Songwriting as a profession has always had a great deal to with trying to write hits. Hits are not everything, but they earn the songwriter lots of money and end up meaning a great deal to a large number of people. Songs become hits because, in some way, they touch people. They communicate a feeling or idea, and that sort of communication is what drives the songwriter to write. Clearly art and commerce don’t have to fight it out every time.

The ongoing explosion of the music industry, and the immediacy of the Internet has changed (and is changing) things drastically. The vast numbers of songwriters hawking their wares, and the immense number of sites offering downloads of the latest and greatest tunes, makes writing a hit both more important and more difficult.

One reason hits are more important in today’s music business (from the songwriter’s perspective, of course) is because there is no longer a market for album cuts. Album cuts are those decent, but unremarkable songs that often filled up albums that had one or two hits on them. For every hit there was a need for a number of good songs that bands could perform in concert and use on the album. As a result, once upon a time, you could make a nice living writing those. But today’s demand for singles is even fiercer than it was back in the days of 45 rpm records—mp3s don’t even have a B side. And only a hit is going to cut through and be heard.

One reason that writing hits is more difficult is that new niches develop constantly, new trends become old, and the song that might have captured the attention of fans last week is now done and overdone. The immediacy of communication is translating into an acceleration of changing tastes. Look at a slow motion example to see why this is important. If you listen to what soul and R&B music was when it came out, you can begin to get the idea. An old style R&B hit song would be retro today, at best. (Great to have in your song catalog for movies, through). And with so much music out there, what are you going to track so that you are current?

Some of the change comes from the constant demand for new, and different music, and part from the proliferation of bands, each with their own take on the music scene. As a songwriter, you face the triple challenge of finding someone who likes the sort of thing you write, can do it well, and then promotes it. But being close to, and working with, artists who are developing a fresh sound is a lot easier than trying to keep up with the tastes of the millions of music consumers. So there, at least, is a place to focus.

In all this change, one thing remains constant. Ultimately a hit is an indefinable combination of musical hooks, memorable music, and lyrics that somehow strike a chord in a huge cross section of listeners. So if you focus on just that goal—writing a tune that touches your audience musically and lyrically—then you are doing all you can, at least in the writing phase.

“Writing phase?” That’s right. This is just one phase of the things you need to master to be successful. As we will discuss in future blogs, writing that great song is just the beginning, and in practice might not even come first. Confused? You won’t be when we cover the next steps in your songwriting business.

Read more at http://www.insidermusicbusiness.com/blog