Do music artists know beforehand which song will be a hit?

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

The artists put their own flavor into it, and those artists, whether they think about it or not, put in work that’s influenced by the other works they listen to - hell it doesn’t even have to be music, it can be poetry and prose and art. read more