No wonder it all sounds the same. Pop music.

Seems there is one man who is responsible for the vast majority of pop hits over the last 20 years, for so many different artist, might be shocked to find out he wrote a song you like that you thought your favorite artist was so inspired to write. He's wrote so many that he's earned about 250 million.

Strange/Amazing that one guy has turned out so many songs by so many different artist, some which you may like but would never think the guy who wrote the song you liked wrote the stuff you dislike?

A talented man no doubt.

www.celebritynetworth.com...

What is perhaps most remarkable about Martin's career is the consistency with which he churns out the songs that find their way into the ears of millions of people around the globe. Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Avril Lavigne. More than half of the Backstreet Boys' 1999 album Millennium. The list goes on and on and on and on. Since 1999, Max has written or co-written 16 songs that hit #1 on Billboard. There aren't enough metaphors to properly describe his success. He's like the Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Roger Federer, Muhammad Ali, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt… of music. Here is a list of some of the biggest pop songs that Max Martin has written and produced:

Katy Perry: "I Kissed a Girl", "Teenage Dream", "California Gurls", "Roar", "Dark Horse"

Britney Spears: "Oops!… I Did It Again", "Stronger", "…Baby One More Time", "Till The World Ends"

Backstreet Boys: "Quit Playing Games With My Heart", "I Want It That Way", "Larger Than Life", "As Long As You Love Me", "Shape of my Heart"

Kelly Clarkson: "Since You've Been Gone", "My Life Would Suck Without You"

N'Sync: "Tearin' Up My Heart", "It's Gonna Be Me", "I Want You Back"

Taylor Swift: "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "22"

This just shows you who the real artists are in music. Those clowns can sing but they can't create.
Sort of paint by numbers singers..

a reply to: Hoosierdaddy71

I've always thought of most popular entertainers nothing more than lounge singers.

a reply to: Lysergic

It reminds me of Stock Aitken Waterman in the `80 and early `90 :

en.wikipedia.org...

I love the one comment in the article... "He must stand for his crimes"

lol

Hey all props to the guy for getting rich doing what he likes to do. I do wish the music industry worked a little differently, though.

I thought i should go and have a look at what 250+million dollars worth of lyrics buys you, and here's what i came up with.

www.azlyrics.com...

You got a piece of me And honestly My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you

www.azlyrics.com...

Uh She’s a beast I call her Karma (come back) She eats your heart out Like Jeffrey Dahmer (woo)

www.metrolyrics.com...

I'ma get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans Be your teenage dream tonight Let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans Be your teenage dream tonight[/exnews

maybe we should start writing songs.

Honestly, it still shouldn't even sound the same, even if one person supplies the majority of famous hits. A great producer will make things that showcase many different styles and will push himself to make something completely unique every single time. But yeah, congrats to him for becoming rich spamming out generic stuff like a robot.

a reply to: PLAYERONE01

It's actually not that easy, some vowels are better said on certain notes than other notes. You have to write so a vowel can resonate on a note in-tune with the music. It's why a lot of lyrics are meh, or too simplistic. The lyrics themselves need rhythmn and melody. This is why I absolutely admire old school rappers and the newer, Eminem influenced underground artists. They all have that skill to sit there and "drum" AND "sing" with syllables.

Modern music, or at least a lot of the popular music, is a far cry from what music used to be. There has been an increase in understanding what makes pop music catchy and appealing, and this is the type of crap that is churned out over and over again. The major music producers and songwriters will go on churning out this same stuff. Some may say there is nothing wrong with that, but I want artists to write their own songs. Most people think they are on somewhat intimate terms with the performer, like the performer has laid themselves bare by writing a song, when in reality they are just the "talent" where performing is concerned. It has never been easier to go into a studio and make anyone, whether they're talented or not, sound good. And there have been major leaps in making even untalented performers sound good live. So theoretically a major music label could take anybody who has the right "look" and make them into a star.

And this is in my opinion what has been occurring. The performers are no more talented than any of the other millions of people who can sing and dance, and these performers can write music no better. I'm sure there are many more talented people out there who aren't famous, people who could write their own hits if they had the backing of a major label behind them, meaning studio time, having the freedom to not have to work another job, etc...

This is why I have much more respect for two types of artists: those who write their own music, and those who actually perform their own music. Meaning those artists who actually play instruments and do it all, both in the studio and on stage. I think we will see less talented musicians being at the top of the charts as time goes on, as it doesn't take as much talent anymore. Having played in bands and been around very talented musicians for much of my life, I know for a fact that some of these people are much more talented than a lot of the people who have become famous. It is not about talent. The majority do not care about talent.

The majority of people do not care that the artists they idolize are frauds to a certain extent. Again, not all artists, but there has been an increasing trend. This is not to say that there weren't professional, non-performing songwriters around in the heyday of live music, but the majority of performers wrote the majority of their songs. I bet that many top artists today write only one or two songs, if any, on an entire album. Or they probably have professionals go over them to "fix" them, because the artist cannot create a hit on their own.

I mean does anyone get what I'm saying? Does anyone agree that it seems strange for so many hits from a variety of artists to be written by a single person that nobody has ever heard of? What I mean is that it just doesn't seem "right" to a certain extent. It just feels to me like this is the wrong direction for music in general. Perhaps I am overreacting, and I admit that is a possibility. And it is not like there is ONLY this type of music available. The internet allows people to hear just about anything they want, which is great. But then you have the whole idea of organizations like the RCAA, which is ridiculous in my opinion. monopolization of the music industry is taking music in a direction that I do not care for.

And it is becoming increasingly more difficult for actual performing bands and those who create their own music to retain complete control over their work. Those who do retain such rights are the lucky ones, and are probably the minority. If they are not the minority right now, they will be in the future. So anyway, you have the actual talented people who can create hits, but who don't have the right image or the desire to be performers, creating the content that others are masquerading as their own. I just see something inherently wrong with that. I am not saying it will be the end of true "music," rather I am just saying that it is setting a precedent that will be with us for a long time to come. I understand that many people probably don't have a problem with that, and that is your prerogative. I am just stating my personal opinion, as music in general is a highly opinionated subject.

a reply to: JiggyPotamus

Being famous has to do with hype and with how you conduct yourself in front of people. If you are shy and anti-social, you are not going to become famous. But all famous people come and go. There are plenty of 100% original artists that make the same amount of money that you never hear about.

Crap pop music has been around longer than we have. Its all followed the same mass appeal formula since the 50's. I don't think there was a worse time for pop music than in the 1960's. Don't get me wrong, it still sucks now, but man, all those bubble gums songs make my ears bleed. I remember as a kid growing up in the 80's the "golden oldies" stations were everywhere, and for every Jefferson Airplane or Stones song there were three variants of "its my party" or "how much is that doggie in the window"

Let's face it, teenage girls spend a lot of money on music. So it's going to be mass produced to suit them. Booh freaking hoo my boyfriend rubbish, that sort of thing.

Every now and then you will have a cultural movement that smash's through the mainstream and slightly tilts the sounds to something genuine spawned from the underground (counterculture in the late 60's, punk and new wave in the 70's, hip hop in the late 80's,grunge in the early 90's and techno in the late 90's) but for the most part we are going to be surrounded by terrible pop music. Even all those genres I mentioned ended up getting smoothed out for mass appeal eventually.

Ive just gotten used to it. It is what it is. Its time for something new though to smash through.

It all sounds the same because writing pop music is now an analytic, not a creative process. It has been reduced to proven musical and lyrical algorithms that hook the listener's ear and keep them wanting more.

It's no different than what has happened in the film industry. Why is everything released nowadays a remake of something from 30 years ago? Because it's an acceptable financial risk. People liked it before, so nostalgia will get the older people to buy tickets; and the new "ADD" presentation of the film will attract younger viewers.

It's a formula, calculated to minimize financial risk and produce maximum listenership/viewership. Nothing more. Of course it's all gonna sound the same. Pop music has been recycled and regurgitated non-stop since the Beatles.

Here comes the sun... and there's nothing new under it.

Did you get the memo on pentatonic scales?

a reply to: Lysergic
Talented Songwriter? that Music is Wallmart Quality.

While not shocked as there are a lot of people like him behind the scenes when it comes to commercial music, that is a vast amount of influence. It's mostly, and of course surely there are paid for influences in that as well, marketing to pander to the trend is at the time.

originally posted by: ugmold
a reply to: Lysergic
Talented Songwriter? that Music is Wallmart Quality.

Talented money maker, the masses love trash and he gives them what they want.

a reply to: Lysergic

This guy should be taken out.

Now I know who to thank for bad music.

is there not just 144 notes in music 12x12 ??

This is why most music today sucks. You have a handful of people controlling the whole scene.