Max Martin

Max Martin
Martin in 2023
Born
Karl Martin Sandberg

(1971-02-26) 26 February 1971 (age 53)
Stockholm, Sweden
Other namesMartin White
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
  • singer
Years active1984–present
Spouse
Jenny Petersson
​
(m. 2011)​
Children1
AwardsFull list
Musical career
Genres
Labels
Formerly of

Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),[1][2] known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish record producer and songwriter. He rose to prominence in the late 1990s with songwriting credits on a string of hit singles, such as Britney Spears's "...Baby One More Time" (1998), the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" (1999), Celine Dion's "That's the Way It Is" (1999) and NSYNC's "It's Gonna Be Me" (2000).

Martin has written or co-written 27 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles; 25 of which he has produced or co-produced, an all-time record for the chart as of March 2024. His credits include Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" (2008) and "Roar" (2013), Maroon 5's "One More Night" (2012), Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space" (2014), and the Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" (2019) and "Save Your Tears" (2020). "Blinding Lights" is the best performing song of all time according to the chart.[3][4] Martin has written the second-most number-one singles on the chart, behind only Paul McCartney (32), having surpassed John Lennon (26) with his 27th number one in March 2024.[5][6][7] Many of Martin's hits were used in the 2019 jukebox musical & Juliet.

In early 2019, The Hollywood Reporter tallied his singles sales at over 135 million copies.[8][9]

According to Variety, his net worth was approximately $260 million in 2017; the previous year, his corporate entity generated revenue of $54 million with a profit of $19 million.[10] Martin has won the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year award for a record of 11 times.[11][12][13] He has also won five Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, and nominations for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.

  1. ^ Seabrook, John (30 September 2015). "Blank Space: What Kind of Genius is Max Martin?". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  2. ^ Max Martin. AllMusic
  3. ^ McIntyre, Hugh. "The Weeknd's 'Blinding Lights' Is Officially The Longest-Charting Hot 100 Hit Of All Time". Forbes. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  4. ^ helene-taktical (12 November 2015). "Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  5. ^ Trust, Gary (25 November 2014). "Ask Billboard: Max Martin Notches Another No. 1". Billboard. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  6. ^ Molanphy, Chris (22 March 2024). "Ariana Grande's Latest Chart-Topper Turns the Controversy Into Jet Fuel". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Ariana Grande's 'We Can't Be Friends' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100". Billboard.
  8. ^ Bronson, Fred (6 February 2013). "THR's Hitmakers 2013: How Producer Max Martin Sold 135 Million Songs". Hollywood Reporter.
  9. ^ Ostroff, Joshua (9 February 2015). "Max Martin Just Won His First Grammy After 54 Top 10 Songs (20 More Than The Beatles)". Huffington Post.
  10. ^ "Hitmaker Max Martin Made $19 Million Last Year, a 22% Increase Over 2015". Variety. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  11. ^ Nylin, Lars (24 April 2018). "Subject 11: the Ascap Price According to Max Martin". Musikindustrin (in Swedish).
  12. ^ "Max Martin Takes Songwriter of the Year for 10th Time; Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself" Is Song of the Year at 34th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards". ASCAP.com. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  13. ^ "John Mellencamp, Walk The Moon and Max Martin Receive Top Honors at 33rd Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards". ASCAP.com. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 21 May 2017.