Nadine Sez

Dear Nadine,

--Can’t Decide in Atlanta, Georgia

Dear Can’t Decide,

What a great question. A hit song is any song, in any genre, that gets an immediate reaction. The response to a hit song is instantaneous by whomever is listening, be it band member, girlfriend, parent, audience, engineer. People turn to each other in the audience and say, “that is a good song.” The engineer in the booth says “that is a good song.” A club booker says “that is a good song”. There is none of this having to listen three, four, five times to decide, “Is this a good song?”

People listen once or twice and say “that is a good song.” You don’t have to listen to it over and over to decide. The likeability of the song hits you without delay. That is the beauty of a good song.

You do need to highlight songs on a full album that you are sending it to labels, booking agents, clubs, managers, producers, radio stations, reviewers etc. The reason is that professionals in the business are inundated with music from people just like you. No one had the time to listen to 10+ songs to see if you have potential. Most pros will listen to 2-3 songs to see if your music warrants closer attention. Many bands bury their best songs deep in the album. If you don’t highlight those tracks, people either listen to the first three or pick “random” on their CD player and take their chances. But if your best song isn’t one of the first three songs, or one of the random picks, than you may have lost an opportunity to catch someone’s ear.

Today’s music world is competitive as we know, so while we are hoping every song on your record is of good quality, we all know that most bands have several stand out songs. How to choose those standouts, when everyone from your guitar to your drummer to the drummer’s girlfriend, has a different idea which is the “best” song?

My recommendation is to choose the three songs that get the best reaction when you play them live, or the songs that are getting the most downloads/plays on your website, to highlight on your full-length CD. That way you can substantiate their popularity to the pros. Remember, a hit song gets a reaction. Which of your songs are getting the best reaction?

“American Bandstand” gave us the tried-and-true maxim for hit songs, which has evolved into an industry standard. If it “has a good beat and you can dance to it,” you just very well may have a hit song on your hands.

Nadine Condon
The Godmother of Rock
(author of “Hot Hits, Cheap Demos” )

Do you have a question for Nadine, the Godmother of Rock? Email her directly at bmi@nadinecondon.com and your question may be used in this column!