How To Make A Song into a Hit: The 5 Key Things You Need To Know

Dan Scott reveals his Top 5 Strategies so that you can learn how to make a song a hit yourself!

1. Make it Catchy

If you’re song isn’t catchy at all then you are always going to struggle to know how make a song into a hit. People respond to catchy tunes really well and this is something that you’re going to have to get opinions on.

Play the song to people and see if they can remember the chorus after only one play through of the song. This is a good test of how catchy your song is.

2. Always be Sincere

If you want to know how to make a song great, then you need to show an element of sincerity to the listener. Whilst singing the song in tune is obviously important, if you can convey to the listener that you are completely sincere in everything you say and that you mean every word you sing, then this brings a much bigger punch to the impact that the song will have.

3. Take time with the Lyrics 

A big part of knowing how to make a song great is knowing how to write great lyrics. If you can write lyrics that will connect with a lot of people, then your songs will be well responded to.

Try to take time over your lyrics and make sure that they resonate with you first and foremost. The more people that your lyrics connect with, the more people will like your song.

4. Create the perfect Arrangement

This is a big part of what it takes behind the scenes to know how to make a song truly flourish. Arranging is effectively talking about the instrumentation that you use in your song and also what each part plays.

If it’s just piano and vocals, does the piano part play just chords throughout?Is it more complex, but on a loop? Or do the parts change with each section of the song?

Making sure that the instrumentation gives a true reflection of the spirit of the song is another big part of what it takes to make a song great.

5. The Vocal can make all the difference

If you really want to know how to make a song into a hit, then you need to know that the vocal plays a huge part in this. A great vocal can transform a song from “OK” to amazing. So it is worth baring in mind that if you think you have written a great song, it’s catchy, has great lyrics, you have the perfect arrangement, the final piece of the puzzle is to have a great vocal recording.

At this point you should decide if you are the best person to do this or if it is worth bringing in a really interesting sounding vocalist who can connect with the song and really make the song shine. They need to be sincere, as previously stated and really get the point of the song across to the listener whilst holding their attention throughout with their vocal phrasing and tone.

So there you have it! The 5 Key Ingredients for making a song a hit!

If you would like to know more about How To Write A Song then check out my full eBook which has everything you need to know to write fantastic songs time and time again!