Imagine yourself listening to your favorite song while driving down the highway when all of a sudden, it hits you. How do those melodies and catchy choruses manage to seize our attention and hold it there?
You may wonder whether there is any magic recipe, like unicorn dust on a score, that can help you get the desired results. Okay, maybe not.
Don’t worry, my friend; today, we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of songwriting to learn the secret formula for creating a real smash hit.
So, whether you want to be the next big hit songwriter or want to know what makes your favorite songs so catchy, now you’re about to learn some of the most important songwriting tips. Spoiler alert: By the end of this article, you’ll be the hit-making hero of your own playlist.
11 Hit Songwriting Formula tips
Many songwriters’ ultimate dream is to have a song that tops the charts. Having a hit song is difficult, but it can provide a secure income for the rest of your life.
Over the years, several experts in the field have devoted their careers to analyzing only Top hits. In doing so, they found a pattern between those tracks that were successful and those that were never heard.
What has been discovered is a formula or set of guidelines that songwriters can follow to guarantee their songs the greatest possible commercial success. Even though it doesn’t guarantee that a song will be number one, it sets the song up to do well if the chance comes up.
So, the following are some cutting-edge strategies that can assist writers in creating hit songs:
1. Write fast-paced tracks
If you listen to any of the songs that are currently at the top of the charts, you’ll notice that they are all fast-paced. You will only come across a few ballads in the top 100 songs on the Billboard chart these days.
Because of this, you should generally keep the tempo of your music over 90 beats per minute.
Having said that, the feel of the music is more significant than the actual bpm of the song. A song can have a slower beat per minute (bpm) but still have an uplifting feel to it.
2. A song shouldn’t be longer than 3 minutes
Song length is an essential part of what makes a song a hit. Most people can only sit through a song if it’s short. You don’t want your track to be too brief for the listener to pick up on it, but neither should it go on forever.
Most #1 singles are between three and three minutes long, give or take thirty seconds. It’s unusual for a top 40 single to be under two or over four minutes long. So, if you need to stretch things in one way or another, be sure to stay within those limits.
3. Get to the chorus quickly!
In a nutshell, the majority of listeners don’t care about the lyrics and instead seek out a memorable hook. In other words, they’re looking for the song’s memorable chorus or hook.
If you make them wait too long to get to this part, they will quickly lose interest. The best way to fix this is to skip right to the chorus. This should take no more than a minute, with an average of about 45 seconds.
Many pop singers play it safe by starting their songs with the chorus or at least a hook that immediately attracts the listener’s attention.
4. Every line counts!
Go to one of your lines. Read it aloud. Is there logic behind it? Could it function as a whole thought without the preceding and following lines? It should. Each phrase should convey an entire picture to the reader or listener on its own. Your song’s title should be reflected in each line. Your title tells you your main point and shouldn’t go off-topic.
5. Make sure your track gets into the right hands
A fantastic song that no one hears will never become a smash hit. Writing a song that has the potential to become a success is significantly more complex than distributing that music to the correct people. Always try to pitch the songs you write to labels and performers. Also, they are constantly interested in hearing your next big idea. The door is always open for a possible hit. If your songs are truly fantastic, you won’t need to employ a battering ram to get them noticed. The real work begins after a wonderful song is heard by an artist, producer, record label A&R person, publisher, or manager. Now things will start to happen.
6. Sync up the rhythm between verses
Maintaining a consistent beat count is crucial as you progress from one verse to another. Take a moment to count the beats in the lyrics of verse 1, line 1. Then, compare it to the beat count in verse 2, line 2. Suppose you notice a discrepancy, such as verse 1 having 8 beats and verse 2 having 13 beats. In that case, you’ll encounter challenges trying to fit those extra 5 beats comfortably into the melody you’ve painstakingly established in the first verse. To ensure a smooth and cohesive composition, strive for a consistent and balanced beat count across all the lines of your song’s verses.
7. The HOOK LINe
Creating a catchy hook is one of the most crucial elements of crafting a good song. It’s also a great place to start when you want to write a song.
The hook should be the most memorable part of the song and convey the overall message. Think of it as the part they would sing to their friends if they only had a few seconds to describe your track. It should be both catchy and memorable so that it stays in their heads long after the music ends. It could be poetic, musical, or even just a few “oooh whoas” after the chorus.
Whatever it is, there must be a hook in every successful song. Even if you’re not aiming for the top 40, you still need a catchy chorus to carry the song’s message.
8. Keep up with modern musical trends
If you want to write music that has a shot at going viral, you must listen to what’s popular right now. Here is where a good music producer can really make your song stand out.
If you pay attention to the hits played on the radio, you’ll notice that some sounds are used over and over again. So listen and think about how you can use these sounds in your songs. If you make an effort to follow these tendencies, your music will more easily “fit in” with what’s hot right now.
Knowing what’s happening in the world of pop music will help you write and produce songs that stand out from the crowd.
9. The Structure of Hit Songs
Let’s take a quick look at how hit songs are put together.
Almost every hit song follows this song structure in some way, shape, or form:
- Intro
- Verse 1
- Pre-Chorus
- Chorus
- (Hook)
- Verse 2
- Pre-Chorus
- Chorus
- (Hook)
- Bridge
- Chorus
As you can see, almost the whole song is a chorus somehow.
The song’s tempo slows down during a few verses before picking back up in the pre-chorus, chorus, and maybe even an instrumental hook (common in EDM).
Hence, if you want to produce a successful song or even just a song that many people will like, consider using this structure, or one very similar to it, when creating your song.
10. A catchy melody
The melody is the most essential component of a musical composition. Suppose the melody you’re working on isn’t fascinating and memorable. In that case, your song isn’t going to be a hit, and most people probably won’t even finish listening to it.
If you want to write a hit song, you should probably begin with the melody. After you’ve established that you have a catchy melody, the next step is to construct a song around it.
To enhance your melodies, maintain consistency by using an equal number of syllables for each repetition. Once you establish a specific syllable count in the melody, strive to maintain it throughout subsequent repetitions.
Since the success of a song is dependent on many things, including its lyrics, production, and creativity, there is no “precise” sequence of notes that would guarantee a hit tune. Here are some suggestions for writing a tune that will stick with listeners, though:
- Use simple, repetitive melodies that are easy to sing along with.
- Incorporate both stepwise motions (moving by scale degrees) and wider leaps to add variety and interest to your melodies.
- Change up the melody by playing around with different tempos and phrasing.
- Avoid using melodies that are too long or too complicated.
- Try out many melodies to find the one that best suits your song.
It’s also essential to think about how the melody fits into the overall structure of your song. Each song section, such as the verse, chorus, bridge, and outro, should have its own unique melody.
11. Quantity Makes Quality
It takes work to write songs that become hits. It’s possible that within your first few songwriting sessions, you could end up with a true hit, but for the vast majority of musicians, this is not the case. Most musicians, including those naturally talented, must produce several subpar songs before creating a good one.
The only way to increase your skill set is to allow yourself to make mistakes and try new things. Thankfully, the more you create, the more likely you will produce something of high quality. If you write a lot and strive to improve, you will make a masterpiece at some point in your career.
CONCLUSION
Is there a magic formula for writing hit songs?
I think we’d both agree that writing a good song isn’t too difficult, but coming up with a great one is a lot trickier. A hit song is the result of a combination of skill, timing, and luck.
There’s no surefire way to write a song that will be a number-one hit. The popularity of a song depends on more than just the music itself.
Even if you have the most brilliantly composed hit song ever written, if you simply upload it to the internet and don’t promote it, it probably won’t go anywhere. Similar to how many non-traditional songs have charted successfully, there is no set formula for what makes a hit single.
But if you follow the rules above, you’ll end up with a song ready to become a banger, as it will have all the makings of hits: they’re simple to understand, immediately memorable, and enjoyable on repeat listens. This will help your music to spread as quickly and widely as possible when the time comes for it to do so.
Go forth, create fearlessly, and let your melodies soar to new heights. The world is waiting for your music to shine.