Successful music is formulaic, that's for sure. Of course, the extend and definition of what success is depends on each person. However, popular music, which might (or not) be of your like, isn't random. It is music carefully planned to reach the masses. There has to be a lesson to learn there, especially in terms of arrangement because it changes generation after generation.

My pleasure.

To each their own. It all depends on how you feel or what you can do. Starting at the busiest or the quietest part will produce the same results as long as one develops a system to build layers for each section purposefully.

 

To me a good inficator is definition, and not in the "can you pick up each instrument separately if you pay attention" way. When things are kept simple you can focus more clearly in the quality of a specific sound way more naturally, if there's too much going on it becomes more difficullt, it becomes part of a whole.

That's not a bad thing at all of couse (if done tastefully), but i think it's a good indicator of how complex is your song getting.

There's a similar (and way more detailed) concept on sound design, the rule of "two and a half". It's not ment for this context but i think it translates pretty well.

 

there was a nice short documentary "how to make techno in the 90s" can't find it right now, but Westbam said something very nice (quoting, but not exact words): "because you always end up with a lot of stuff and sounds you like, and you can't have everything, so in reality the work of production is really reduction."
which connects back to a famous quote by Antoine de Saint Exupéry (aviator pioneer): "It seems that perfection is attained, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away."

i think those apply in many parts of our life.
my approach differs from track to track, and everyone's approach is different. sometimes you just make a big loop which is the main part of the song and then build around it. sometimes you directly start from the intro without caring about the chorus/main energy part of the song. we have to learn to let go of things. save your melodies, save your sounds, they might come in handy in the future, even just as inspiration, or maybe as a remix/other version of the track you were working on.