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1. Make no mistake, whether you're producing Christina, Coldplay or Lil' Chris, the unwritten rules of pop will always apply. Any track aiming for mainstream airtime depends on its ability to grab and retain someone's attention, but relies equally on its ability to not outstay its welcome. Whatever stage of production you're at, be sure to keep in mind the structure of the piece: where the peaks are, where the space is and how the track feels from beginning to end.

2. Pop is always open to gimmicks, so keep an eye on the latest plug-ins and use or abuse them in creative ways.

3. Where a musician may be concerned with the notes played, a producer also needs to be concerned with how they sound. Big pop hits often succeed because certain individual sounds are excellent, even if other, lesser parts aren't. For the important musical parts, put time into sourcing the right sounds, then you can confidently turn them up loud and proud.

4. Radio DJs love to talk over the beginning of tracks, but that doesn't mean you can ignore the intro. In fact, for pop, the opposite is true. Get the intro right and you'll make the track instantly recognisable, whether its being broadcast nationally or being played down the local disco.

5. Some people consider the fade out a cop out, but it actually serves a useful purpose in pop, making the track sound like it goes on forever, hopefully encouraging the listener to play it again. Even so, getting the fade just right can come down to trial and error. With that in mind, try automating a master fader and writing the automation in real time. This way, you'll be trusting your ears rather than your eyes.

6. Even though stereo has been around for ages, panning fashions have changed over the years. For pop, the most common technique is to hard-pan double-tracked elements and use this to delineate sections (say, verse and chorus). Things that lend themselves to this technique are vocals (both lead and backing) and guitars.

7. Although the vocals are typically the focal point of a track, all pop relies on other hooks. These may be anything from sound effects to full-on instrumental sections. Either way, be careful not to overlook the importance of the instrumental hook. If the song doesn't have one, look to rework parts of the melody into instrumental form.

8. With pop more than any other genre, mono compatibility is very important, as it's not at all uncommon for pop songs to be listened to on very crude speaker systems. Always make sure you know how your track sounds in mono to avoid your track falling apart in such a situation. If your DAW doesn't have a mono button on the master channel, you can use an effect such as dfx Monomaker on your master channel to 'monofy' your mix.

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