Max Martin: The overlooked songwriter and hit-making machine
The music industry hinges on great songwriters. It might seem obvious, but from John Lennon and Paul McCartney to contemporary heavyweights such as Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff, the charts have been propped up over the years by many figures with a knack for penning catchy tunes. Whilst most of these prominent acts earn the plaudits they deserve, some go under the radar, songwriters of worth who do the hard yards for others without ever getting their dues. Remarkably, there is one songwriter with more number-one singles than anyone else, bar Lennon and McCartney. Whilst he has received acclaim, it seems criminal that most people do not know his name: Max Martin.
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1971, the producer-songwriter is the brains behind some of the best-loved modern pop songs. He first rose to prominence in the late 1990s after creating a string of the era’s most successful hit singles. These include tracks like Britney Spears’ ‘Baby One More Time’, ‘I Want It That Way’ by the Backstreet Boys and Céline Dion’s ‘That’s the Way It Is’. Going from strength to strength, in 2000, he masterminded NSYNC’s ‘It’s Gonne Be Me’. Even at this early stage, Martin’s CV was impressive.
Recalling working with Martin, Britney Spears once said: “[Martin] gets exactly what I am saying when I tell him what I want and don’t want musically. His melodies are incredible and he is always coming up with weird sounds, which I love… There is nobody I feel more comfortable collaborating with in the studio.”
To date, Martin has written or co-written 25 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, with him also producing, or at least co-producing, the majority. This has seen him certified as having the third-most number-one singles on Billboard‘s songwriting chart, behind John Lennon at 26 and Paul McCartney at 32. Displaying the esteemed company he keeps, Martin is also currently tied with the late Beatles producer George Martin for the most Hot 100 number-one singles as a producer, with 23. Martin has received five Grammy Awards for his efforts, including ‘Producer of the Year’. He has also enjoyed an Academy Award nomination and two at the Golden Globes.
Interestingly, he sort of fell into the job. In 1985, Martin joined the glam metal band It’s Alive, and eventually, they got their big break in Sweden. In the early 1990s, the band landed a record deal on the producer Denniz PoP’s label Cheiron Records, an affiliate of BMG. It’s Alive released their second album, Earthquake Visions, in 1994, which was a commercial disappointment. Luckily for Martin, though, his life had started to take a different path around this time.
PoP recognised Martin’s talent for songwriting and he was then hired by Cheiron Studios in 1993 and spent some time learning the basics in the studio. Looking back on that formative period in 2001, Martin said: “I didn’t even know what a producer did, I spent two years–day and night–in that studio trying to learn what the hell was going on.” Quickly becoming his mentor, PoP named the budding producer – then known as Karl Martin Sandberg – Max Martin.
The first co-production between Martin and PoP arrived in 1994, the Rednex song ‘Wish You Were Here’. They then worked on Ace of Base’s second album, 1995’s The Bridge, and then on albums by the likes of Leila J and 3T. Currently, The Bridge has sold over six million copies worldwide, with over one million in the US alone.
In 1995, Cheiron Studios was hired by the short-lived American label Zomba to work on the self-titled debut album by the Backstreet Boys. Martin then left It’s Alive late that year. The rest is history.
Find all of Max Martin’s Billboard Hot 100 number-ones as a songwriter below.
What are Max Martin’s number-one singles as a songwriter?
- Britney Spears – ‘…Baby One More Time’ (1999)
- NSYNC – ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’ (2000)
- Katy Perry – ‘I Kissed A Girl’ (2008)
- Pink – ‘So What’ (2008)
- Kelly Clarkson – ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’ (2009)
- Britney Spears – ‘3’ (2009)
- Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg – ‘California Gurls’ (2010)
- Katy Perry – ‘Teenage Dream’ (2010)
- Pink – ‘Raise Your Glass’ (2010)
- Britney Spears – ‘Hold It Against Me’ (2011)
- Katy Perry feat. Kanye West – ‘E.T.’ (2011)
- Katy Perry – ‘Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)’ (2011)
- Katy Perry – ‘Part Of Me’ (2012)
- Maroon 5 – ‘One More Night’ (2012)
- Taylor Swift – ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ (2012)
- Katy Perry – ‘Roar’ (2013)
- Katy Perry feat. Juicy J – ‘Dark Horse’ (2014)
- Taylor Swift – ‘Shake It Off’ (2014)
- Taylor Swift – ‘Blank Space’ (2014)
- Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar – ‘Bad Blood’ (2015)
- The Weeknd – ‘Can’t Feel My Face’ (2015)
- Justin Timberlake – ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling!’ (2016)
- The Weeknd – ‘Blinding Lights’ (2020)
- The Weeknd and Ariana Grande – ‘Save Your Tears’ (2021)
- Coldplay and BTS – ‘Save Your Tears’ (2021)
