Max Martin is a Hit Maker And Underrated Songwriter

Great songwriters are essential for the success of artists.

Image credit: Getty images By Joe Frank 26 March 2023

While the majority of these well-known performers receive the praise they merit, other songwriters of merit who work tirelessly for others go unnoticed.

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Surprisingly, one songwriter, excluding Lennon and McCartney, has more number-one singles than anyone else.

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Notwithstanding the praise he has gotten, it seems outrageous that most people are unaware of his name: Max Martin.

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The producer-songwriter, who was born in 1971 in Stockholm, Sweden, is the mind behind some of the most well-known modern pop tunes.

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He originally gained notoriety in the late 1990s after writing several of the most popular hit tunes of the time.

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These songs include Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time," the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way," and Céline Dion's "That's the Way It Is."

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As he continued to grow, Max produced NSYNC's "It's Gonne Be Me" in 2000. Even at this early stage, Martin's CV was excellent.

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Britney Spears once recalled working with Martin by saying: "[Martin] gets precisely what I am saying when I tell him what I want and don't want musically.

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"His melodies are amazing, and I adore how he always creates strange noises. There is no one with whom I feel more at ease working in the studio".

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Martin has written or co-authored 25 Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits, the majority of which he either produced or co-produced.

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His third-most number-one singles on the Billboard songwriting chart, behind Paul McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26), are a result of this.

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Martin is presently tied with late Beatles producer George Martin for the most Top 100 number-one singles as a producer, with 23.

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