How do you assess a song?

[SoundShots]

I know it's a difficult question and it can depend on the track, but what are the aspects of a song that you consider to decide if you like a song or not? (e.g. first impression, lyrics, melodies, mixing, all of them etc.)

Cheers!

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[AdamDam]

That’s a good question, and a tough one!

I usually decide to add a track to my library if upon the first listen, it sounds pleasant, which I think in my case mainly depends upon the melodies and rhythms, as well as the timbres of the musical instruments, more so than the lyrical content. It’s difficult for me to tell for sure what determines whether I like a song, though, especially since I know very little about music theory.

A couple of aspects of music that I think I’ve noticed are common amongst tracks that I’ve saved to my library include repetitive rhythms, as well as melodies that evolve throughout the song (such as in the case of a solo by a guitar, bass, keyboard, etc. that elaborates on the main chord progression or riff); and I also tend to like effects-laden guitar tones (such as “fuzzy” distortion). I’m guessing that there are also other musical features that I tend to enjoy as well; these are just a few that come to mind.

Looking at my genre-themed playlists, I also notice that certain genres have a lot more tracks than others; so, I think that there may be musical features common within the genres that I listen to the most that I tend to particularly enjoy. According to Last.fm, my top genre has been “stoner rock,” for the past ~1.5 months, which according to Wikipedia is “typically slow-to-mid tempo and features a heavily distorted, groove-laden, bass-heavy sound, melodic vocals, and ‘retro’ production.” So, these may be additional factors that I tend to appreciate in music, based on my recent listening habits. And my top genre according to Spotify Wrapped 2019 was “space rock,” which according to Wikipedia is “characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound,” so these might be aspects of music that I tend to enjoy as well.

Cheers!

[SoundShots]

Yes, I think as well that first impressions play a major role in deciding if I like a song or not; even if I have to admit that there have been cases in which at a first listen I didn't like a song and after a while I started to appreciate it more and more.

Lyrics and other more specific aspects tend to be secondary and I have noticed as well that many of the songs I like have some things in common, especially rhythm and melodies.

[rachel57]

if it sounds like a song that would get stuck in my head

if the music itself sounds pleasing

if the singer's voice doesn't sound off/strange to me

[Heythatsme]

I guess for me it depends on the lyrics, background music, genres like genre mixing, artist. When there’s an artist that I don’t like listening too I usually don’t do I just do if there is a featuring with an artist I like, and the lyrics of a song are 50% for me to like a song because I like songs more where I can relate to the lyrics and the other 50% is the background music for me the background music needs to fit the „vibe“ of the song.

[Sebasty]

Good question!

The track has to have something memorable in it, something that pleased my ears and caught my attention.

I pay attention to melodies, different sounds and how they work together, percussion, the construction of the track.

I don't really pay attention to lyrics first because most of the time it will take repeated listens to figure out what the words are. Plus most of the tracks I like are not centered around lyrics. : )

[Zanardi1]

I go by intuition if I like the song or not. I don't look, at first impression, into lyrics or melodic line.

[crowdiegal]

I judge a song based on the lyrics, vocal performance, instrumentation and production. If the grooves are tight and the song is well written with a really good vocal performance that I can get behind than yeah, the song gets added to my rotation. I will say the intro of a song can make or break a song for me.

[Miselio]

For me, lyrics > melody > genre > artist. If the lyrics don’t seem coherent, then it’s out. Even if the lyrics feel right, but the melody seems off, I won’t be into it. If both fit well, but it’s completely outside the genres I enjoy, then I might reject it. Finally, if I know the artist is against many of the important topics I believe in, then it’s ultimately a pass. This isn’t 100% how I rate every song, but it’s a general guideline for me.

[Eclipse_31]

Here's how I would usually do it:

1. See if song would match the context/theme of the playlist
2. Listen to the song
3. Skip through parts of the song to see if it would be needed on the playlist
4. Delete or keep song based on what happened

[AyuTheHuman]

I have a pretty high standard (If I say so myself) for assessing songs.

All songs I listen have to pass this test:

1. If it sounds pleasant to my ears. (Has a catchy beat)
2. If I want to play it again.
3. If one of the lyrics gets stuck inside my head

You might think that means I only like songs that sound similar, but you'd be surprised...

Songs from Twice and Blackpink have passed this test, but sound completely different in comparison. 

[user-removed]

There’s nothing that I could say that hasn’t already been mentioned by others. At the risk of sounding like a copycat: Same and I agree with everyone haha!

Though I will say that I used to be more picky, these days I’m more open to different tunes and even if I don’t like something at first I try to let it play until the end and sometimes I might come back to it to see if my opinion had changed.

[Sebasty]

I'm gonna add to whatever i said earlier - I usually put a "cooldown" period on new findings. That means I put them in Liked Songs for later listening.

I'll analyze if the song still impresses me a little while later and if it does, I add it to my playlist. If it doesn't, I will drop it.

There are songs that skip the Liked Songs stage and travel straight to You Sound Nice.

And occasionally I come across a tune that hits me just so well, I open the browser and seek out the artist's Bandcamp to buy the album the song's from.

TRAKA is the most recent artist that did this to me. I put a long cooldown period on this because this one had vinyl available, and I wanted to be extra sure about my potential purchase.
Well I can't get enough of this absolutely brainmelting production, so now I'm expecting vinyl.. 👀

I am not exactly sure what I observe in a new track, but I do know it's all about sound with its multiple faces and how it makes me feel when I listen to it.