What makes a song a hit

C

cat

Member
I watch videos and listen to the radio and wonder if some of these Artist are serious about the music they are releasing (most of that shit is garbage). This led to a discussion we had in the studio the other night which basically stated if you can promote your shit on radio an with a video, its gonna be hit, regardless of what it sounds like.
I don't know maybe I'm too oldschool to understand the industry nowadays. I used to think it was 50% lyrics and 50% music that made a song (or some other percent ratio that equaled up to 100%). And in order for a song to be a hit it should at least make your head nod or something.
If anyone can explain to me what is a " Hit Song" please feel free to respond.
 
There isn't enough time or room to go too far into depth. But there are various schools of thought, I usually combine these different ideas to get a general idea.

Alot of it has to do with the team of writers, producers, musicians, engineers and marketing folks. A hit typically needs a great song that has the hooks, and the simplicity of the average listener. Then you need artists and musician that perform great as well. The greatest challenge is getting all these things together and getting it to work. Maybe you write great songs, but maybe your less than stellar as a performer or lack the engineering skills to get it on tape. Whatever it might be, you can only get there by going forward. Imagine if everyone look up the road but never walked down it. Listen to the hits on the radio of different genres and pick out the tempos and the chord progressions, listen and learn.


SoMm
 
Wanna know what REALLY makes a song a "hit?"

Raticus, I think I REALLY know, or at least am on the right path. Keep reading...

Yo Cat,

here's the sad-assed answer to your question (assuming you mean a commercial hit).

PDF - http://www.futureofmusic.org/images/radioissuesstatement.pdf

HTML - http://www.futureofmusic.org/news/radioissuesstatement.cfm

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2001/03/14/payola/index.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A43817-2001Aug21?language=printer

http://www.futureofmusic.org/news/PRradioissues.cfm

One,

Flo' Dolo

BTW - you should all peep out more shit Clear Channel is up to, and dig a bit to find out who companies like them are sleeping with (clue: major record companies)... If you don't know about Clear Channel, check the 4th link. I could've posted more, but I think you all will get the idea.

Makes Flo' sad. Then it makes Flo' mad. Then it makes Flo', well, Flo'.

F.D.

P.S. All that shit you cats were mentioning doesn't touch on what makes a "hit," more accurately, it describes what makes a good song.
 
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DID YOU KNOW. The average major label release sells only
800 copies.

I can sell 800 copies of my Cd from my car in one month.




media marketing can help a horrible song get platinum sales, no doubt about it, but even then people still reward a great hook and great harmony.

Michael Jackson's latest CD did not do as well as expected because he did not have the wildcards.

The bubblegum kids are not doing well even though they are being marketed like crazy.
 
gec,

i thnk your percentages are about spot-on, give or take 5% here and there.

Cyan,

MJ's CD sucked shit, but if it was pushed like hell - i mean, like his shit normally is, (and it wasn't, i read that's why he's pissed with his rec.co.) i'll bet he would've sold 10,000 or so "extra."

The bubblegums are doing well by MY standards, just not by theirs. OK, so soundscan can be bitched easier than a college girl drinking Cisco, but still.

I know people can appreciate & reward good tunes, but the sad reality of it is exactly what my fiancee (who buys a respectable amount of product) said to me last week during one of my "what is this shit I'm hearing" sessions:

<close as I can remember it>
"Daddy, I don't care about whether or not they jacked somebody's beat, don't care if it's unoriginal to you, cuz i don't know, and don't care if the bassline and chords progression thingys are from 1000 other songs. I can't tell if it's a good mix or bad mix, whatever the fuck that means, and the only thing I know about mastering is what white folks did to black folks during slave times. If the shit be banging, or i'm feeling the track for whatever reason, i'ma buy that shit. Period."

I almost cried...

Funny thing is, it's not like she buys straight garbage, even by my standards, but she's probably a good representation of the record buying public. Likes to club, bumps the system she swore was "a waste of damn money" when I tore her ride apart to put it in "so SHE could hear shit the way it was supposed to be heard," and, and, and...

What are we to do? One thing, though, if SHE likes a track I did, everybody who hears it after her thinks it all that. That's not to say that if she doesn't like it, nobody else will, but you know what i'm sayin'.

She doesn't like everything she sees/hears, but who does. One good thing though, last week she wanted to buy Puffy's remix joint. She decided against it saying "you're gonna laugh at me, aren't you?" Don't really know where that came from, and it ain't like I hate on radio-friendly shit (and on R&B night in the club, badboy shit does just what it's supposed to), but fuck it, if a defensive rebound attempt bounces back in the hoop, it's still 2 points for my squad.

for what it's worth...


Flo' Dolo
 
Well, if use the JLo phenomena, i'd say sleeping with Puffy, or PDiddy, whatever.

I am at a total LOSS to understand WHAT makes a song a hit. Especially after spending much time listening to unsigned artists who'll blow ANYTHING you hear on the radio OUT THE WATER!!!

I don't get it. I really don't. Luck and a large promotional budget???
 
I agree TOTALLY with gec and Flo'Dolo.

It is all about Marketing and Promotions. AND...... the necessary FUNDS (read: MONEY) for the proper exposure in all of the media formats (television, print, radio, etc...).

When it comes down to it, it is all about the amount of "HYPE" you can put on a song.

You have to remember that 85% of the Earth's population are "stimulated dummies" (READ: followers). They think, react, speak, and live their lives by what is bombarded to them by various external forces.
Trust me when I share this with you, people do not think for themselves, simple as that!

So when you get down to the nitty-gritty, it doesn't matter if your song is hot, original, and funky. You still need the money to get it to the "masses" eyes and ears, in order for you to control their pedestrian thinking.

peace......

p.s. I will expound on these ideas later on tonight
 
GEC is workin on a track as we speak to tear all these fuckin made up / don't write their own songs / glamour glitz / untalented / whinin babies

a new ass and bring rap back,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I'll be done by the end of the week
 
GET IT GEC!!!! GET IT!!! I'm tired of listening to this BS... i think their are enough 'music' lovers out there to appreciate the realness and pay for it...or am in la la dreamland again? I mean, my non-musically friends are even griping over the 'cheesiness' of what they hear. I think they are starved for better stuff and only 'dealing' with what the can get and not knowledgeable enough to find the 'good stuff'.
 
This question had me going in circles ever since i started getting involved with the music industry.

All I can narrow it down to is...go back to when you were NOT involved with the music industry. Go back to when you were a kid getting a ride with your mom and dad to school. NOW...what appealed to you (music wise) then? Was it the pretty face? Ass? Dope beats?

When I look back to that time, I remember liking Vanilla Ice, Hammer (MC), Kriss Kross, MC Breed, NWA, etc. etc. But if you really think about it, they were POP acts too!!! And guess what?? The kids of today (most) still follow that trend to this very day. Only they have Eminem, N Sync, Britney Spears, Nelly, etc. now.
 
mshea said:
....I'm tired of listening to this BS... ...
Click to expand...

Ok, what I am also trying to say is............... even if you make a PHAT A** track with dope lyrics and vocals.

It doesn't mean SH*T if you don't have a way for the mass population to hear your musical creation.

And believe me, that costs money, moolah, dinero......

It is as simple as that...... :(
 
What makes a song a hit?

What makes a song a hit,

people listening to it and grooving to it, and, BUYING it....

Nuff Said
Lyon
 
I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to view this thread and respond. Most of those that responded seem to be conscious of the industry. Does anyone have any ideas or solutions about what can be done to change the way music is marketed?
 
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