Here are some helpful videos of J. Cole, Pharrell Williams, and Rihanna on what it takes to create a hit song and get a song on the radio.

This post covers:
- How Much Does it Cost to Make a Hit Song?
- Pharrell Williams Created 9 Rejected Songs Before Hit Song “Happy”
- J. Cole Talks About What it Takes to Make a Hit Song
1. How Much Does it Cost to Make a Hit Song?
Answer: $1,078,000
Getting a song on the pop charts takes big money. Def Jam started paying for Rihanna’s recent single, “Man Down,” more than 2 years before it was released.
In the pasts Def Jam has held a writing camps in L.A. to create the songs for Rihanna’s album.
2. Pharrell Williams Created 9 Rejected Songs Before Hit Song “Happy”
Pharrell Williams shares his experience of working on songs for the Despicable Me soundtrack.
Pharrell shares that he create 9 different songs for a part of the movie that were all rejected. But then inspiration finally hit and he created the biggest song of his career, “Happy“.
3. J. Cole Talks About What it Takes to Make a Hit Song
J. Cole talks about the many songs he created and presented to Jay Z to try and get his first album released.
Part 2
Songs mentioned by J. Cole
What are your thoughts?
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MAN THIS IS CRAZY
I agree I wish I could get 20.000 for a track damn it’s sweet if you get dat industry money!
I can’t believe the big record companies don’t have their own studios and have to rent. This cannot be true.
Craaaaazy! You’d think they’d have there own producers, writers, studios and what not. I know the promotions cost big bucks, but 78 grand for 1 song O_o really? 10 to 15 grand for a some lady to tell you “no, sing it like this. More vibrato please…” WTF is that! I can do that!
I like how this interview gives insights from a professional on how to make a hit..it can only help the rest of us get where we want to go!
I guess and am sure that those guys have their own studios….
Great knowledge for us producers and songwriters. Expertise in the craft takes time to develop, but glad to see that the big heads of the industry still know you have to pay for that expertise.
Well, this is crazy money. It’s time to work HARD!
More seriously though the whole vocal producer is a new thing to me. The idea made me look at recording from a different perspective. Also, the whole rollout concept is definitely useful information. Article of the day.