How do I write a hit song?

[tuneitdown]

Ah ok got you, thanks!

[Epsilon-144]

major or minor doesn't matter. That'll just affect the mood of the song. I have friends who've written hits in minor and some who've written hits in major. That's just for the mood.

lol and ya, nobody really knows. That is the million dollar question. A lot probably has to do with contacts and what contacts those contacts have...that would be my best guess. It is quite random though, sometimes a song you spend only a day or two on does very well while a song you spend a lot of time on doesn't do as well. And then later sometimes a song you spent a lot of time time does super well. It's all random. ...The people listening don't know this "behind the scenes" stuff, they only hear the song. If you make something good and memorable, they'll come back to hear it again (and share it, that's the real key).

[Zak_GBz]

Damn some good info here

[Zak_GBz]

I think major more because everyone wants to be and feel happy right? It depends on the audience but I would say major.

[r:aeplay]

have million dollar one liners for the chorous

[CJ Rocky]

You don't make a hit song by overthinking to this degree.

If people share a song then it becomes a hit song, it's as simple as that. What follows from that is up to you. You could create a hit song by making a stupid dance everyone follows and does with there friends. You could make an emotionally triggering song that makes people want to share because of the intense experience they had from it. You could make a highly relatable song that people want to share to show people "who they are". You could make a retarded song that makes people want to share to show people how retarded your song is. The world is your oyster my friend.

^Exactly this^ Theres no one way around it. My Band had a hit song that won a Televised competition called "PopWorld" in 2006 because the song was about being sick and tired of living in a boring little town with nothing to do, people could relate to it, also that same town at the time was voted the best place to live in Britain so the controversy only helped make the song even more popular.

Personally i have two ways of structuring a Hit song, i like to think of the melodies for the verse and chorus as Boxes.
The verse is a small box and the chorus is a big box. let me try to explain...
The verse (small box) is a short loop (length of box) with only a few notes that i like to think of as the height of the box , the Chorus is a longer loop (length of box) with a lot more notes and much higher notes, so with the chorus being longer and having a wider range of notes it is a much bigger box than the verse. hope that makes sense

The second way is the exact opposite, a long melodic verse (big box) the the chorus is a short quick one liner (small box)

If your verse and chorus are both the same size it will feel like the song does not go anywhere (no structure) .

[Ouijean]

Hire someone

[atiim]

Lyrics have to be simple and can be easily remembered. Everyone can sit and write lots of complex paragraphs but only very few artists can explain themselves with just 4 simple lines.

[daFosterkid]

50% nothing new (seriously, don't innovate) 50% suggestibility and advertising.
provocation tended to work a few years ago... but what does that even mean anymore?

[D.L. Cordero]

Most hit records aren't really anticipated. Artists basically just create the music however they enjoy to, on the creative side. What does matter, however, is the sound quality and the marketing strategy that's behind the song. If you start realizing that people are catchin on to your record, you gotta use that momentum to push it even further out to the masses. How many incredible records are out there that haven't reached the masses? A TON, thats how many. So my three factors would be catchiness of the song, good sound quality, and successful marketing.