Let me explain what kind of music I listen to before I start critiquing.

“What kind of music do you listen to?”

A cliché getting-to-know-you, first date kind of question which is 9 times out of 10 met with the response,

“Oh, I listen to all kinds really.”

Which is true, to an extent. When we are asked what we listen to we try and define it by genre, whether it is pop, electric, heavy-metal and so on. People can listen to songs in all these genres yet still have a distinct taste in music. I try to define my taste in music by what I look out for in a good song. There’s two things that stand out for me:

Passion is King

A good song needs to sound like blood and sweat has been poured into creating it, not like a producer has stuck it together within a weekend. Whether its passion in the voice or an intricate beat in the background, it needs to sound like it’s been crafted.

The Catch

Every song, regardless of genre, needs a catch. Anything that keeps you interested in it and keeps you listening to it, not just the first time but time and time again.

Everything else relies on the genre. If you’re creating a classic type of song then how real and instrumental you can make it may affect how good it is. Whereas if it’s a dance song, the success of it may rely on the drop.

What do you look for in a song? Anything I may have missed? Let me know below!