How can you optimize a song's arrangement and structure for maximum impact?

You can take any hit song and reverse engineer the song structure to build your own hit song. Count measures, notice rhythmic phrasing (but don’t copy the rhythms just where they’re busy vs open etc). Notice when the melody ascends, descends, remains static. Where does it get big and small, when does it go high or low? Notice where the hooks happen or where non lyrical vocal hooks are. Notice instrumental hooks and where the song title lands. Notice the tempo and feel. How much higher is the chorus melody than the verse? You can copy the structure and use it as the skeleton to frame out your own hit song.

know your genre but know enough about yourself to not have it dominate you when you write. The term genre bending sounds like you're breaking something, but you're not. You're creating something. Go for it.

Contrast and dynamics are two major points in a production. It brings tension and release across a song, and create dynamic movement (Loud and Quiet) to emphasize section transition (Verse to Pre-Chorus to Chorus). IF you want a chorus that sounds big, your pre-chorus or verse, needs to feel smaller than the chorus. If you have a high energy verse and want high energy chorus, create a moment between the two, where the energy is released, break, silence ... With the right mixing engineer, it will have a big impact to the overall feel of the song.

Repetition, sometimes boring, can become your ally when used right. The advantage of repetition is that it can become a rhythm element you feel or sing over and over pretty quickly. Take example a lot of #1 or non-english speaking tracks. You sing the lyrics over and over without knowing the meaning. But it caught you because it became an important rhythm element created by using repetition (example: Gangnam Style)

The use of a good bridge (the key here is good to great) is invaluable in song structure. It can be dissected where it can be used as a lift into a chorus or verse and occasionally a reprise to the tune. A bridge gives the song a separate voice.

2 words: key change. Essential in a power and tension lift in a composition. It allows repetition without being repetitive. Also, play with song timing. By doing this you learn how to write an effective bridge.

No one references the thesaurus anymore to find a different way to say something-instead relying on vulgarities to drive their point, or allowing it to dominate their thought processes. While aural textures can ferry a song from intro to outro, I believe well thought out lyrics are even more important in taking the listener on a journey from one riverbank to the other - words create imagery in the mind that impacts the soul when combined with music. Song used to be the mental motion picture that told a concise story inside of three to six minutes-the test of a true great song was the test of time, now, it’s how many digital plays you can get in the shortest amount of time as possible, no concern about how long it will stay in memories.

In the modern world, I contend under HOW TO OPTIMIZE A SONG'S ARRANGEMENT AND STRUCTURE FOR OPTIMAL IMPACT that attention span is generally ltd. That is why I have kept almost ALL of the songs on my new album OMEGA short.