What makes a hit song?

Eliot Van Buskirk over at Evolver.fm takes a look at a presentation by Shaun Ellis and Tom Engelhardt which attempts to identify the characteristics of a hit song:

Taste is notoriously more fragmented than ever these days, because we have more options. Still, every once in a while, a song manages to set everybody’s feet tapping — Outkast’s “Hey-Ya,” Alica Keys and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” and at least two Gnarls Barkley tracks qualify off the top of my head, though the list goes on and on.

 

What do hit songs have in common over the years, and how are they changing? And what does it all say about who we were, and who we’re becoming?

Read the full post here.