“The beauty of songwriting is that we have the ability to tell our stories, and it means something to us. But then you open it up to other people, and their experience and how it affects their lives.
“That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned as a songwriter in an 11,12-year career. You have to write about things that are real to you and relevant to you. And it doesn’t always have to be emotional and heavy, it can be just about whatever it is, but it has to connect. But it can’t be hyper-specific or it’s going to alienate some people.
“People like Taylor [Swift] and Drake do that very well. They’re able to kind of create something that means something to them but also everyone can connect to it in their own way.”
—Nick Jonas (in an interview with Bustle Magazine)
(Photo: Mingle Media TV)
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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=127&h=191)
A 5-star rated book at Amazon, “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. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), 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
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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=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).
Etta James’s ‘At Last’ is Spotify’s most popular ‘first dance’ song
Many songwriters dream of being able to come up with an evergreen song that will still mean something special to listeners in years to come (and, ideally, keep earning royalties for years to come!).
One example of this is the kind of song that newly married couples choose for their ‘first dance’ at their wedding celebrations—a song that will always bring back those ‘special day’ feelings for them.
Now, leading music streaming service Spotify has unveiled a list of the world’s 10 most popular ‘first dance’ wedding songs, based on the listening choices made by many of its 40 million active users across 56 countries.
Spotify studied over 30,000 wedding-themed playlists and also analyzed 12,000 single-track playlists named ‘First Dance’ in order to identify listeners’ most popular wedding choices.
According to Spotify, the world’s most popular ‘first dance’ song is Etta James’s 1960 classic ‘At Last’ which was originally written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren in 1941 for the film musical Orchestra Wives (performed in the movie by Glenn Miller and his orchestra).
Here is Spotify’s ‘First Dance’ Top 10:
1. Etta James – ‘At Last’
2. Jason Mraz – ‘I Won’t Give Up’
3. Ray LaMontagne – ‘You Are the Best Thing’
4. John Legend – ‘All of Me’
5. Jack Johnson – ‘Better Together’
6. Christina Perri – ‘A Thousand Years’
7. Michael Buble – ‘Everything’
8. Bright Eyes – ‘First Day Of My Life’
9. Brad Paisley – ‘Then’
10. Adele – ‘Make You Feel My Love’
If you can write a song that becomes someone’s ‘special song’ with a lyrical message and melody that will always remind them of a particular day (such as their wedding), then it is indeed a great achievement.
When Grammy Award-winner Drake released his 2013 single ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’ (subsequently covered by the Arctic Monkeys), he hoped the song would go on to become a “timeless” wedding song that would still be played at nuptials in years to come.
“I thought it would be great if we had a record that was still played at weddings in ten years … something that just has timeless writing and a timeless melody,” he told MTV News at the time.
Burt Bacharach shares this view. “I like to write songs that will last,” he once remarked. “Once a record is out of the charts it’s dead, as a record. But if it’s a good song it’ll stay around.”
And there are solid scientific findings to support this ‘long-lasting’ approach to songwriting.
In 2008, researchers at the University of Leeds in England found that music has a powerful influence on the storage and retrieval of long-term memories. A piece of music can become so closely associated with an event from a person’s life that hearing the music again evokes powerful memories of the original experience.
In a recent UK survey, half of the men and women interviewed said they are taken back to memories of a past relationship whenever they hear a certain song. And 20% said they have a particular song that always reminds them of their first kiss.
That’s why music is sometimes called ‘the language of emotion’. It has an amazing power to influence people’s emotions and behaviour. As Oliver Sacks, the noted British neuroscientist and author, puts it: “Music brings back the feeling of life when nothing else can.”
Here’s Etta James’s classic recording of ‘At Last’ to bring back a few memories …
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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).
Canadian singer, rapper and songwriter Drake believes it is important to try to come up with songs with a lyrical message and melody that will still mean something special to listeners in years to come.
If you can write a song that becomes someone’s ‘special song’ because it always reminds them of a particular day (such as their wedding day) or a special moment in their lives (such as the return of a loved one after a long absence), then it is indeed a great achievement.
And there are solid scientific findings to support this ‘long-tail’ approach to songwriting.
In 2008, researchers at the University of Leeds found that music has a powerful influence on the storage and retrieval of long-term memories in particular. A piece of music can become so closely associated with an event from a person’s life that hearing the music again evokes powerful memories of the original experience.
That’s why music is sometimes called ‘the language of emotion’. It has an amazing power to influence people’s emotions and behaviour. As Oliver Sacks, the noted British neuroscientist and author, puts it: “Music brings back the feeling of life when nothing else can.”
Grammy Award-winning Drake and his producer Noah “40” Shebib are hoping that Drake’s song ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’ will become a “timeless” wedding song that will help to bring back those ‘special day’ feelings and still be played at nuptials in years to come.
“I thought it would be great if we had a record that was played at weddings in ten years or that people that are away from their families in the army could listen to,” he told MTV News. “Something that just has timeless writing and a timeless melody.”
The legendary Burt Bacharach also shares this view. “I like to write songs that will last,” he once remarked. “Once a record is out of the charts it’s dead – as a record. But if it’s a good song it’ll stay around. ”
How do you think Drake’s new single ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’ (featuring Majid Jordan) compares with other great wedding songs?
‘At Last’ – Etta James
‘Marry You’ – Bruno Mars
‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ – Elvis Presley
“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 