base talk Is "having ear for hits" talent?

[Lagerfeld]

Many stans around the world name having this trait as a talent for certain singers. Do you agree?

 

If so, which singer possesses this talent? If not, do you think it's up to the producer?

 

 

[glitch]

Yes but it's an A&R talent, most artists who stans claim have an ear for hits are not choosing their own singles

[KatyPrismSpirit]

I think discovering talent is a talent on itself.

 

However having an ear to determine if you like someone else's art enough to release yourself is not a talent. It's more of a strategic skill.

[Selegend]

Interscope didn't want Good for You and Lose You To Love Me.

There's various interviews where Selena and even people from interscope talk about this. 

How they didn't want LYTLM but trusted her after the droplets/revival. And they talk about GFY too. 

 

However, they wanted Single Soon and Love On this decade. 

So yeah, it's a talent. 

 

[Delusional]

No because when producers stop handing you songs you end up last releasing in 2016 

 

[heckinglovato]

'Having an ear for hits' is reserved for artists who have zero vocal and songwriting skills but have had commercial success with their label

 

Exhibit A:

14 minutes ago, Selegend said:

Interscope didn't want Good for You and Lose You To Love Me.

There's various interviews where Selena and even people from interscope talk about this. 

How they didn't want LYTLM but trusted her after the droplets/revival. And they talk about GFY too. 

 

However, they wanted Single Soon and Love On this decade. 

So yeah, it's a talent. 

 

 

[Selegend]

3 minutes ago, heckinglovato said:

'Having an ear for hits' is reserved for artists who have zero vocal and songwriting skills but have had commercial success with their label

 

Exhibit A:

 

this non-talent could have helped ur fave a lot heckinglovato. she should've developed this skill. 

Edited Monday at 06:23 PM by Selegend

[RideOrDie]

thank you for making this thread as i feel strongly about this topic and talked about it extensively before. the answer is NO. having an "ear for hits" is a term made up by the fans of "artists" who are carefully manufactured and strategically crafted to be hitmakers by entire teams of talented A&R, management, songwriters, producers and business people. there are hundreds of data spreadsheets analyzing pitch songs and teams of people input their opinions before it even reaches the artist to cut vocals. the singer also has an opinion on what they want to release, but songs are vetted through many stages and people, while the best stuff is even forcibly taken from other artists, songwriters & producers. so the potential hits have already been collected and condensed before the artist is even aware through this pitching process. these spreadsheets and documents are maintaned by entire teams who keep a track of what's the most likely hit, whether or when the singer will go in the studio to record vocals for it, if it's going to be a single or not, if the producers/songwriters have been paid and samples are cleared. there are of course times when the singer has good judgement and fights for a song to be a single, but to say these are because they have some unique talent to hear "hits" is missing the big picture - the amount of investment and effort made by teams behind the scenes. but alas, singers with this made up talent often burn themselves and their teams out because of this high risk, high investment process and don't release albooms for years. the hits dry up. and since that's all they are good for, there's nothing else for them to do in the music industry.

 

Edited Monday at 06:26 PM by RideOrDie

[PrettyHurts]

No, its something Rihanna fans made up to make her seem more talented 

[heckinglovato]

1 minute ago, Selegend said:

that non-talent could have helped ur fave a lot heckinglovato. she should've developed that skill. 

Demi has several hits, vocal talent, and songwriting talent; Selena only has one of those three 

 

I'll give it to Selena though for seeing much bigger commercial success - although you'd think a billion dollars could buy you a good vocal coach, especially considering she has plenty of extra time from her social media breaks 

[Erreur2 La Nature]

No it's not 

[Popboi.]

It's a skill, not a talent.

[Khal]

The fact that you barely ever hear artists who are vocally talented and/or write their own material mention this "talent" should answer the question

[thirdward]

1 minute ago, Popboi. said:

It's a skill, not a talent.

this

[ariananext]

It's a skill, but that wouldn't really be the case for mainstream artists in my opinion.

 

They have access to the best producers and if they're high profile artists they get pitched the best songs. I would give these credits to people who work behind the scenes for them while creating albums, or upcoming/indie artists who don't have the privilege of working with elite producers and have to handle everything by themselves, picking the right single could make or break their career. 

 

However, I noticed that "an ear for hits" is used when said artist is lacking in other departments. I would never list "ear for hits" as an Ariana talent, despite her huge amount of hits considering all the other talents she has that I could talk about, same thing for other artists I like.

[Selegend]

Just now, heckinglovato said:

Demi has several hits, vocal talent, and songwriting talent; Selena only has one of those three 

 

I'll give it to Selena though for seeing much bigger commercial success - although you'd think a billion dollars could buy you a good vocal coach, especially considering she has plenty of extra time from her social media breaks 

she truly doesn't. she's busy with rare beauty and for example winning best picture yesterday at the Globes while she was also double nominated as an actress. 

 

But i won't reply anymore cuz it will be off topic and it was my fault to engage with a lovatic in 2025 in the first place, i shouldn't. it's such a nonsense, pure force of habit 

 

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

When people bring this up in support of their faves I literally have no idea what they are talking about. It's marketing, if anything.

[heckinglovato]

6 minutes ago, Selegend said:

she truly doesn't. she's busy with rare beauty and for example winning best picture yesterday at the Globes while she was also double nominated as an actress. 

 

But i won't reply anymore cuz it will be off topic and it was my fault to engage with a lovatic in 2025 in the first place, i shouldn't. it's such a nonsense, pure force of habit 

 

 

No time for a vocal coach but plenty of time to fight fans online about Palestine and Benny Blanco's looks

 

She also can't act btw, as I see this has become the new pivot away from the bad singing 

 

OT: no it's not a talent

[Raphy23]

Yes Ma'am. 

[ericcartman]

Nope. It's something fans of artists with minimal/no talent say to make their fave seem talented

[Feanor]

Not really.

[Wicked]

It's the dumbest thing I've ever seen in Pop music conversations.

 

It's not even "good at making hits", cause they don't even be involved in the process 💀

[BGKC]

Depends on the hit and all that went into it. Some have a natural appeal and charisma that sells. Talented producers seek out whoever's hot and/or talented. It just really depends, but it all boils down to good chemistry and the right amount of promotion. 
 

Edited Monday at 07:07 PM by BGKC

[ontherocks]

Of course not 

[Dysmorphia]

I wouldn't say it's a talent but it's definitely a skill. 
 

At the end of the day they could release any old thing but here we are in 2025 and the ones "with an ear for hits" are still thriving which can't be said for others.