How to Make a Hit Pop Song

Have you ever listened to a song in the top 40 and wondered how they create such beautiful pop magic? Youtube musician and comedian Brett Domino has covered all bases on how to make a hit pop song (like Jason Derulo) in two short video guides.

In Part 1 he begins with the essential 'instrumental hook' that’s “going to get stuck in people’s heads.” His main secret is to "play it on an instrument you’re unfamiliar with (like a bassoon) because you don't want it to sound good."

Furthermore he outlines the 'vocal hook' - “something that's quite simple that can be repeated and also double up as the title. "Domino's hook is taken from the Google search 'sexy phrases', which resulted in "you look sexy when you do that".

With lyrics you can "basically get away with saying whatever you want", but the key is "too keep it sexy and relevant to the vocal hook."

See his result below:

In Part 2 he delves more into the process with some advanced techniques like the 'chorus' - where you should just "sing the first thing that comes into your head."

The lyrics should include some rhyming words - like listing the names of some capital cities "because capital cities make songs sound cool" and you should use vocal effects because "no one wants to hear some just singing into a microphone, that's boring." He adds "use as many ways to digitally manipulate the sounds you make as you can."

See Part 2 below.