Songwriting Craft & Inspiration
ROBIN FREDERICK TAKES YOU INSIDE TODAY'S HIT SONGS.
Ingrid Michaelson has had over 90 original songs used in dozens of TV shows, films, trailers, and commercials, most them placed multiple times. And that’s excluding performances on competition shows—I’m just talking about episodic TV series, movies, and national commercials. I haven’t found any other artist who comes close to that achievement! Sounds like a record for song sync placements to me.
If you could ask a question of any successful hit songwriter, what would you want to know? You’d probably ask how they do it. In fact, you can ask that question and get an answer… just by taking an in-depth look at their hits.
Brandi Carlile is not only a Grammy Award winning songwriter and performer, she has also written and performed songs featured in a wide range of motion pictures—from Barbie: the Movie to Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants—and hit television shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Ted Lasso. (Visit Tunefind.com for a long list.) “Carried Me With You” was written for the Pixar film Onward and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
Taylor Swift currently has multiple songs on the charts. Each one is a master class in melody and lyric writing you can apply to your own songs in any genre. “Cruel Summer” is filled with songwriting goodies you can use to add listener appeal but still say what you want to say in your song. So let’s dive in!
Not only is this song a huge worldwide hit but it’s also a great example of solid song craft that combines a well-written lyric with a catchy melody and cool dance club groove.
But wait, there’s more! This track features a smooth blend of successful old and new music styles. If you crave that ’70s vibe, you’ll love the Disco-happiness of this tune with its Funk bass and soaring strings mixed with today’s tight, punchy drum loops.
K-Pop is a high energy, glossy style that’s built on teenage dreams, catchy hooks, pulsing rhythms, and a collision of Korean and English lyrics. Recently, the demand for this genre has exploded—more than doubling since 2020. There are definitely opportunities here for songwriters and music producers. So, let’s take a listen to a few monster hits from the current and classic K-Pop charts and look for shortcuts that will help you write and pitch in this style.
The K-Pop genre features highly rhythmical melodies, memorable chorus hooks, stacked harmony vocals, and danceable grooves. While it clearly shares similarities with the U.S. boy bands of the 1990s, like Backstreet Boys and ’NSYNC, there is a kind of super-charged energy to today’s K-Pop hits. The tempo is faster, the song sections are shorter, and there’s a lot more phrase repetition.
To hear a great example of a current K-Pop hit, listen to I AM by the K-Pop girl group IVE on Youtube. (Turn on Closed Captioning to see the English language lyrics. It’s the tiny box with “CC” in the lower right of the YouTube video screen.
