There’s a formula for writing a hit song. So why isn’t every song a hit?

Résumé détaillé

A hit song is ultimately more than the sum of its parts. It depends on a rare alignment of three factors.

This month’s major concert schedule is jam-packed, with artists including Daniel Caesar, Benson Boone, Khalid, Joji, Robyn, J. Cole and Harry Styles all set to play stadiums across the country. Fans will turn up in the thousands to sing along with the biggest hits.

But what makes a song a “hit”, exactly? There’s no shortage of advice on this. Keep the melody singable. Give listeners something familiar, but not too familiar. Make them feel something. Find a catchy hook. Repeat yourself – but not so much that people get bored.

Much of this advice is sensible. Songwriters, producers and music scholars can readily identify techniques shared in successful songs.

At the same time, having the right formula alone isn’t enough to write the next big single.

Arguments about musical taste quickly become arguments about musical technique. In late 16th-century Florence, a group of musicians and intellectuals known as the Florentine Camerata objected to aspects of the prevailing polyphonic style, where two or more singers perform different but complementary melodies at the same time.

They felt this obscured the meaning of the lyrics and diminished their emotional impact. Inspired by their understanding of ancient Greek drama, the Camerata emphasised a single vocal line, allowing for clear and emotively shaped delivery of words.

As Vincenzo Galilei, a Camerata member, lutenist and father of astronomer Galileo Galilei, put it:

The Cameratas’ experiments helped create the conditions from which opera emerged. Centuries later, however, new technologies and social movements transformed popular music.

The rise of rock and roll changed ideas about rhythm, instrumentation and performance. And hip-hop made the manipulation of recorded sound central to musical creation.

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