When a musician releases an album, how do they decide what songs are going to be singles? I understand that singles tend to be the songs that they think will be the most popular, but how do they figure this out?
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Traditionally, the single was really used as a form of advertising for the band – so you would want to choose a song that stands out when you hear it on the radio or being played on TV, that has a good hook that you will still be humming after the song has ended, and is short enough that djs would be happy playing it fairly regularly.
Normally the process of choosing which track this would be is as simple as listening through the album and picking the tracks that stand out the most, and that fit the requirements for length and similar.
It is also possible to write a song with the specific intention of being a single that will hopefully perform well in the charts – most of this cones down to listening to ask if there popular songs at that moment in time, and trying to write a song that includes all of the elements that you are hearing regulularly used at that point – a purposely catchy virus for example, or different musical styles or instruments that are currently popular. That might be the boy band harmonies, a Caribbean style rhythm, or making sure to include a bit of dubstep electronics and a bass drop.
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