What an open question... I certainly don't have a definitive answer but here are a few of my thoughts:

1) Target audience. E.G. would Bob Dylan, if he were starting out now instead of in the 60's, make the same impact? I'd guess not... "The times, they are a'changin'".

2) What does the public expect? This seems, in large part, to have been directed by the major recording labels so if you aren't pumping out a 3 or 4 chord wonder that is right in the middle of the "cultivated" (read programmed) mainstream genres then bad luck.

3) Sex sells. It seems it doesn't matter how good or bad a song is, if the show that goes with it has plenty of sex then it's automatically a winner. Well, almost... If it's truly awful you probably would end up losing out anyhow.

4) How good is your marketing machine?

5) How good is your signal processing? There are some attractive female performers who can't carry a tune in a bucket but get away with it because of things like autotune. Hear 'em unprocessed and you wouldn't look twice. All same supermodels - see 'em without their make-up and you wouldn't recognise most of 'em.

6) How many listen to lyrics anyhow these days? A good, solid, driving rhythm gets into the emotions very effectively, hence why drum solo's can work so well.

7) There is one genre that does use lyrics very effectively: Rap (or Hip Hop if you prefer). However this seems, in the main, to depend on anger, profanity and shock value to have an impact. This profanity is also finding its way into other genres which seem to be benefitting, at least in the short term, from it. Very sad IMHO as the roots of this genre, as I understand them, are a legitimate call for help in an opressive social structure - but it's become so offensive that I turn it off and won't listen.

If you want to move away from the mainstream, away from the "business of music", and get into the the "art of music" then there are a whole lot of other factors involved. This is the area where true merit will shine and songs will be judged on their quality and the way they are performed.

Then you will have factors like the message in the lyrics, the melody, harmonies, chord progressions, tensions and releases, rhythmic patterns, hooks, format... You guys know all the things I mean. This is when they will have room to be valued properly.

Interestingly, I believe the audiences for this approach to music are much smaller. How many listen to symphonies these days? Yet the most powerful and beautiful musical expression is found there. So are some of the worst too... And what about opera? Same deal.

These days, in the commercial arena, Country and Western, IMHO, is far more a rock sub genre than it's own genre. Yet, outside the commercial world C&W seems to be alive and well and true to its roots. What about Bluegrass? Limited audience sure, but that audience loves it. Not commercial in the sense of Madonna or Michael Jackson though.

How about jazz? I've long held the opinion that jazz is music for musicians. The complex chord structures that often (usually?) exist in jazz simply do not seem to appear in most commercial music. I play in a number of performance and rehearsal groups, all amateur, and love 'em all. Brass band to jazz big band to musical orchestra to modern gospel (church band) to small jazz ensemble. I love 'em all, but I get the most pleasure from the small jazz ensemble. We play a fairly traditional format, head, solo's and head out. Great fun and I've played some very satisfying solos in this group. I've also played some terrible things that I wish I could just hide in shame from

What makes a song "special"? Songs have been analysed to death over the years and there are all kinds of things that have become formulaic, and therefore expected by the audience.

IMHO, as a listener, what makes a song or piece of music special is if it moves me emotionally. Things like hooks and reprised sections etc. help to do this by emphasising things that speak to the emotions.

As a musician, it should be enjoyable to play, perhaps have some challenging passages, leave room for me to express myself in the music - let me "sing" through my horn - to let me demonstrate my skills (or lack thereof ) Let me tell the audience how I feel.

Ultimately, if the song and the performer can draw you inside the emotional story then it's done its job and can reasonably be called good.

Sorry for the length of the post, it just kinda grewed...

Lawrie's $0.02 AUD (and that's worth more than $0.02 US at the moment )

--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya laugh --=--
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