Assuming you want a song you write to be successful you have to make sure that it follows some of the standard rules of commercials songs.

Such as having a good structure, hook, and lyrical content that people identify with in some way.

But, what is the most important aspect of a song?

I’d say the most important aspect is the hook.  Going deeper, the hook has to be easily remembered, catchy, and repeated enough in the song so that people would be singing it in their head after hearing it.

The phrase, “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus,” comes to mind.

If you can write a killer hook and use it as the main chorus, then the rest of song is very simple to complete.

You hear this today in most popular music.  It’s all about the main hook in chorus.  Often incessantly so.

In today’s ADD world, most people do not want to listen to long opera like songs with complicated progressive changes. In fact most record labels will choose singles off an artists album because they are short and easily digestible by the public.

This is the very reason you hear the same 10 songs on the radio.  They want you to hear them over and over so that you hear them so much you can’t forget them if you wanted to.

There is a little known mental trick in the music industry.  The simple trick is the same within the song itself, repetition.   What happens is that you might hear a song the first time and not even like it, or even hate it.  But, by the time you’ve heard it several times every day you start to become familiar with each and every part and pretty soon you are singing along and maybe even buying the album to hear more like it. 

That is the real way to get people to know and even like your songs.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Now, if the song/performance is truly awful all you will do is annoy people.

But, this is why mediocre bands end up as big stars.  The simple act of promotion and repetition.

Ask yourself this.  How many new songs/artists, have you ever heard that you genuinely liked the instant you heard them the first time?   If you are like most people the answer is probably that you reserved judgement to let the new music sink in and become accustomed to it.

Have you ever gone to see a new local band that you’ve never heard any of their songs before? And this band happens to be very good. It’s likely, regardless of how well the bands originals were, you didn’t give a huge a reaction as you would if the band was your favorite band playing songs you already know