The State of the Hot 100 Top 10: Mid-Year 2021

Compositional trends for the Hot 100 Top 10 and the players behind them.

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Today’s hits are evolving faster than ever, from the songwriting and production techniques used to craft them to the genre influences and instruments shaping their sound.

A few highlights from the report include:

During the first half of 2021, 41 songs, 41 performing artists, 158 songwriters, 77 producers and 12 record labels charted in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10.
Major and minor keys essentially swapped popularity in the Hot 100 Top 10, with major keys rising to 64%, up from 33% in 2020.
Within hip hop, the under 3:00 song length range more than doubled, rising from 23% last year up to 50% during the first half of 2021.

In this fast-changing and competitive musical landscape, it’s crucial to leverage all the tools that can help you stay ahead of the curve.

This 100+ page report will get you in tune with how today’s most successful songs, and the players behind them, are evolving, including:

Industry Trends: Trend data for artists, songwriters, producers and labels
Top 10 Compositional Trends: An in-depth look at compositional trends for the overall Top 10
Hip hop vs. Non-hip hop: Compositional trends specific to each
Notable Shifts: Notable compositional shifts when compared to previous quarters
Staying Power: The most popular compositional characteristics for songs that charted in the Top 10 for ten or more weeks
#1 Spotlight: The most popular compositional characteristics for Q1 and Q2 2021’s #1 hits
New Arrivals: A look at what the songs that are new to the Top 10 in Q2 2021 have in common

Whether you want to work with trends or against them, by staying in tune with today’s hit song landscape, you’ll gain critical insight that can be used to make strategic songwriting, production and business decisions.

In this competitive musical landscape, it's critical to leverage tools that can help you gain an edge for success and maximize your creative output.

Hit Songs Deconstructed helps you do just that!
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	PRO	PREMIERE
Hit Song Deconstructed Reports	Yes	Yes
Hit Song Deconstructed Videos	Yes	Yes
Songwriting Techniques Archive	Yes	Yes
Song Searches	Yes	Yes
Compositional Trends	Yes	Yes
Industry Trends	Yes	Yes
Downloadable Logic Arrangements for Today’s Hits	Yes	Yes
Trend Reports	Yes	Yes
Video Trend Briefs	No	Yes
Writing & Producing with a Hit Song Mentality Workshops (spring & fall – value of $349 each)	No	Yes
On Demand Access to Workshops	No	Yes

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Hit Songwriter, Producer, Artist One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer, Scouting for Girls

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Prince Charles Alexander
Grammy winning, multi-platinum music producer, mixing engineer and professor at Berklee College of Music

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“I am honestly blown away by the amount of information you provide on each of these songs, practically like a thesis deserving of a degree. From a songwriting standpoint, so much of this information is so helpful, and the time-saving benefits are enormous.”

KC Porter
Grammy winning producer/songwriter/recording artist Carlos Santana, Ricky Martin, Ozomatli, Boyz II Men, Selena

“As a songwriter, an important part of my job is to analyze what works in successful songs. By identifying the tools that were employed in hits, writers can incorporate them into their own songs–using techniques that have proven successful–while putting their own spin and unique creative angle on them. HSD does the research for me.”

Jason Blume
Songwriter w/50 million album sales and top-selling author, Billboard Books

“I am using HSD’s analysis techniques as a benchmark for my students to apply when analyzing songs, their compositional analytics to keep them in tune with what’s happening now, and the quarterly trend reports to keep them up to speed with who the key industry players are.”

Chris Sampson
Founding Director, Popular Music Program, Professor of Songwriting, USC Thornton School of Music