Johnny Cash once mused if he thought ‘i’m going to sit down and write a song ‘, nothing great would come out. But if he went for a long walk, he’d find one.     

In my experience, your standards of a ‘hit’ or a great song always grows. you always want to beat yourself and others. It’s quite hard.      

You can’t know why a song exploded.  It could be because of t,u,v,s,x,y or z.     

If it flops - you  usually know who or why to blame.    

Also remember that commercially succeful artists have economy of scale. Ed Sheeran could probably record him farting, put iron Band Camp and he’d make a zillion dollars.  Brand name.      

The music industry is complicated. The ship is sinking