Karl Martin Sandberg (born February 26, 1971) more commonly known professionally as Max Martin, is a songwriter, record producer, and retired singer. He is especially known for his songwriting, winning 11 ASCAP consecutive awards for Songwriter of the Year, the most in the organization's history. He has collaborated with many major artists such as Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Ariana Grande, The Backstreet Boys, Jessie J, P!nk, Katy Perry and many others.
Martin has helped write 25 Billboard Hot 100 number-ones, the most besides The Beatles members Paul McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26). He is also tied with George Martin, producer of The Beatles, for the most Billboard Hot 100 number-ones as a producer with 23. Some of the hits he has written that have gone number one include Britney Spear's “…Baby One More Time" (1999), NSYNC's “It’s Gonna Be Me" (2000), P!nk's "So What" (2008), Katy Perry's "Roar" (2013), Ariana Grande's "Yes, And?" (2024), Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" (2014), and The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" (2020).
Artistry[]
Influences[]
Martin cites his main influences as R&B singer Prince, Swedish pop group ABBA, rock band Kiss, and Lesse Holm. He says he has sometimes “ripped off the artists” by mistake, as he learned to write pop songs from them. Sophia Somajo, who he has extensively worked with for artists like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, says that a lot of his influence in songs comes from rock artists. She also states that if you would look at a lot of 2000s songs of his, you would see rock riffs as hooks, which he helped popularize.
Creative process[]
He has been influential in the formula he adheres to make the “perfect pop track”. It starts with writing the melody first, before writing the song. He says the lyrics don’t need to make much sense, as long as it sticks to the melody at hand. A stanza also has to contain a certain number of syllables, which is typically 8 for an odd-numbered line and 6 for evens, and mirror the next.
The chorus must also then be in the first 50 seconds of a song, so as to catch the listener’s attention. There are only 3 to 4 melodic stanzas throughout the song, that are used one at a time and constantly repeated. The melodies are also contrasting, as the verses and chorus have different structures.
Collaborations with Taylor Swift[]
Max Martin has been mostly known for his works co-writing (along with Swift and Shellback as well) some of Swift's biggest hits. He has worked with Swift on the following songs:
RED (2012)
- "I Knew You Were Trouble" (writer and producer)
- "22" (writer and producer)
- "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (writer and producer)
1989 (2014, standard edition)
- "Blank Space" (writer and producer)
- "Style" (writer and producer)
- "Out of the Woods" (vocal producer)
- "All You Had to Do Was Stay" (writer and producer)
- "Shake It Off" (writer and producer)
- "Bad Blood" ((writer and producer)
- "Wildest Dreams" (writer and producer)
- "How You Get the Girl" (writer and producer)
1989 (2014, deluxe editions)
- "Wonderland" (writer and producer)
- "New Romantics" (writer and producer)
- "Blank Space" (memo) (writer)
Reputation (2017)
- "...Ready For It?" (writer and producer)
- "End Game" (writer and producer)
- "I Did Something Bad" (writer and producer)
- "Don't Blame Me" (writer and producer)
- "Delicate" (writer and producer)
- "So It Goes..." (writer and producer)
- "Gorgeous" (writer and producer)
- "King of My Heart" (writer and producer)
- "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" (writer and producer)
Red (Taylor's Version) (2021)
- "Message in a Bottle" (writer)
Miscellaneous
- "Wildest Dreams (Taylors Version)" (2021)