It’s a question that gets thrown around a lot, often in frustration or reflection: “What makes a song a hit?” Is it the songwriter’s genius? The audience’s taste? A well-oiled marketing machine? Or just dumb luck?
The short answer? It’s both the songwriter and the audience, but they don’t hold equal weight, and they’re rarely in sync.
Let’s break that down.
The Songwriter: The Spark
Every hit song starts somewhere, and that somewhere is usually with a songwriter sitting in front of a blank page, a guitar, a piano, or a voice memo app.
The songwriter brings the craft to the table, the chords, the melody, the lyrics, the structure. If they’ve done their job well, they’ve created something that:
- Hooks your ear
- Speaks to your emotions
- Feels fresh but familiar
- Fits within (or cleverly plays with) the expectations of the genre or moment
Sometimes, the songwriter captures a feeling we didn’t know we needed until we heard it. Other times, it’s just the perfect mix of catchy and relatable.
But here’s the thing: songwriters can write great songs all day long, and those songs can still go nowhere.
And that’s where the audience comes in.
The Audience: The Fuel
A song doesn’t become a hit until people decide it matters.
The audience holds the power of:
- Discovery: They find the song, through playlists, TikTok, radio, a friend’s post.
- Connection: They feel something in the lyrics, the vibe, the moment.
- Amplification: They share it, sing it, play it on repeat, or make it the soundtrack to their lives.
Sometimes, a song blows up not because it’s “better” than others, but because it landed at just the right time in just the right way. That’s not something you can force.
So here’s the honest truth:
The songwriter creates the spark, but the audience decides if it becomes a fire.
You can’t control who catches it. But you can control what you create, and that’s not nothing.
Here’s What a Songwriter Can Control
Since we can’t dictate how people respond to our songs, the smarter move is to focus on what we can influence. And thankfully, it’s quite a bit.
Here’s what’s within your control:
1. The Song Itself
This is your home turf. You decide:
- The lyrics, tone, and message
- The melody and whether it’s memorable
- The structure and how well it flows
- The hooks and whether they stick
A good song won’t guarantee a hit, but it gives the audience something real to connect with if and when they find it.
2. Your Intent
Why are you writing this song?
Is it for therapy, for pitching, for performance, for sync? Are you writing for yourself, a specific artist, or the general public?
Your clarity here shapes everything else.
3. Your Creative Process
You get to choose:
- How often you write
- How disciplined or relaxed your process is
- Whether you chase inspiration or create space for it to show up
- Who you collaborate with (if anyone)
This is where long-term progress lives: not in big breakthroughs, but in showing up consistently.
4. Your Output
You can’t always control which song pops, but you can:
- Write more songs
- Finish more ideas
- Demo your best work
- Share and pitch your catalog
Every song is another “lottery ticket” in the game of audience connection.
5. Your Perspective
This is probably the most powerful thing you can control.
You decide whether you:
- Measure success by numbers or growth
- Keep writing despite setbacks
- Stay curious and open to learning
- Let go of the need for external validation
You don’t need a hit to be a real songwriter. You just need to keep writing.
6. How the Song Is Presented (If You’re Also the Artist)
If you’re recording and releasing your own music, you also control:
- The production and arrangement
- The performance and energy you bring
- The visual identity that surrounds the release
- The story you tell around the song
It won’t make a hit, but it can help a song reach the right ears at the right time.
You can’t control the response to your song. But you can control the song itself, the effort you put in, the intention behind your work, and the persistence with which you show up.
That’s where the real power lives.
Write the best song you can. Give it everything you’ve got. Then let go of the outcome and get ready to write the next one.
Because hits aren’t made by chasing virality. They’re made by showing up, again and again, until one of your songs happens to catch fire.
