Applying the McDonald’s formula (we’ll try not to ruin music for you ….).

Readings

(they’re all short)

• Kent Sutherland. 2011. The scientific formula for predicting a hit song. Dec 27, Gizmag.com
• Nick Levine. 2019. Max Martin: The secrets of the world’s best pop songwriter. Nov 19, BBC.
• Michael Tauberg. 2018. Anatomy of a hit song (2000-2018). May 18, Medium.com.
• Maxwell Timothy. 2023. How future pop songs could be written by AI. Feb 1, makeuseof.com. 
• Unsigned Advice. 2024. A.I. tools for songwriting: 11 generators to step up your game. Ditto.com.

Videos

• Rob Paravonian. 2006. The Pachelbel Rant. (Youtube special extra–Toby Keith’s  Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue)
• Roomie. 2016. All pop songs sound the same. and .. How to make a #1 song – WITHOUT TALENT (more offensive lyrics here–I think he’s making a point, though).

On your discussion day: Bring the abstract–the short summary and analysis of the assigned readings/videos (guidelines here). No longer than a page needed–briefly summarize and tell what you got out of the assigned material. And include the sources you’ve used (hint: Ctrl A; Ctrl C; Ctrl V).

link to questions