It’s easy to identify a hit song when you hear it, but what’s the process to create it look like? Pop producer-songwriter, Max Martin, recently joined the Q with Tom Power podcast to share his formula.
LISTEN NOW: Max Martin joins ‘Q with Tom Power’ podcast
Known for his work with mega hits like “I Want It That Way” (Backstreet Boys) “…Baby One More Time (Britney Spears),” “Blinding Lights (The Weeknd),” “Roar” (Katy Perry) and “I Knew You Were Trouble” (Taylor Swift), Martin knows a thing or two about creating a hit song. So what’s his secret sauce? A passion for the music.
“Let’s just set the record straight,” Martin said, listing of all the reasons people might believe he’s successful at what he does. “I just happen to love it. Everybody works differently and I’m not saying one way is better than the other, but there’s a lot of time being spent on this stuff.”
Putting in the work and having a personal passion for the music is what Martin credits his success to, as well as what keeps him going after 30 years in the business. “The reason I do this still, is you look for that feeling when you’re in the studio and you’re done with a song and it feels amazing and you feel proud of yourself and everyone’s happy and it sounds great and all that stuff.”
Crediting passion for fueling his creative process, Martin dug a little deeper into the technicalities of what that process looks like sharing phonetics, teamwork and melody are some of the top ingredients in his recipe for success.
“A lot of times, I put down a melody, for instance, and I just sing gibberish,” he said of his initial approach to the creation of a song. “Melody is kind off my go-to place. That’s what I love.”
He continued, “When I listen to a song I tend to listen if there’s a good melody there. If I like the melody, then I go to, ‘alright, what are they actually saying?’”
Hear more about Martin’s recipe for hit song success, his new Broadway musical “& Juliet,” and his 30-year career by tuning into his entire conversation with Tom Power above.
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