Certainly, musicians either: sit down — with producers, A&R men — and explicitly set out to write a hit single. After an entire album is done, they do a review of all the tracks they've recorded and say “OK, Song X is probably the most accessible track” we've got so that will be the first single. read more
Generally though artists know when a song should be a hit, and this works at all levels, wether it is just doing well in club charts, or making the top 10 downloads. read more