You have read stories of successful songwriters making a good living out of their hit songs. And even a single hit song can really have a big impact on the songwriter financial lives. The problem is that hit songs do not come naturally and is rare to find. Only a small percentage of released singles could actually become long term hits.

Below are some of the proven techniques for producing hit songs that are observed from the songwriting legends like Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney, as well as many others. If you like to produce hit songs, then you should try the following tips below.

Tip#1: Write as many songs as you can

The percent probability of producing hit songs is VERY rare. For example the Beatles has around 54 hit songs in their entire career, yet the Beatles wrote a total of 275 songs.

So the hit song percentage is:

Hit song percent = 54/275 ~20%

And take note that this 20% hit song percentage comes from the collaboration of two songwriting legends (Lennon/McCartney). For single songwriters, you should expect a lesser percentage.

For example Bob Dylan wrote a total of 450 songs as of 2009 and there are around 25 hit songs (not even one of them reaches number 1 position in the charts). This percentage would be around: 25/450= ~5%

The point is that if you are an aspiring songwriter and frustrated that no one accepts your songs, check how many songs you already written. If you only wrote 5 songs; then do not expect you already have a hit song out of your very small catalog. You need to write more songs, to increase the chances of writing a hit song.

Based on a 5% probability (average to exceptional songwriter), you need to write at least 20 original songs to score at least a single hit song.

Legendary writers know this secret; it is why they write so many songs in their entire lives. Paul McCartney has around 500 songs written. And if you look at the catalog of big music publishing companies they have thousands of songs, yet only a very few of them are hits.

Tip#2: Be a perfectionist-rewrote for perfection

Since tip#1 told you to write as many songs as you can, there is still no excuse for poor quality. Exceptional songwriters and composers spend a LOT of time crafting even a single song. Some of them can even complete a single song in 2 weeks time.

You need to put more emphasis on quality when writing songs. Focus on the lyrics, story, melody and the hook of the song (what the listener should remember always, this is often the melody of the chorus).

Despite the genius and true legend of Beethoven; he only wrote 9 symphonies. Why? Beethoven always revises those symphonies over and over again until it sounds perfect. Beethoven is not after the quantity he wrote, but the quality of his musical output.

After so many years, Beethoven nine symphonies are highly regarded as the finest musical achievement ever made. The secret: be a perfectionist.

Tip#3: Use common hit song chord sequences

If you already sung the hit songs using either a guitar or a piano, you noticed that the chord sequences are common and repeatable from one song to another. They have similar pattern. For example, these are very common hit song chord sequences:

C-Am-F-G
G-Em-C-D
C-G-Am-F
C-Em-F-G
Am-F-C-G
Bm-G-D-A
D-A-G-A
G-D-Em-C
Em-C-G-D
G-C-G-C
F-Dm-Bb-C
D-A-Bm-G

If you are writing songs, make sure you are using the above chord sequences; it will substantially increase your chances of writing hit songs.

Tip#4: Let the child sing

Some rare tips in hit songwriting are testing the strong of the hook. Some songs you have just listened today may not be memorable in the next day. If songs have some melodies and words that stick on your mind longer, then it has the qualities of a hit song.

One of the reliable tests is to sing your song to a child (7 years old at most). Play it a couple times (once every day for two days) and observed how the child remembers the song each time when it’s being played.

The final test is that after a couple days; let the child sing the chorus tune. If the child could remember the tune perfectly then you have just wrote a hit song.

Tip#5: Be original and be yourself

Legendary songwriters wrote songs by themselves, influenced by a lot of factors such as the society, culture, etc.

One problem today with songwriters is the lacking of originality; the theme of the song repeats over and over again from one songwriter to another. To be original, just be yourself and wrote what you really write to share and relate.

Kurt Cobain wrote some of the finest songs in Nirvana. Inspired by anger, loneliness and even by his own personal problem; he express all of them in writing and that what make his songs unique and outstanding.

Bob Dylan is the voice of the 60’s; if you understand the lyrics of his songs, it would convey a lot of information about the politics and culture on that time. It is why his songs have some value in people lives.

Tip#6: Write with common structure and arrangement

It’s OK to be unique with structuring the song. But most hit songs do have some common structure. These are the following:

1.) Verse- Chorus – Verse
2.) Verse –Chorus – Verse – Bridge
3.) Chorus – Verse – Chorus –Bridge

As you have observed, all song structure used in hit songs do include a chorus. A common mistake in songwriting is ignoring the importance of chorus. And even you include a chorus, make sure it stands out from your song and make it sound different from your stanza or bridge.

It can be a different scenario for independent film makers or small movie production companies. It is because they do not have its own lawyers or experts in music licensing working for them all the time. It is essential for them to know the music rights for film. Knowing these rights can be helpful for them to legally use the song or music to be used on their film project.

If you are an independent movie/film producer that wants to use copyrighted music in your project; then make sure you know the rights that you need to be cleared before you can start working in your project.

What are the important music rights for film?

1. Right to synchronization – these are popularly called “sync” rights. These are the rights for music to be used and synchronized together with film visual images. In layman’s term; this is synonymous with the film “sound track”. The licensing fee for sync depends on the music publisher and the licensee budget.
It can be as low as $5 to as high as thousands of dollars for popular hit songs.

2. Right to use the sound recording/master recording rights – these are called “master recording rights”, the owner is typically the recording producer. Some independent music publishers are also recording producers and they also hold the rights of the sound recording.

A good example is an indie artist/producer that writes and produces original work. The artists wrote the song and then using his/her home studio, the master recording of that song was created. To make sure the artist original work would be protected; the artist obtains both the copyright of the song and the master recording.

The indie artist can then license this work to any interested parties such as movie/film and TV producers. Take note that in a situation like this, the artist functions both as a music publisher and a master recording rights owner.

If you plan to use the song but create your own master recording for the use in the projects; then you do not need to acquire sound recording rights. You simply need to ask permission from the music publisher to cover the song. Once granted; you start making your own master recording of that song and use it in your film.
The licensing fee depends on the music publisher and the budget of the film producer. It can be as low as $5 to as high as thousands of dollars for very popular songs.

Normally in a film production where music needs to be synchronized with the film visual images, then the sync and use of master recording rights are only required (which 95% of the indie film producers should need to be cleared). But these are not the only rights which you might need to acquire for your film project.

3. Mechanical rights – after completing your film project. You might need to burn it to several copies of DVD which you might sell to movie shops or even distribute it to other people. The reproduction of recorded medium (DVD, film strips, CDs, video cassette) requires you to acquire mechanical rights from the music publisher of the song/ music. If you do not plan to replicate your work to a number of copies, you do not need to acquire these rights in order to use certain music for your project.

In most cases (such as in Hollywood film projects), they are released and duplicated to several copies (DVDS, VCD, film strips), so they should need to acquire mechanical rights.Bear in mind that independent film makers do not distribute their movies to the public. They are provided to movie distributors. Thus the film makers are not the one to obtain mechanical rights but the only the distributors. The distributors would do the actual work of replicating the movies to several copies and have it available for sale.

If the music publisher is Harry Fox affiliated, then you need to arrange and get permission from them. Otherwise if they are not affiliated you need to contact directly the music publisher. The licensing fee depends on the number of copies to be sold or distributed. For example, the distributor would be paying high mechanical licensing fees if thousands or millions of copies would be distributed. Permanent digital downloads are also included in mechanical rights licensing.

4. Performance rights – once the project has been released to the public (like shown in theaters), the music will be publicly performed along with the movie. Thus, any commercial use should pay performance royalties. However as an independent film maker, you are not responsible for this but only those commercial venues that publicly show your film. In this case, movie theaters, cable channels and television stations which might be releasing or using your film project will be the one to pay performance royalties not you.

a. Copyrighted
b. Public domain

Naturally, if you use music or songs that belong to the public domain then you will not need to get permission. However things are very different if the music is copyrighted. This is where a lot of confusion can take place. This is a complete tutorial for a beginner in knowing how to get permission to use copyrighted music.

Step1.) Find the music publisher of the copyrighted music

You need to know the music publisher of the song. Music publisher administers copyrighted work that includes the songs/music. This is where you need to obtain permission to use music. In most cases, this is not available so you need to do some research. You can start with the artist or the songwriter of the song. You will know the artist or songwriter by examining the ID3 tags information of the MP3 file (or CD in-lay for CD album).

The ID3 tags information can be found by right-clicking the mp3 file then go to “Properties” – “Summary”. Other mp3 players such as an iPod provide this information much easily.

Once you know the artist, album and other information pertaining to the song; you should then know how to perform a song copyright search to find out the music publisher of the song.

Another clue to find out where you have download or obtained the song; if it is coming from a website, try to check what are the terms and conditions attached. Does it include information about the publisher? A good way is to contact the website owner representing the songs. Most of the time, website owner is not the music publisher but they know whom to contact if you are interested in using the songs.

Step2.)Describe how you will use the music to the publisher

Beginner music licensees often provide vague information as to how they are going to use the song in their projects. To speed up the licensing process and to get the reasonable licensing fee; you should be providing detailed information to the music publisher.

Once you have the contact information of the music publisher, provide them with the following information (they will be using the obtained information in issuing a license):

1.) Title and details of the project –if it’s a movie project, describe how the music would be used in your movie. Even though a lot of licensees often miss the details; some music publishers need to know what your project is all about. There are some sensitive topics that music publishers do not want their work to be included.

2.) Enumerate what music rights are you planning to exploit and why? – This is slightly complicated. A lot of licensee does not know these rights; below are some of the most common:

a.) Synchronization rights – if you want to use the song in your film, video or TV project. This would synchronize the song with the picture of the video/film/TV project. Even a slideshow with pictures exploit sync rights if you are planning to add copyrighted music to it.

b.) Mechanical rights – if you want to use the song and have it included, sold/distributed in mechanical units such as CD, DVD, Blue ray, etc. If the music publisher is represented by the mechanical licensing agent such as Harry Fox agency:

http://www.harryfox.com/index.jsp

Then you need to ask permission from them and not to the music publisher.

c.) Performance rights – some music publishers are also represented by performing right societies. These are ASCAP/BMI in the US or Filscap in the Philippines. You know this in your copyright search in the previous steps. For example, the song “Summer of 69” by Bryan Adams is published by Almo Music Corporation

And this is an ASCAP publisher as shown below:

If they are represented, you need to ask permission to the society and not to the music publisher.

Performance right is a right to publicly perform the copyrighted music. This includes having them publicly shown on-air on TV (such as included in featured shows); or played on radio. This also includes performing the song on the public such as in the live venue/concert.

d.) Master recording rights – the music publisher does not always own these rights. Some independent music publishers do. The owner of this is mostly the recording label of the artist. If the artist is self-produced or even self-published; then the artist itself is both the publisher and also own the sound recording/master recording.

As a background, this is the right to use the sound recording in your projects. One of the most commonly exploited music rights.

Case Example: For a video producer wanting to use copyrighted music in his commercial video projects, the following rights are needed to be cleared:

a.) Sync rights- using the music along with the video content.
b.) Mechanical rights – putting the music in a video content and distributed as DVD, etc for sale.
c.) Master recording rights – using the master sound recording of the music.

Take note that the producer does not need to be cleared with performing rights because the producer won’t be showing the content publicly.

3.) Include the other important details such as:

a.) Scope territory- where you would like the work to be published (state the country, territories, etc.).

b.) Period – indicate the date/inclusive months.
c.) Exclusive or non-exclusive?
d.) Licensing budget

4.) Send all the information in an email or music publisher supplied form. Then the publisher would take a look at your licensing request and process it. It can take some time, so make sure you do this in the starting phase of your project to avoid delays.

So how can you find ways to legally download free music in the Internet without registration?

Tip#1: Indie artist would offer some of their songs for free

It is indeed hard to find quality music for free on the Internet. The public domain music is fine but it was highly outdated or sound obsolete, those classical music will not appreciate the entire modern listeners.

Most websites like Amazon, iTunes, CD Baby needs users to be registered and a lot of information is needed before someone can download music. Most of them are not for free.

But thanks to the indie music industry; they are happy to share their music and would always be looking for new fans. The secret is to find them. One of reliable and easy to use website is SoundCloud:

a.) Search tracks here:
http://soundcloud.com/tracks/search

For example, leave the form blank and click “Show advance search options”. You can then select what genre you like (e.g. rock) as well as the license. You can also set if you are looking for original work instead of a cover or a demo.

Then click the following (it will turn to orange):

-free to use commercially
-free to modify
-no rights reserved
-downloadable

This is how it looks like:

Another important option you need to set is to make sure that the tracks are downloadable:

Finally click “Search” button.

b.) You can preview any of the provided songs and decide which one you like.

c.) If you decide to download the music, you can click the download button:

The concept of Sound Cloud legality is that it requires artist to entirely own the copyright of the song and the recording. If the copyright owners or creators of the work allow others to download their created work (based on the license provided), then there is no infringement involved.

There are also other free music download websites aside from SoundCloud that features downloads without user registration.

Tip#2: Visit indie music publisher and record label sites

Another tip is to visit independent music publisher website, you can download songs depending on the publisher requirements.

For example, you can download some of my produced works for personal use. You can follow the following steps:

1.) Go to my music publishing site:

https://www.musicforlicense.net/

2.) On the front page, click “Download this song” button for example for the song “Sure”.

3.) Select “I would like to license this song for non-commercial…” – you do not need to register/fill up anything.

4.) Scroll down to the bottom of the page and enter the security code/captcha.

5.) Finally click “Submit and Download Song”.

6.) In the next page, you can simply click the download link and that’s it. You have successfully downloaded sample music.

But do take note that; what is “free” does not mean it is not protected by law. The song is still copyrighted, and you are not allowed to make several copies of the song for sale, modify it or distribute it online. The license is only for personal listening purposes.

My stand on SOPA (Stop online Piracy Act)

Even with SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act in 2011/2012); users would still know that there are recording software (including the free Audacity) that can be used to capture live MP3 stream on their website without requiring them to click links or directly downloading it. Thus it won’t appear in the server logs. Unless if a website would require visitors to register first before they can play songs, this can drastically affect user experience as a lot of users would find this annoying. This would entail a lot of changes to the website.

Thus it is true that implementing SOPA can be very costly to the copyright/website owners. In addition, preventing recording of streamed audio on the Internet is also a complicated subject. If music industry would find some creative ways to share valuable music to their artists’ fans, and then piracy would be minimal. If labels or publishers are willing to give some free music to artist fans and be nice to them, then illegal websites or pirates would run-out of business.

Fans would then know that a free music exists and there are legal means of downloading songs. This is why I personally oppose to SOPA. I am a copyright owner myself but I believe in the power of sharing and open Internet. There are already laws passed against copyright infringement, it is only a matter of implementation and SOPA is not anymore needed.

As you might already know, there are lot of objections to this and big companies like Google and Wikipedia do not like this either.

If the music genre is on a decline or is not popular anymore, your music will also get a fewer opportunities to earn and attract business. This means less income for a songwriter or music publisher where you are talking about music business. For an artist, it means less fans and audience. There will be fewer places that accept your gig offer or invite you to play because your genre is not that what most people love to listen.

Therefore what are currently the most popular and the best music genre for last year 2011? This is a worldwide survey using Google trends:

http://www.google.com/trends

But first, let’s mention the top nominees. These are the most common type of music genre:

1.) Pop music genre
2.) Rock music
3.) Country music genre
4.) Hip Hop music
5.) Instrumental music

Top Music Genres as of 2011

Below is the Google trends result:

When you examined the trend above, it’s a close battle between rock music and country music. These two are currently the most popular and the best music genre to target for this year, and possibly for the coming years. Other music genre did have some popularity but it cannot match with the rock and country music genre. For example, pop and hip hop music is comparable. It is also observed that instrumental music is “slowly” becoming more popular. It’s because in the year 2004, it is the most “unpopular” form of music genre among the top 5 choices. Now it has attained similar popularity with pop and hip-hop music.

Top Rock Sub-Genres as of 2011

One thing to take note is that “rock” music is a broad type of music genre. You might hear of sub-classification of “rock” music which are as follows:

1.) Heavy metal music
2.) Christian rock music
3.) Punk rock music
4.) Alternative rock music
5.) Death metal music

So what the most popular form of rock music in 2011? Below is the trend comparison result:

You have noticed that it’s the heavy metal music which is the most popular form of rock music. And this is followed by alternative rock, punk rock, Christian rock music and death metal music.

Top Country Sub-genre

Like Rock music, country music also has a lot of different sub-genres. Let’s see what the most popular sub-genre for the following choices:

1.) Pop country
2.) Country rock
3.) Folk country
4.) Country ballads
5.) Traditional country

And this is the result:

It shows that the strongest sub-genre of country music is country rock and pop. The rest did not have significant popularity compared to this two.

Recommendations:

1.) If you are a songwriter/publisher needing to maximize the exposure of your music catalog. You need to target the most profitable genres which are the following: rock and country music. The pop music is still popular but it seems that the “majority” of people nowadays are more inclined to listen to rock and country for primary reasons:

a.) In rock and country music; it seems the artists songs are more meaningful compared to those found in hip-hope and RNB. They can write captivating songs with catchy hook and lyrics. This can easily attract most people attention and a wide variety of audiences (old, young, female and male audiences). Some genre like hip-hop and RNB are only popular to young audiences.

In addition, most rock and country musicians are great live performers and can play an instrument.

b.) Think twice of the genre you need to select. Sometimes this requires expertise in your part. This includes your singing and performing style.

2.) Write songs that can be classified as more than one genre. For example you can write a song that is more of a country rock feeling, so that it can be classified as both “rock” and “country” thus allowing you to market the songs in two genres instead of one. This would allow you to maximize the exposure of your song in both of these highly popular music genres.