compilation albums over the years. But multi-platinum British singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé is gearing up to create a tailor-made ‘driving’ song with a difference … it’s a launch song for Jaguar’s new sports car, the Jaguar XE.
Emeli Sandé will be collaborating with Jaguar to create a song based on the kind of experiences that people find exhilarating. This theme is intended to reflect the fact that ‘Exhilaration’ is at the heart of the new car, according to Jaguar.
But before Emeli sits down at her piano to start writing the words and music for the new song, she’s asking her fans to use the hashtag #FeelXE on social media to share words, pictures, sounds and films that express what makes them feel exhilarated.
Emeli will then write the ‘exhilarating’ song based on the responses provided by her fans.
“I always thought it’d be cool to interact with the fans to create,” Emeli Sandé told Mashable.com. “The challenge is I don’t know what’s going to come at me, but it’s kind of like live music—when you get on stage, you don’t know how it’s going to go. My eyes are open to different feelings of exhilaration.”
Emeli’s song for the Jaguar XE will be performed for the first time at a secret location alongside the River Thames in London on September 8. It will be part of a spectacular, audio-visual event to mark the launch of the new car.
“I can’t wait to start collaborating with the world, looking at what defines Exhilaration for them, and premiering the track in London at what is going to be an incredible event!” said Emeli.
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“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).
The trend toward songwriters mixing up music genres in order to create something different and fresh—and also help them reach new audiences—appears to be gathering pace.
Swedish dance producer/writer Avicii has just announced that his next album will blend rock with electronic dance music (EDM). This follows his previous flirtation with a combination of bluegrass and big-room house on his crossover hit ‘Wake Me Up’.
Avicii says he plans to add a rock flavour to his next album with guest appearances from Jon Bon Jovi, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian and Chris Martin of Coldplay. Other guest artists are expected to include Wyclef Jean and Matisyahu (on a reggae/EDM duet).
With his new (as yet untitled) album, Avicii is also echoing the recent call by Disclosure for EDM writers to use a broader range of chords and song structures.
Commenting on the new album, Avicii recently told Rolling Stone magazine: “It’s going to be a lot more song-oriented. True [his 2013 debut album], was an attempt at that, getting electronic music in a song format.”
Other singer-songwriters who are taking this ‘fusion’ approach to writing songs include Taylor Swift who has hinted that her new album will push the boundaries of her sound by featuring greater cross-pollination between different genres.
Jessie J also shares this view: “I feel like pop’s taken a really good turn at the moment,” she recently remarked. “I feel like artists are experimenting. That’s what music should be about, pushing boundaries.”
And British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran’s new hit album, X, features a broad mix of genres, sonic ideas and songwriting styles that stretch his original folk rock sound. Sheeran said he deliberately set out to “rock the boat a little bit” with his new music.
As a possible indication of Avicii’s upcoming collaboration with Chris Martin, here’s his remix of Coldplay’s ‘A Sky Full of Stars’ …
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“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).
Photo: David Shankbone
Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Billy Joel is to be honoured with the prestigious Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. He will receive the prize in Washington, D.C. in November.
Joel follows in the footsteps of six previous recipients: Carole King, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Sir Paul McCartney and songwriting partners Burt Bacharach and the late Hal David.
The Gershwin Prize honours individuals for lifetime achievement in popular music. It is named after legendary songwriting brothers George and Ira Gershwin.
Librarian of Congress James H. Billlington said: “Billy Joel is a storyteller of the highest order. There is an intimacy to his songwriting that bridges the gap between the listener and the worlds he shares through music.”
Billy Joel said: “The great composer, George Gershwin, has been a personal inspiration to me throughout my career. And the Library’s decision to include me among those songwriters who have been past recipients is a milestone for me.”
Six-time Grammy Award winner Billy Joel was presented with a Grammy Legend Award in 1990. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
During his 50-year career, he has had 33 Top 40 hits and has sold more than 150 million records worldwide. His Grammy awards include Song of the Year and Album of the Year in 1978 for ‘Just the Way You Are’.
Since releasing his first hit song, ‘Piano Man’, in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States.
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“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).
“My style of songwriting is influenced by cinema. I’m a frustrated filmmaker… It’s very visual. You’re scoring the actress, but the actress is singing the lines and trying to get them as conversational as film.
“A fan once said to me, ‘Girl, you make me see pictures in my head!’ and I took that as a great compliment. That’s exactly my intention.”
—Joni Mitchell
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“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 