The Song Machine: How to Make a Hit

particular countries; the precise color of eye shadow a performer should wear in different Asian regions, as well as the hand gestures he or she should make; and the camera angles to be used in the videos (a 360-degree group shot to open the video, followed by a montage of individual close-ups).

“U + Ur Hand” sounded a lot like another song, “4ever,” that the songwriters had done in 2005 for the Veronicas, an all-girl pop-rock group,

a manual of cultural technology that catalogued the steps necessary to popularize K-pop artists in different Asian countries. The manual, which all SM employees are instructed to learn, explains when to import foreign composers, producers, and choreographers; what chord progressions to use

In a 2006 New Yorker article, “The Formula,” McCready told Malcolm Gladwell, “We take a new CD far in advance of its release date. We analyze all twelve tracks.

Big Mama Thornton (“Hound Dog”)

In her 2014 book Blockbusters, Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse showed how mega hits have become more important across the whole entertainment industry. “Smart executives bet heavily on a few likely winners. That’s where the big payoffs come from,” she writes.

“Music and Emotions in the Brain: Familiarity Matters,” lead author Carlos Silva Pereira and his collaborators write that familiarity is a “crucial factor” in how emotionally engaged listeners are with a song.

and “Turn Me On”

“Back Stabbers” and “Love Train” for the O’Jays, and “Me and Mrs. Jones” for Billy Paul—all from 1972—and followed by “You Make Me Feel Brand New” (1973) for the Stylistics and “The Love I Lost” (1973) for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, there was no stopping Gamble and Huff until “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” (1979)