he standard format for a song is something like this: Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, guitar lead, bridge, chorus or Chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, guitar lead or Verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus There are more variations of this but whatever the case may be, you must get to the chorus no later than one minute after the start of the song. In most cases, if your song doesn't get to the chorus, otherwise known as the "hook", sooner than 45 seconds into the song, most producers, record labels, and radio stations won't think it's "radio friendly" and therefore it won't get played on the radio. This is why there's a "standard" for the format of a song. If you want radio play then you follow the rules. Those who take risks with this format rarely get radio play. John Mayer's new album is amazing. He gets better with every album and he's going to be around for a long time. He is respected by some of the biggest stars and musicians ever to exist and therefore has power in the music business. One of the most amazing songs on his new record, Continuum, called "Belief", breaks the rules. This song's format is: verse, verse, chorus, bridge, guitar lead, chorus. The "hook" doesn't even come in until 1:49!! Absolutely blows my mind. I believe that his label said something like "John, the subject matter of this song is so amazing, it's so timely with the state of the world, it can hit so hard right now if you just arrange it so that hook is in there three or four times instead of just two...and damn it, John, with the potential of this song, you really need to hit the hook at around forty five seconds!" I believe John will release many songs on this record (more than the standard three) and I believe that "Belief" will be one of them despite it's glaring disrespect for "the rules". "We're never gonna win the world, we're never gonna stop the war, we're never gonna beat this if belief is what we're fighting for" -John Mayer
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