How top songwriters craft the perfect pop song - Think Like A Musician
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Date: 2026-01-23
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Comments and reviews: 9
mewomewow
I agree that music is ever-evolving and that breaking the classic structure of a pop song can be good, but I have mixed feelings about the current trend of songs being less than 3 minutes, some of them just a few seconds longer than 2 minutes.
What I've observed is that most of them start off with the hook, rarely have a 2nd verse, and bridges are totally scrapped. I feel like these songs were written just for trends and catchiness rather than true artistry.
I read an article where some music producers were asked about this and they said that record labels don't want them to making longer songs now because of the rules of streaming platforms. According to data, people only listen to around 2 minutes or so of the song and for Spotify and other streaming platforms, it is not counted as a stream. This led to the shortening of songs that we see today.
That was a few years ago though, I don't know if the streaming platforms have changed their rules regarding this but I don't think they have.
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I agree that music is ever-evolving and that breaking the classic structure of a pop song can be good, but I have mixed feelings about the current trend of songs being less than 3 minutes, some of them just a few seconds longer than 2 minutes.
What I've observed is that most of them start off with the hook, rarely have a 2nd verse, and bridges are totally scrapped. I feel like these songs were written just for trends and catchiness rather than true artistry.
I read an article where some music producers were asked about this and they said that record labels don't want them to making longer songs now because of the rules of streaming platforms. According to data, people only listen to around 2 minutes or so of the song and for Spotify and other streaming platforms, it is not counted as a stream. This led to the shortening of songs that we see today.
That was a few years ago though, I don't know if the streaming platforms have changed their rules regarding this but I don't think they have.
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ZennExile
They don't. Full stop. The Music Industry doesn't work the way you think it does. These people are projecting a persona. That persona believes what they are saying. But what they are saying is woo woo, or straight up fabricated. Pop music is almost never created by an artist. Pop music is created by assembling hooks and rhythm to whatever known melody can be licensed in any given season by producers, then presented to talent who practice and iterate on it until the marketing team signs off on brand alignment. This video is pure nonsense.
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They don't. Full stop. The Music Industry doesn't work the way you think it does. These people are projecting a persona. That persona believes what they are saying. But what they are saying is woo woo, or straight up fabricated. Pop music is almost never created by an artist. Pop music is created by assembling hooks and rhythm to whatever known melody can be licensed in any given season by producers, then presented to talent who practice and iterate on it until the marketing team signs off on brand alignment. This video is pure nonsense.
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Metranomix
Making a great pop song:
- Hire a lyricist
- Hire one of the same producers or production studios that have made almost every 'top 100' record in the last decade. (Don't believe me, look it up.
- Hire a mastering engineer
- Hiring a marketing team
Sit back and reap rewards.
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Making a great pop song:
- Hire a lyricist
- Hire one of the same producers or production studios that have made almost every 'top 100' record in the last decade. (Don't believe me, look it up.
- Hire a mastering engineer
- Hiring a marketing team
Sit back and reap rewards.
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bl2005
atleast learn basic chord progressions. that'll determine what kind of feeling you want for your song. happiness, sadness, uncertainty, resolved etc. plus, it's how different parts of the song (verse, bridge, chorus etc) are connected together.
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atleast learn basic chord progressions. that'll determine what kind of feeling you want for your song. happiness, sadness, uncertainty, resolved etc. plus, it's how different parts of the song (verse, bridge, chorus etc) are connected together.
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frankydman
Well, if that one song by Axis of Awesome is anything to go by- all you need to write a hit pop song is the I-V-VI-IV chord progression, lol
But jokes aside- video premise does sound interesting, and I look forward to watching it later
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Well, if that one song by Axis of Awesome is anything to go by- all you need to write a hit pop song is the I-V-VI-IV chord progression, lol
But jokes aside- video premise does sound interesting, and I look forward to watching it later
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WhatDoesntkillYa
Sorry. But Does David Archuleta qualify as a top song writer He's a one hit wonder and the he didn't even write it. His last appearance on the hot 100 was in 2009.
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Sorry. But Does David Archuleta qualify as a top song writer He's a one hit wonder and the he didn't even write it. His last appearance on the hot 100 was in 2009.
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pnw-backpacker
Nobody's written a perfect pop song in over a decade. Popular and perfect are almost never the same.
But sure, push formulaic art as perfect if you want to.
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Nobody's written a perfect pop song in over a decade. Popular and perfect are almost never the same.
But sure, push formulaic art as perfect if you want to.
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kirbymarchbarcena
Watching these musicians give their thoughts on how to make music because they all have different approaches which some may apply for some of us.
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Watching these musicians give their thoughts on how to make music because they all have different approaches which some may apply for some of us.
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jer103
I love that a lot of these musicians have speech impediments, or disabilities, but still persevere to their goal of making a song.
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I love that a lot of these musicians have speech impediments, or disabilities, but still persevere to their goal of making a song.
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