Songwriting Craft & Inspiration
ROBIN FREDERICK TAKES YOU INSIDE TODAY'S HIT SONGS.
Take a look inside today’s biggest Pop hits and learn the songwriting secrets that make them so irresistible, from chorus hooks to attention-grabbing lyrics.
I know TV commercials can be a major pain. But if you’re a songwriter, don’t hit that mute button just yet. Instead, take a little time to listen to the kinds of songs that are being used in today’s TV ads. There are opportunities there that you don’t want to miss.
Don’t have time to watch TV? For a quick and easy way to see TV ads with songs without actually watching any TV, visit websites like iSpot.tv and TVadvertMusic.com.
“Halo” recorded by Beyoncé is a huge Pop hit that has lasted the test of time and continues to pile up listens at Spotify—over a billion at the time I write this. It’s a great example of a big power ballad with a simple, repeating four-chord progression, a killer melody, and an uplifting lyric.
A lot of songwriters I know love to write songs and lyrics in this style, so let’s see what we can learn from success!
Justin Bieber’s “Ghost” is a Pop hit with a strong, emotionally moving singer-songwriter vibe. It’s the sixth single off Bieber’s album “Justice,” and it’s charting in the top 10 globally.
An artist can no longer release a ten-song album with one, maybe two strong songs. “Justice” has 16 songs and, so far, six of them have been hits. Established artists need songs that sound like potential hits and if you’re an artist who wants to work at this level, you need them, too. So, let’s take a look at what makes this one so appealing.
Every songwriter’s dream: A total stranger stumbles across your song on YouTube, falls in love with it in the first 30 seconds, and immediately dashes over to iTunes and actually buys it. Then, your new fan sets aside an evening, turns off the phone so they won’t be disturbed, puts on headphones and curls up in a comfy chair to ponder every syllable, every note, and every nuance of the brilliant masterpiece you slaved over.
We wish. The unfortunate truth…
You manage to get your song in front of listeners any way you can. Maybe you covered a hit song in a unique way. A listener who is a fan of that song stumbled across your version on YouTube and decided to check out your other stuff. While they’re doing that, they’re half-watching a TV show, snacking on pizza while surrounded by kids, roommates, or siblings, and getting a half-dozen texts from friends. Although they may hear your song, they’re not thinking about what they hear.
That’s the harsh reality, but just remember every other song gets pretty much the same treatment. And once you know that, there is something you can do: Use trigger words.
You can draw a straight line from Joni Mitchell’s Blue album, the intimate vocals of Tim Hardin, and the floating melodies of Nick Drake to the compelling sound of today’s Singer-Songwriter genre.
Indeed, the Singer-Songwriter genre has been around for decades, yet no one seems able to describe exactly what it is. We might agree that Dermot Kennedy, Sheryl Crow, Novo Amor, and Ingrid Michaelson are all singer-songwriters, but they all sound very different. What does the Singer-Songwriter genre sound like? And how do you know if you’re in it? Why is that important?
