Max Martin

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Martin "Max Martin" Sandberg (born February 26, 1971) is a music producer and songwriter. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden and is best known by his artistic name Max Martin. As a producer and songwriter, he crafted a string of worldwide hits for pop-artists like the mega boyband Backstreet Boys, pop princess Britney Spears and Swedish starlet Robyn, among many others, in the late 1990s to mid 2000s. His trademark is a bouncing, piano/synth-heavy pop sound that's taking influence from Europop and Italian house and mixing them in with classic American Bandstand pop arrangements. However, with Kelly Clarkson's hits "Since U Been Gone" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes", which propelled Max back into the spotlight in 2004, he had managed to reinvent himself with a fresh rock sound.

Contents

1 Musical career and personal life

1.1 Early life and career
1.2 Working at Cheiron
1.3 Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears
1.4 Producer role at Cheiron
1.5 Startup of Maratone
1.6 Kelly Clarkson goes to Sweden

2 Songwriting

2.1 Written songs (Cheiron)
2.2 Written songs (Maratone)

3 Productions and co-productions

3.1 Productions and co-productions (Cheiron)
3.2 Productions and co-productions (Maratone)

4 Charts

4.1 Top-selling singles

5 Awards

5.1 Awards
5.2 Razzie Awards

6 External links

Musical career and personal life

Early life and career

Martin Sandberg grew up in Stenhamra, Ekerö Municipality, a suburb of Stockholm. As a teenager he sang in several bands before joining a glam-style metal band called It's Alive in 1985 as their singer and frontman. It's Alive were formed by ex LAZY members Per Aldeheim and Kim Björkgren on guitars, and John Rosth who had been a member of Lineout. Martin eventually dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music with his band under the nickname "Martin White". In 1988 they participated in the national rock championships and also played as the in-house band at a disco in Cyprus. The band got a breakthrough in 1991, as Dave Constable of Megarock records offered them to make a demo-record. The later debut album was originally pressed in 1000 copies and later on given away as a free cover tape in the UK by the Metal Forces magazine.

The decision to focus on a music career paid off as they landed a record deal on producer Denniz Pop's label Cheiron Studios, a BMG affiliate. After recording their second album Earthquake Visions, they released three singles in conjunction with the record (including "I'm Your Man" which featured the bonus cut of a cover of KISS' "Parasite") and toured through Europe in 1994 supporting Kingdom Come. Earthquake Visions eventually sold a disappointing 30,000 copies, despite being released in as many as 30 countries. More importantly though, Martin also began collaborating on songs with Pop. Recognising a talent for writing pop songs in the young rocker, Pop renamed his new charge Max Martin and eventually became Martin’s mentor.

Working at Cheiron

In 1992 Martin was hired by Cheiron Studios as a producer and spent some time learning the basics, before the first production collaboration between Pop and Martin with the Rednex track "Wish You Were Here" in 1995. They both worked on Ace of Base's second album The Bridge shortly thereafter, as well as on albums by 3T, Army of Lovers and Leila K. To date, The Bridge has sold more than six million copies worldwide, including two million in the United States (which still was a far cry from the 21 million copies of the band's previous album, Happy Nation/The Sign). When Martin eventually left his band It's Alive in late 1995, he was replaced by Anders Jansson.

In 1996 Cheiron Studios was hired to work on Backstreet Boys's debut album Backstreet Boys. Martin was part of the production of "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)", a single which quickly went platinum and climbed to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the singles "As Long As You Love Me" and "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" (interesting to note, the latter sounds remarkably like classic It's Alive). The album was not released in the U.S. until 1997, but was released overseas and caught on all across Europe eventually selling around 8 million copies worldwide. This led to the Backstreet Boys being relaunched in their home country later on, this time more successfully. Later that year Martin also co-produced Robyn’s hit "Show Me Love" which ended up on the Billboard top 10.

In 1998 Cheiron Studios worked on albums by 5ive, *NSYNC, Bryan Adams and Jessica Folcker. Jessica Folcker was engaged as a backing singer for Ace of Base and Dr. Alban when she started working with Martin, and her debut album Jessica became an instant hit with singles like "Tell Me What You Like" and "How Will I Know Who You Are" which both sold platinum. After Denniz Pop died of cancer that summer, Martin took over as director of Cheiron Studios. He soon started working with writer/producer Rami Yacoub, who has been his partner since. A few months after he started working with Rami; he also started to team up with Jay Orpin in late 1998 to start production of Backstreet Boys' next album Millennium.

Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears

1999 was a very big year for Martin. First off, he wrote, co-wrote and co-produced 7 songs out of 12 on the album Millennium by Backstreet Boys and he gave its unique, surreal sound to it. "I Want It That Way", written and co-produced by Martin, became the Backstreet Boys's biggest single to date and it is still popular and timeless today ("I Want It That Way" was voted #10 in the MTV/Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Pop Songs."). Millennium sold over 1.1 million units in its first week in the United States, setting a record for most albums sold in its debut week (that record was later beaten by the bands next album Black & Blue), and was the No.1 best selling album in the world in 1999.

The same year, Martin also wrote the Britney Spears' international hit ...Baby One More Time for her debut album with the same name (the hit single was originally offered to the group TLC to record, which they passed on because they were 'taking time off'). Both albums Millennium and ...Baby One More Time have sold around 13 million copies each in the U.S. to this date, certifying Diamond Status. Also, within a year of its release, ...Baby One More Time had become the best-selling LP by a teenager in history and the debut hit single with the same name remains to be Spears' biggest U.S. (and international) hit to date. Martin was the first non-American citizen ever to win ASCAP's prestigious award "Songwriter of the year" in 1999. When working on her own solo album to be released in 2001 on Stockholm Records, Lisa Miskovsky wrote the text for Backstreet Boys new hit single "Shape of My Heart" with Max Martin and Rami. The song, originally written for Miskovsky’s own album, was passed along to Backstreet Boys by Max Martin when Miskovsky determined it didn’t fit her style. The song became the first single off the new album Black & Blue by Backstreet Boys. In the first week of release, "Shape of My Heart" immediately jumped into the Top Five in Sweden (#1), Norway (#1), Canada (#1), Germany (#2), Switzerland (#4), Austria (#5) and Holland (#5). Black & Blue, containing several songs produced and written by Martin, sold 1.6 million units in its first week in America. Martin again received ASCAP's award "Songwriter of the year" both in 2000 and 2001, and is the first ever to receive the award three years in a row.

Producer role at Cheiron

The producers at Cheiron had almost the opposite role of the producer role of the late '60s, when a artist would write the songs and then hire a producer to help shape the sound. At Cheiron the producers wrote the songs, played the instruments, engineered and mixed the recordings and the artist was only brought in near the end of the process. For example, on Britney Spears second album Oops!... I Did It Again, Cheirons had already written seven songs and had proceeded to record the layers of music before Britney even arrived at the studios. It took her only one week to do the vocals. Martin and his team works more like a band that alternates singers, and he explains his working method as:

Startup of Maratone

Despite the success, Cheiron Studios was closed down in 2000. The reason behind the decision to close it down was, according to the press release on their homepage, that the heart and soul of the studio had been lost with the death of Denniz Pop. Another reason for closing the studio down was for the people at Cheiron Studios to be able to do more experimental music work without the weight of the now infamous name Cheiron upon their shoulders.

Max Martin and Tom Talomaa started a new production company together named Maratone in January 2001. Also, David Kreuger and Per Magnusson started A Side Productions and Kristian Lundin started the production-company The Location and the publishing-company Location Songs together with Jake Schulze and Andreas Carlsson (both also members of Cheiron's production team) at the same location as Cheiron Studios. The first songs to be written and produced at Maratone were four tracks for Britney Spears´ third album Britney. The Maratone production crew now consists of producers/songwriters Max Martin, Rami, Alexandra and Arnthor.

Kelly Clarkson goes to Sweden

In 2004 Kelly Clarkson, the former American Idol winner, went to Sweden to collaborate with Max Martin and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald on songs for her album Breakaway. They decided to make songs that were rockier than anticipated by the fans, as can be heard on the hit singles "Since U Been Gone" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes". "Since U Been Gone" became a huge hit and remains the biggest hit of Clarkson's career, and one of the biggest hits of 2005. The next single "Behind These Hazel Eyes" actually reached the top-ten of the Billboard Hot 100 while the single "Since U Been Gone" was still there.

In 2005 Martin collaborated on 4 of the 12 songs on Backstreet Boys' comeback album Never Gone, including "Climbing The Walls", "Just Want You To Know", "Siberia" and the melancholy love song "I Still...", a trademark song for the Backstreet Boys. Martin wanted the album to be more of contemporary, alternative pop album with a little R&B. The result album was a more organic music style with more live instruments, and a departure from The Backstreet Boys' earlier work. The same year, Martin also co-produced Swedish singer Darin Zanyar's first album, and wrote and produced songs for P!nk's fourth album I'm Not Dead, and newcomer Megan McCauley's album on Wind-up records, again working together with Lukasz Gottwald.

Songwriting

Written songs (Cheiron)

Written songs (Maratone)

Productions and co-productions

Productions and co-productions (Cheiron)

Year Artist Album Song Co-produced with
1994 Army of Lovers Glory, Glamour & Gold "Sexual Revolution" Denniz Pop
1994 E-type Made In Sweden "This Is The Way" Denniz Pop
1994 E-type Made In Sweden "Fight It Back" Denniz Pop
1994 E-type Made In Sweden "Do You Always (Have To Be Alone)?" Amadin
1994 E-type Made In Sweden "Russian Lullaby" E-type
1994 E-type Made In Sweden "Me No Want Miseria (Take Me To The End)" Denniz Pop
1995 3T Brotherhood "It's Gotta Be You" Denniz Pop
1995 3T Brotherhood "I Need You" Denniz Pop
1995 Ace Of Base The Bridge "Beautiful Life" Denniz Pop
1995 Ace Of Base The Bridge "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry" Denniz Pop
1995 Ace Of Base The Bridge "Lucky Love" Denniz Pop
1995 Ace Of Base The Bridge "Blooming 18" Denniz Pop
1995 Herbie Fingers "Right Type Of Mood" Denniz Pop
1995 Herbie Fingers "Pick It Up" Denniz Pop
1995 Herbie Fingers "Big Funky Dealer" Denniz Pop
1995 Herbie Fingers "I Believe" Denniz Pop
1995 Herbie Fingers "Rainbow Child" Denniz Pop
1995 Herbie Fingers "Come Together" Denniz Pop
1995 Herbie Fingers "The Skank" Denniz Pop
1995 Herbie Fingers "Gangs To The Max" Denniz Pop
1995 Herbie Fingers "Change" Denniz Pop
1995 Leila K "Electric"
1995 Rednex Sex & Violins "Wish You Were Here" Denniz Pop
1996 Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" Kristian Lundin
1996 Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys "I Wanna Be With You" Denniz Pop
1996 Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys "Nobody But You" Denniz Pop
1996 Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys "We've Got It Going On" Denniz Pop
1996 E-type The Explorer "Free Like A Flying Demon" Denniz Pop
1996 E-type The Explorer "I'm Not Alone" Denniz Pop, E-type
1996 E-type The Explorer "We Gotta Go" Denniz Pop
1996 E-type The Explorer "You Know"
1997 Backstreet Boys Backstreet's Back "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" Denniz Pop
1997 Backstreet Boys Backstreet's Back "As Long As You Love Me" Kristian Lundin
1997 Backstreet Boys Backstreet's Back "10,000 Promises" Denniz Pop
1997 Backstreet Boys Backstreet's Back "That's The Way I Like It" Denniz Pop
1997 DeDe I Do "Get To You" Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, Kristian Lundin
1997 Robyn Robyn Is Here "Show Me Love"
1998 5ive 5ive "Don't You Want It" Denniz Pop
1998 5ive 5ive "It's The Things You Do" Jake
1998 5ive 5ive "Until The Time Is Through" Kristian Lundin
1998 5ive 5ive "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" Denniz Pop, Jake
1998 N'Sync *NSYNC "I Want You Back" Denniz Pop
1998 E-type Last Man Standing "Angels Crying" Kristian Lundin, E-type
1998 E-type Last Man Standing "Here I Go Again" Kristian Lundin, E-type
1998 Gary Barlow Open Road "Superhero" Kristian Lundin
1998 Jessica Folcker Jessica "A Little Bit Longer"
1998 Jessica Folcker Jessica "Goodbye"
1998 Jessica Folcker Jessica "Private Eye"
1998 Jessica Folcker Jessica "Tell Me What You Like"
1998 Jessica Folcker Jessica "Turned And Walked Away"
1999 Backstreet Boys Millennium "I Want It That Way" Kristian Lundin
1999 Backstreet Boys Millennium "Don't Wanna Lose You Now" Rami Yacoub
1999 Backstreet Boys Millennium "Don't Want You Back" Rami Yacoub
1999 Backstreet Boys Millennium "It's Gotta Be You" Rami Yacoub
1999 Backstreet Boys Millennium "Larger Than Life (Single Mix)" Rami Yacoub
1999 Backstreet Boys Millennium "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" Kristian Lundin
1999 Backstreet Boys Millennium "The One" Kristian Lundin
1999 Britney Spears ...Baby One More Time "...Baby One More Time" Rami Yacoub
1999 Britney Spears ...Baby One More Time "(You Drive Me) Crazy" David Kreuger, Per Magnusson
1999 Britney Spears ...Baby One More Time "(You Drive Me) Crazy (The Stop Remix)" Rami Yacoub
1999 Britney Spears ...Baby One More Time "I Will Be There" Rami Yacoub
1999 Céline Dion All The Way... A Decade of Song "That’s The Way It Is" Kristian Lundin
1999 Gary Barlow Twelve Months, Eleven Days "For All That You Want" Kristian Lundin
2000 Backstreet Boys Black & Blue "Get Another Boyfriend" Rami Yacoub
2000 Backstreet Boys Black & Blue "Shape of My Heart" Rami Yacoub
2000 Backstreet Boys Black & Blue "The Call" Rami Yacoub
2000 Britney Spears Oops!... I Did It Again "Oops!... I Did It Again" Rami Yacoub
2000 Britney Spears Oops!... I Did It Again "Lucky" Rami Yacoub
2000 Britney Spears Oops!... I Did It Again "Stronger" Rami Yacoub
2000 Britney Spears Oops!... I Did It Again "Where Are You Now" Rami Yacoub
2000 Bon Jovi Crush "It’s My Life"
2001 E-type Euro IV-ever "Life" J Amatiello, Rami Yacoub, Kristian Lundin
2002 Nick Carter Now Or Never "I've Got You" Rami Yacoub
2002 Nick Carter Now Or Never "Blow Your Mind" Rami Yacoub, Per Aldeheim
2002 Nick Carter Now Or Never "I Just Wanna Take You Home" Rami Yacoub, Per Aldeheim

Productions and co-productions (Maratone)

Year	Artist	Album	Song	Co-produced with
2001	Britney Spears	Britney	"Overprotected"	Rami Yacoub
2001	Britney Spears	Britney	"Bombastic Love"	Rami Yacoub
2001	Britney Spears	Britney	"Cinderella"	Rami Yacoub, Britney Spears
2001	Britney Spears	Britney	"I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman"	Rami Yacoub
2003	Celine Dion	One Heart	"Faith"	Rami Yacoub
2003	Celine Dion	One Heart	"In His Touch"	Rami Yacoub
2003	Celine Dion	One Heart	"Love Is All We Need"	Rami Yacoub
2004	Kelly Clarkson	Breakaway	"Since U Been Gone"	Lukasz Gottwald
2004	Kelly Clarkson	Breakaway	"Behind These Hazel Eyes"	Lukasz Gottwald
2005	A-ha	Analogue	"Analogue (All I Want)"	Michael Ilbert
2005	Darin Zanyar	The Anthem	"Stand By Me"	Johan Brorson
2005	Backstreet Boys	Never Gone	"Climbing The Walls"	Lukasz Gottwald
2005	Backstreet Boys	Never Gone	"I Still..."	Rami Yacoub
2005	Backstreet Boys	Never Gone	"Just Want You To Know"	Lukasz Gottwald
2005	Marion Raven	Here I Am	"Break You"	Lukasz Gottwald
2005	Marion Raven	Here I Am	"End of Me"	Rami Yacoub
2005	Marion Raven	Here I Am	"Gotta Be Kidding"	Rami Yacoub
2005	Marion Raven	Here I Am	"Here I Am"	Rami Yacoub
2005	Marion Raven	Here I Am	"In Spite Of Me"	Rami Yacoub
2005	Marion Raven	Here I Am	"Little By Little"	Rami Yacoub
2005	Marion Raven	Here I Am	"Six Feet Under"	Rami Yacoub
2005	Bo Bice	The Real Thing	"U Make Me Better"	Lukasz Gottwald
2005	Bo Bice	The Real Thing	"Lie ... It's All Right"	Lukasz Gottwald
2006	Ashley Parker Angel	Soundtrack to Your Life	"Let U Go"

Charts

Top-selling singles

Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time - "...Baby One More Time" (written by Max Martin), WW Sales: 8.5 million
Backstreet Boys - Backstreet Boys - "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" (written by Max Martin, Herbie Crichlow), WW Sales: 2.4 million
Backstreet Boys - Backstreet's Back - "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" (written by Max Martin, Denniz Pop), WW Sales: 2.1 million

Awards

Swedish Grammis Award in 1998
ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year in 1999
ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year in 2000
ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year in 2001

Razzie Awards

Worst Original Song for the movie Crossroads (2002) Shared with: Rami Yacoub, Dido (Result: Won) For the song "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman".

Worst Original Song for the movie Crossroads (2002) Shared with: Rami Yacoub (Result: Nominated) For the song "Overprotected"

External links

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