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The Addiction Formula: A Holistic Approach to Writing Captivating, Memorable Hit Songs. With 317 Proven Commercial Techniques & 331 Examples, incl ... "Happy" & "All Of Me"
Discover The Songwriting Technique Used In 97% Of All Hit Songs How To Use Subtle Psychological Triggers To Captivate ANY Audience. Writing Pop, Rock, RnB or Hip Hop has never been easier or more fun. Master The Art Of Writing Addicting Songs Music is a tough industry to break into. With production gear being affordable for the first time in history, it seems like EVERYONE is making music these days. Getting noticed in the continuous stream of information that is the internet seems almost impossible. BUT: There is a technique designed specifically to captivate and hook an audience and with The Addiction Formula, you can learn it in a couple of hours. You will learn all about Lyric-Less Storytelling, a technique used by the most successful songwriters of our time. If you've always wanted to know how to write songs that stick out and speak to a large audience, this is the book for you. The Songwriting Book For A New Generation Of Songwriters The 60s are OVER! Songwriting today is a very different experience than it was when the Beatles were on the air. By combining Arrangement, Harmony, Melody, Rhythm, Lyrics and Production in one deviously simple technique it is the first songwriting book that speaks to an all-writing, all-producing DIY generation. Includes over 317 Techniques You Will Be Able To Use INSTANTLY Part 2 of The Addiction Formula is almost like a dictionary of hit songwriting techniques. All the tools are hand-picked from hit songs of the past 30 years. But this book is far more than just a list of tips and tricks: The Addiction Formula also shows you how the techniques can be applied to your songs. It puts all of what you learn into perspective and shows you how they all fit together. With 331 Examples Incl. Songs By Rihanna, Katy Perry, Drake and Maroon 5 Are you sick and tired of being taught techniques based on some old County song you've never heard of? One of my guidelines for writing this book was to only include hit songs from the past 30 years. Every single technique in The Addiction Formula is proven with one or more examples to show it in action and to help you learn it quickly and easy. I mean, hey, you get to learn by listening to the songs you listen to anyways! It's fun, quick and practical. Scroll up and get your copy NOW!
228 pages, Paperback
Published October 25, 2015
33 people are currently reading
564 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 30, 2017
As a songwriter, I've learned most of my techniques through writing with other people. This was an interesting book to read to formally educate myself on some of the elements that make popular songs "addictive". I definitely recommend this to my fellow songwriters.
January 10, 2021
Eh. There is a lot of repetition in this book. Also, some of the concepts aren’t clearly defined. Though he gives examples, it seems like Findeisen tries really hard to break pop songs into small elements that don’t always make sense. With that said, there are a few gems here and it’s worth a read if you’re looking to enhance your songwriting.
October 3, 2019
3 stars = I liked it, ideal for beginners
The Addiction Formula offers an outlook on how to listen to and analyse hit songs and how to emulate their structure and success. It is an enriching read, especially for beginner songwriters. I loved that many of the ideas are backed up by examples - you will have to listen to song examples or to a specific sections those songs that e.g. utilise a technique was just explained or demonstrate a concept that was just covered well. However, I think too many of these examples were Rather Be by Clean Bandit (it felt to me like 20% of all examples were just this one song), and the timestamps of the sections to listen to were not always included unfortunately - it was like 50/50 that a given example song would miss the timestamp to listen to. This felt discouraging and lazy as not always was I able to locate the acoustic element I had just read about (sounds easy but in practice, it is harder).
There absolutely is value in the book, though I agree with other reviewers that especially in the second half of the book, the terms defined can paint a more-complicated-than-necessary picture of songwriting (even though the opposite was desired), and the overall read does not have good pacing. The concepts covered just don't always build on each other well and don't transition into one another seamlessly. It can feel slightly haphazard. Of course, you do get the overall idea, yet something is still missing - there still lingers this unfinished and unpolished feel in the text. What's more, I found some terms were not defined and lead to confusion and, consequently, disengagement for me as a reader. For example in the Guitar section there was a sudden use of several guitar-specific musical terms (both in text and in graphs) that are related to song's energy and its musical tension. These had not been covered or introduced before and later on remained unexaplined. Moreover, song examples were provided and one was expected to find these guitar sounds and effects in those songs without any timestamps. I did not get much from this, so I moved on.
Overall, the book has an "amateur-writer-PDF-e-book" vibe to it. You know those e-books you can buy and download from many entrepreneurs on their websites that often don't offer much value, they often utilise large colourful fonts and utilise a self-help "everything will be life-changing here" narration. I am not saying this is the case here, because the text has real value to it, yet the vibe still is similar to those PDF books. I don't mean this as an insult, just to a thing to keep in mind. Not all of sections flow very well, there are several moments where it feels like the author just jotted down his ideas and expected the reader to follow and to get the situation. For example, this was the case with the ending part wherein the author's approach to writing a specific section of a song is laid step-by-step. I honestly found this hard to follow, and I still don't get what he really described not because the concept is too complicated, but rather because the author wrote it in a way you'd write something to your friend via a chat, a friend who knows your background. Also, large font is utilised as well, there were inconsistencies with how topics are approached, structured and explained, and there were some typos as well. All of this creates the image of a polished Word document.
I do recommend the book - despite its shortcomings it is a very good introduction to songwriting for beginners who are looking for somewhere to start and find some structure in their approach.
The Addiction Formula offers an outlook on how to listen to and analyse hit songs and how to emulate their structure and success. It is an enriching read, especially for beginner songwriters. I loved that many of the ideas are backed up by examples - you will have to listen to song examples or to a specific sections those songs that e.g. utilise a technique was just explained or demonstrate a concept that was just covered well. However, I think too many of these examples were Rather Be by Clean Bandit (it felt to me like 20% of all examples were just this one song), and the timestamps of the sections to listen to were not always included unfortunately - it was like 50/50 that a given example song would miss the timestamp to listen to. This felt discouraging and lazy as not always was I able to locate the acoustic element I had just read about (sounds easy but in practice, it is harder).
There absolutely is value in the book, though I agree with other reviewers that especially in the second half of the book, the terms defined can paint a more-complicated-than-necessary picture of songwriting (even though the opposite was desired), and the overall read does not have good pacing. The concepts covered just don't always build on each other well and don't transition into one another seamlessly. It can feel slightly haphazard. Of course, you do get the overall idea, yet something is still missing - there still lingers this unfinished and unpolished feel in the text. What's more, I found some terms were not defined and lead to confusion and, consequently, disengagement for me as a reader. For example in the Guitar section there was a sudden use of several guitar-specific musical terms (both in text and in graphs) that are related to song's energy and its musical tension. These had not been covered or introduced before and later on remained unexaplined. Moreover, song examples were provided and one was expected to find these guitar sounds and effects in those songs without any timestamps. I did not get much from this, so I moved on.
Overall, the book has an "amateur-writer-PDF-e-book" vibe to it. You know those e-books you can buy and download from many entrepreneurs on their websites that often don't offer much value, they often utilise large colourful fonts and utilise a self-help "everything will be life-changing here" narration. I am not saying this is the case here, because the text has real value to it, yet the vibe still is similar to those PDF books. I don't mean this as an insult, just to a thing to keep in mind. Not all of sections flow very well, there are several moments where it feels like the author just jotted down his ideas and expected the reader to follow and to get the situation. For example, this was the case with the ending part wherein the author's approach to writing a specific section of a song is laid step-by-step. I honestly found this hard to follow, and I still don't get what he really described not because the concept is too complicated, but rather because the author wrote it in a way you'd write something to your friend via a chat, a friend who knows your background. Also, large font is utilised as well, there were inconsistencies with how topics are approached, structured and explained, and there were some typos as well. All of this creates the image of a polished Word document.
I do recommend the book - despite its shortcomings it is a very good introduction to songwriting for beginners who are looking for somewhere to start and find some structure in their approach.
August 22, 2017
Turned intuitive concepts into concrete ideas
If you have spent any time at all dissecting and analyzing the composition of hit songs, you have probably intuitively noticed the big idea of this book, that a great song progresses with different energy levels. For me, I knew this in the back of my mind, but Findeisen turns these abstract concepts into concrete, actionable items that you can incorporate into any song you write. I especially love that for each concept in the book, he includes multiple examples from modern hit songs.
If you have spent any time at all dissecting and analyzing the composition of hit songs, you have probably intuitively noticed the big idea of this book, that a great song progresses with different energy levels. For me, I knew this in the back of my mind, but Findeisen turns these abstract concepts into concrete, actionable items that you can incorporate into any song you write. I especially love that for each concept in the book, he includes multiple examples from modern hit songs.
February 27, 2021
[Audiobook] An interesting book on the structural backbone of hit pop songs. A bit over my head on a lot of the musical stuff but it was very cool to see the parallels between the traditional 3-part narative of a story/myth and hit songs. This book is really meant for people who produce music and is a bit too niche for most readers, myself included. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. At 3 hrs, its a quick listen and the audiobook has the advantage over written as the author includes songs and audio examples.
April 15, 2023
I was expecting another book about "energy", but this book exceeded my expectations.
Site: https://holistic-songwriting.com/
Marketing is connecting a problem to solution!
Storytelling is dead.
✓ Make the gratification parts increasingly satisfying to hook the audience and keep them coming back (these will typically be our choruses)
✓ Keep the periods of anticipation (or verses) interesting enough so we don’t bore our audiences, and
✓ Find the perfect moments to switch between anticipation & gratification - if too much time passes, people will get bored and zone out; switch too quickly, and they will get confused.
✓ Addiction has two components: Gratification (getting something that hooks you) and Anticipation (waiting for more Gratification).
✓ The Addiction Formula borrows heavily from storytelling to hook the listener and keep them invested. This happens on another level than merely singing about a story, which is why I refer to it as Lyric-Less Storytelling.
✓ Lyric-Less Storytelling is only one of the three pillars of a hit song. The other two are Groove and Hook
✓ Arrangement (e.g. more instruments equals higher hype)
✓ Part-Writing (e.g. an instrument played loud is higher in hype)
✓ Rhythm (e.g. sections with few notes are low in hype)
✓ Harmony (e.g. ending on a V-chord)
✓ Part-Writing (e.g. slowly opening up a hi hat)
✓ Rhythm (e.g. increasing the number of notes played)
✓ Production (e.g. slowly opening up a filter)
✓ Energy is made up of Tension and Hype.
✓ Hype (relative) is static and changes abruptly with each section of a song.
✓ Tension is dynamic and changes gradually. It is used to smooth out the blocky hype curve.
Transitions
1. Jump - Increasing hype step-wise.
2. Smooth - Using hype & tension to increase energy.
3. Drop - Decreasing hype in steps.
4. Surprise - Building tension, then dropping to a lower hype level.
5. Overshoot - Building more tension than necessary to reach a higher hype level in the next section.
6. False Promise - Building tension but coming back to the same hype level.
7. Flatline - Keeping the hype level unchanged.
8. Lift - Building less tension than necessary to transition to a higher hype level.
9 Negative Tension - Gradually decreasing the energy to reach a lower hype level.
✓ Give your song direction by increasing the hype level every 4 or 8 bars (this creates anticipation).
✓ Make your energy peaks (moments of gratification) stand out above the rest of the song.
✓ Tension can be used to further smooth out transitions.
✓ Hype levels can be expressed through loudness, range, variety, the four vocal modes (neutral, falsetto, speech and belting) and effects (twang, vibrato, ornamentations, distortion).
✓ To introduce tension, use crescendos, ascending melodies, change the vocal mode, hit tense notes or gradually add effects.
✓ Implied tension can be achieved by subtracting the melody, by writing a tense one-note melody, by using space or by attitude.
Summary:
✓ Write a section.
✓ Determine what you have.
✓ Find your energy curve.
✓ Make a rough outline.
✓ Set hype levels.
✓ Introduce tension.
✓ Play with implied tension.
✓ Shit test #1: Moving boreders.
✓ Shit test #2: Have a friend draw your energy curve.
✓ Release.
Site: https://holistic-songwriting.com/
Marketing is connecting a problem to solution!
Storytelling is dead.
✓ Make the gratification parts increasingly satisfying to hook the audience and keep them coming back (these will typically be our choruses)
✓ Keep the periods of anticipation (or verses) interesting enough so we don’t bore our audiences, and
✓ Find the perfect moments to switch between anticipation & gratification - if too much time passes, people will get bored and zone out; switch too quickly, and they will get confused.
✓ Addiction has two components: Gratification (getting something that hooks you) and Anticipation (waiting for more Gratification).
✓ The Addiction Formula borrows heavily from storytelling to hook the listener and keep them invested. This happens on another level than merely singing about a story, which is why I refer to it as Lyric-Less Storytelling.
✓ Lyric-Less Storytelling is only one of the three pillars of a hit song. The other two are Groove and Hook
✓ Arrangement (e.g. more instruments equals higher hype)
✓ Part-Writing (e.g. an instrument played loud is higher in hype)
✓ Rhythm (e.g. sections with few notes are low in hype)
✓ Harmony (e.g. ending on a V-chord)
✓ Part-Writing (e.g. slowly opening up a hi hat)
✓ Rhythm (e.g. increasing the number of notes played)
✓ Production (e.g. slowly opening up a filter)
✓ Energy is made up of Tension and Hype.
✓ Hype (relative) is static and changes abruptly with each section of a song.
✓ Tension is dynamic and changes gradually. It is used to smooth out the blocky hype curve.
Transitions
1. Jump - Increasing hype step-wise.
2. Smooth - Using hype & tension to increase energy.
3. Drop - Decreasing hype in steps.
4. Surprise - Building tension, then dropping to a lower hype level.
5. Overshoot - Building more tension than necessary to reach a higher hype level in the next section.
6. False Promise - Building tension but coming back to the same hype level.
7. Flatline - Keeping the hype level unchanged.
8. Lift - Building less tension than necessary to transition to a higher hype level.
9 Negative Tension - Gradually decreasing the energy to reach a lower hype level.
✓ Give your song direction by increasing the hype level every 4 or 8 bars (this creates anticipation).
✓ Make your energy peaks (moments of gratification) stand out above the rest of the song.
✓ Tension can be used to further smooth out transitions.
✓ Hype levels can be expressed through loudness, range, variety, the four vocal modes (neutral, falsetto, speech and belting) and effects (twang, vibrato, ornamentations, distortion).
✓ To introduce tension, use crescendos, ascending melodies, change the vocal mode, hit tense notes or gradually add effects.
✓ Implied tension can be achieved by subtracting the melody, by writing a tense one-note melody, by using space or by attitude.
Summary:
✓ Write a section.
✓ Determine what you have.
✓ Find your energy curve.
✓ Make a rough outline.
✓ Set hype levels.
✓ Introduce tension.
✓ Play with implied tension.
✓ Shit test #1: Moving boreders.
✓ Shit test #2: Have a friend draw your energy curve.
✓ Release.
February 8, 2021
Definitely Worth Reading
Definitely a good book. As an actor and musician it was nice to see the connection between the two, something I’ve known for a while but could never put my finger on the HOW. While taking another course through monthly, I used this in conjunction with my class which really helped make a lot of sense in how to write a song. I took a lot of notes, so I will be going back to reread what I’ve highlighted. This book talks about the Addiction Formula or Factor, which can also be seen in many areas of life. It’s a great book on how to arrange, write and produce a song. If you’re feeling challenged like I was, it’s worth reading. If you want a different perspective, this definitely will be different. Really enjoyed reading the book.
Definitely a good book. As an actor and musician it was nice to see the connection between the two, something I’ve known for a while but could never put my finger on the HOW. While taking another course through monthly, I used this in conjunction with my class which really helped make a lot of sense in how to write a song. I took a lot of notes, so I will be going back to reread what I’ve highlighted. This book talks about the Addiction Formula or Factor, which can also be seen in many areas of life. It’s a great book on how to arrange, write and produce a song. If you’re feeling challenged like I was, it’s worth reading. If you want a different perspective, this definitely will be different. Really enjoyed reading the book.
March 14, 2020
I enjoyed learning with this book. It felt like I know almost everything being told in the book but after reading the book I know how to intentionally use that knowledge to make my music better. In that way it gave power to my knowledge. I just think the 3rd part is a little risky as that becomes way too specific and can make your music formulatic, but if you extract the idea of it, then its all good.
I already applied many of these concepts to the projects I was working on and I also opened up some old projects to see where I can / could have improved.
I'll recommend this to all music producer, lyric writers, singers and a combination of above, even if you're experienced.
I already applied many of these concepts to the projects I was working on and I also opened up some old projects to see where I can / could have improved.
I'll recommend this to all music producer, lyric writers, singers and a combination of above, even if you're experienced.
February 10, 2022
Turned intuitive concepts into concrete ideas
If you have spent any time at all dissecting and analyzing the composition of hit songs, you have probably intuitively noticed the big idea of this book, that a great song progresses with different energy levels. For me, I knew this in the back of my mind, but Findeisen turns these abstract concepts into concrete, actionable items that you can incorporate into any song you write. I especially love that for each concept in the book, he includes multiple examples from modern hit songs.
If you have spent any time at all dissecting and analyzing the composition of hit songs, you have probably intuitively noticed the big idea of this book, that a great song progresses with different energy levels. For me, I knew this in the back of my mind, but Findeisen turns these abstract concepts into concrete, actionable items that you can incorporate into any song you write. I especially love that for each concept in the book, he includes multiple examples from modern hit songs.
July 16, 2019
I didn't really learn any new techniques I didn't already know. But it's nice to know WHY you do what you do, and to have a facit of ways to make your productions and songs more memorable and engaging. I highlighted like crazy and I will definitely keep this book by my side while working.
September 6, 2020
Game changer!
This book will change every song I write for the rest of my life. While reading I immediately saw where earlier pieces just weren't working right . I could tell why they weren't getting the excitement I had hoped. This will be a reference library book for me.
This book will change every song I write for the rest of my life. While reading I immediately saw where earlier pieces just weren't working right . I could tell why they weren't getting the excitement I had hoped. This will be a reference library book for me.
February 13, 2022
While a little bit confusing with the order of introduction of new terms, this is a must read if you are a newbie in music arrangement. This cleared up a lot of my questions about telling a story with your song.
October 24, 2023
Very good for my purposes teaching students simple concepts of energy and tension, but somewhat repetitive.
Could really improve with more technical breakdown of ideas, but an excellent resource for young songwriters.
Could really improve with more technical breakdown of ideas, but an excellent resource for young songwriters.
January 6, 2018
Good
Great read fast and well written. Good basis of knowledge and explains everything very well. Helped a lot with my songs writing.
Great read fast and well written. Good basis of knowledge and explains everything very well. Helped a lot with my songs writing.
January 21, 2018
Practical, in depth and easy to read.
However, this is more a study book on song composing (the music) than it is on lyric writing. Lyric writing is just a very small part of this book.
However, this is more a study book on song composing (the music) than it is on lyric writing. Lyric writing is just a very small part of this book.
June 5, 2018
Cool ideas for pop arrangement that I've never seen before.
February 3, 2020
Super useful for beginner songwriters. Plus it was fun to listen as an audiobook with the music examples.
February 5, 2020
Loaded with real tips for making your songs catchier.
April 30, 2021
I find the first part more practical than the rest of the book which seems hazy at best.
June 11, 2021
3,9
Witty and informative
Audio examples in the audiobook were a bit wonky
I appreciated the recaps at the end of chapters
Witty and informative
Audio examples in the audiobook were a bit wonky
I appreciated the recaps at the end of chapters
July 29, 2025
Un buen libro para pensar la música desde el entendimiento del autor con nombre chistoso
August 17, 2025
Great book for beginnners
January 30, 2020
A perspective on songwriting I've never heard discussed much at all... arrangement. Specifically, arranging parts to setup up the next part by building anticipation.
It's really simple actually, I'm surprised how I missed it all these years!
It's really simple actually, I'm surprised how I missed it all these years!
August 19, 2019
I would recommend this book to any aspiring songwriter that is just starting. This book will help you to put into words those things that you feel when listening to a good song. This is book may not hold the holly grail but will help you analyze and see what other songs do, so you can apply them to your songs. It’s very focused to pop music but some techniques can still be applied to other genres. He talks about how energy and hype changes throughout the song, and a lot of genres have these in common.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews