Here is another angle:

There are some people who are really great at studying hit songs and mapping out the common denominators they have found in these songs, and presenting some of the formulas they have found.

I think of these folks as educators and I think they serve a very valuable service.

Most great songwriters I know are practically inarticulate when asked they how they wrote hit songs. They give invaluable tips like:

"I don't know. I just sit down and do it."

Or as one very famous rock songwriter advised me once: "Just make sure you don't try and make too much sense. Rock and roll is not supposed to make sense."

Ok!!! Thanks!!!

So I don't necessarily need for a person to be a hit writer in order to respect them as a musical scholar and educator of hit song formulas.

David Snyder
Songwriter/Renaissance Man
Studio + Fingers

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