The Recipe Of A Hit Song | Noah Askin | TEDxINSEADSingapore 

It's simple, follow the trend cause it's clearly working, but do something unique to make it stand out.

The 3 key elements of a hit song: Memorableness, Unexpectedness and Spreadability

Seems the biggest problem with music is it is produced for money as the motivator and not for the sake of artistic expression.

"Go not where the path may lead, Go Instead where there is no path and leave a trail". Keith Emerson

Old town road? Trap enough but has the country element that makes it stand out?

I'd love to see the charts for the anomalies like Nirvana and others that were a total standout of the time

“It’s all about a dollar man, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” -Wiz Khalifa

"There's hope for music", yes, and this hope is 99% located everywhere but in the music industry he's talking about

Can this guy express how Max Martin continues to be a success.

Super cool research and a phenomenal presentation! This indeed, has informed my perspective on popular music and also given me a lot to think about as a musician. Thanks to Noah and all the others involved!

10:09 "the competitive context in which a song is released. Artists and producers trying to make a successful track can't possibly know what their track will be entering into. So If they have an option, they might as well be interesting rather than generic. It pays to be a little unique." !!!

summary of his ted talk( don't alienate people and be unique). thanks for the tips, I didn't know that.

This was amazingly educational. Especially since I've not avidly followed pop culture music, at all.

Dudes got a point. That's why Hip Hop made it so big so quickly (despite mostly using samples in the beginning). Using something that seems like it's always been there, but not how you put it out. DJ Quik (Hip Hop artist) talks about this on his video, 'Visualism'.

I'm trying to get sum hit song's. Under my belt 😀

Its been a never ending journey to improve and I have fun doing it for a hobby : )

This was the time 1989 was released and 'shake it off' was released.. How cool is that? or... how danceable is that???

Am a rapper but this is still helpful

Just to add grist to the mill of the "lyrics vs music debate", US and UK rock and pop music was a huge phenomenon all over the world in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Most of these countries did not have English as their first language. Certainly 90% of the youngsters buying records in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America had very little idea what the lyrics in songs by Elvis, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc. were saying, and yet their songs dominated the charts in those countries for a decade or more. All these fans could respond to was the music. The lyrics were just additional sounds in the mix. Learning English was even discouraged in the Eastern European Comminist countries. In fact, one Western pop song was used as an anti-establishment anthem by teenagers in communist countries. It was recorded off of the radio and pressesd and distributed on vinyl with the title "Shizgarah!" because that's what they thought it was called. Anti-establishment nightclubs, magazines and books were named Shizgarah after the song!! Actually, Shizgarah was a mis-hearing of "she's got it!" which was a line in the chorus! The song was n fact "Venus", a pretty harmless pop song by Shocking Blue, but the sound of the song was urgent and energetic and THAT'S what gave it it's meaning, Not the lyrics. Basically, if there are two identical chart songs, and one has a well written lyric, the higher quality lyric might just be enough to get it to sell a bit more. However, in the modern age (the last 60 years), lyrics have not had much influence over the commercial success of a release. The music has usually (not always) been far more important in carrying the appeal and meaning of popular songs. That is why the lyrics were not accounted for in this video.

we got Wolverine's nephew right there

mind blown

Such a wonderful idea proven by facts. Awesome!

we learn in different speed and space

Read john seabrook's "The song machine" excellent book on how hit records are made .Also explains how some artists have star appeal and some just dont.

It could be that the So-Called Whitney Houston Song (I will always love you) had already been proven to be a hit in 1974, and again in 1982 by Dolly Parton who wrote it, and recorded in in both of those years, making it a number one hit both times!

Thanks. I'm going to listen to every popular song I can so I can get an idea of what the kids are listening to and then do something similar

I would like to know what Adele thinks of your talk.

A Smart Guy.

G, C, D The crowd go wild

song success is secondary satisfaction should be primary!

I'm a hit mastery pro expert

If you all want more tips and help writing your songs I put a video on my channel talking about my personal process. I also consulted tips and techniques from artists like Harry Styles.

The first tone was taken from the Jackson 5!!! (Love hurts)

The formula is down lol it’s just creating it lol this was dope❗️

interesting ideas, but what about the lyrical content of the songs ?

I think that all art and music is inspired. in other words, the Creator inspires the creature. Accordingly, human beings are not the source: we are a conduit.

So Plankton found the secret formula I see🦀

What did he mean with the last sentence "We think that there is hope for music yet"? Is music endangered?

Why is everyone always down on pop music? It obviously sounds really good to a lot of ppl. Isn't that the point?

To quote Sting, " Surprise is entertainment " I guess the point here is .....just enough surprise to pull you in and hold you for 3 1/2 minutes. Having said that......Mull of Kintyre was released during the punk era. Boy , was that different :) Rules are often broken, once you know them intimately.

He is verbatim describing Billie Eilish rn lol

Understood

Wow! The whole time that I was watching this, I was sure that you were going to say that the Bieber song didn't do as well as it could have, because it had been done before!😨 The opening that you played was already done BEAUTIFULLY, by the Jackson 5 on their song We've Got A Good Thing Going, but I guess music samples don't change a song's ability to be a hit if there is a younger generation listening that missed the original (which I might add, was actually better, in my humble opinion). You, yourself, may be too young to have heard the original, but I was wondering: Is that a factor used in determining if a song will be a hit? If it was already a successful song in the distant past, and someone takes a portion of it that seems forgotten, does the "newness" to the next generation make it successful again? If we wait another couple of decades, could someone else make that same song a success again? A three-peat? Am I correct in thinking that some sounds are destined to be successful because of some innate connection to our internal makeup as humans? Like does everyone seem to like a song that is in a certain key? For example, do songs in, let's say, the key of G, have a higher rate of being a hit than a song in a different key? Has someone done research cross-culturally and across decades to see if there is a commonality among all humans for certain sounds? Is it possible that there is a song that nearly everyone, and their mother😃(LOL), will love??? A universal sound??? Which artist is the most successful? Fire up all of the algorithms and tell me what song or what artist is the most universal?!!! Seriously, I want to know!!! Are any if my questions making sense ir do I just sound crazy? (Insert maniacal laughter here!😂) I know that this video is a few years old, but I totally enjoyed it and I know very little about music, other than, I enjoy singing and trying to harmonize, and I know that music moves me in a profound way! You're AWESOME!!! Great TedTalk! I hope to see and hear more from you! Thank you!😊

It’s like people are biobots and you have to understand their programming, not withstanding a record company’s ability to get songs on the charts by purchasing a certain number of copies. So are these charts about art or programming by people with knowledge of how to get on the charts. Which is why we hear the same old stuff because these companies with the same old sound are the only ones who know how to chart.

how do you explain the success of Gangnam Style :)

is this up somewhere so you can plug songs in?

Optimal differentiation

Mmmhm i hear you ...

You see how important is the Marketing when RHODES, has more great songs than COLDPLAY, but COLDPLAY is on The Top.

Holy Jesus. What a dope

NAJS VIDEÅ

Data that is what humans have become to business. Everything we do or look at on the web is analyzed and someone is looking at the data. Has a computer taken all this data about music and composed a great song yet?

I didn't understand anything. Can anyone simply tell me the answer to this question - 'Why some songs are popular?'

Using the Whitney song as an example is ridiculous - it was from a massive hit film Nimrod!

Could it be more obvious that 'Mr. Hipster' here is himself a non-musician!? Another viewer made an astute distinction between 'pop' (which our academic here is analyzing) and 'rock' (which, despite its popularity) has its origins, and remains 'anti' establishment (i.e. Anti music as commerce rather than, as art). He may have well done a Ted talk about his study and analysis of why the Snickers bar is so great... His comparison of 'Billy Jean' to 'I Will Always...' is completely invalid. The first is a 'dance' tune, the latter a 'ballad'. And to make no mention of lyrical content or subject matter invalidates the entire study. These are NOT instrumental songs. Yet the metric used to analyze and crunch this music into data ignores lyrics, and most importantly the singers interpretation of those lyrics...

My right ear was lonely at the beginning.

So ok. I'll continue to be creative then? Statics and music don't mesh well. Maybe music marketing should have been the subject. But of course, we'll need more data.

All the comments here talk about money, you forget the other thing : luck For every one art is created there's hundred identical if not similar art around the world been produced too

it's not Whitney's tune, just an interpretation (cover!)... 🙃

My song Rumor Is has charted and continue to chart on Internet and Independent radio and topped at #1 in the USA, Canada and the UK. Have you ever heard of my song Rumor Is... You will if terrestrial fm radio gives it airplay consideration. Rumor Is has Hit all over it...Its all about big radio!

From a data perspective, I find it fascinating. The artist in me finds this repugnant though, if people are using this to guide their 'creativity'.

They do the same thing with movies.. it's so predictable. When they dropped the Ted Bundy trailer I said they would soon pump out several "killer thrillers" and literally saw an ad for a movie about Manson before I watched this video.. super predictable but at least it looks good. Can't go wrong with Tarantino

idk disapointed not that i expected a revelation in something titled "the recipe of a hit song" but he basically says nothing except the very plainly obvious

Seems like a lot of analytical work to find something out that is so goddamned obvious.... lol.

I would like to see this heuristic applied across the most popular songs of all time, not just the top hits. How does yesterday by the Beatles compare with stairway to heaven, compare to Bohemian Rhapsody, Compared to ...

I don’t get why people think justin bieber is bad lol

thats why bts is popular ? they took all top 100

LEAVE BIEBER ALONE!!!!!!! 😂 Nothing wrong with JB. His "Purpose" album especially was 🔥🔥🔥🔥.

Costs $2 - $3 million to “just” obtain an initial artist’s name recognition....not artist acceptance mind you...and if he is not quite “it”...the money’s gone...Heck go to Ariana instead...pay the money...get a “hit” make your money back and then some....limit your risk!.....Thats why todays industry will never discover another Pink Floyd...Steely Dan...Neil Young, The Doors or Bob Dylan...etc...

why

This was 2013, in 2018 all the songs sound the same. The radio is filled with rap beats and mumbling

Or those backed by the order or of...lol

Music is about frequencies..high frequency makes a hit...not this statistics ,😂😂😂

Funny how you will never hear something like this or this comments from someone who actually has a few hits. Seems like only those who never made a hit are smart.

yawwwwwwwn!!!!!

who gives a dam about popular junk muzak

First of all, Mr. Noone's askin......no self respecting songwriter calls a song a "tune"....the people that call songs "tunes" are the same people you use to see at concerts, when there was such a thing, that can be found clapping on one and three. Second of all, "analyzing" a song to see what makes a hit when you have never written a song in your life is like analyzing an airplane when you are not a pilot. By the way, who's the girl at 2:08 playing with her hair?

doesnt make too much sense.

lol he knows alot about a hit song but dont have one himself

Pov: u can't play any instrument and are probably tone deaf

All of it is nonsense... have u guys heard of death metal before ?

Waste of time.

BORING

I didn't got anything valuable from this talk

So much nonsense thinking these properties of a song describe the essence of the song. Imagine you want to write a song. "Bob, dial in a danceability of .85 , give it a familiarity of .7 and a livlieness of .56" These terms mean nothing, except as a complicated way to describe music that was already created.

This explains why music is so awful these days.

Хм.. Не люблю такие видео, когда хрен пойми кто, ещё с внешностью алкаша поучает с умным видом..