Films | Behind the data
What are Max Martin’s rules for songwriting?
Join us as we uncover the secret to the pop maestro’s success
Max Martin—one of the music industry’s most successful and elusive songwriters—once said that among the biggest changes to pop music in recent decades has been that introductions to songs have gotten shorter. To see whether this is true, and what effect it might have on a song’s success, The Economist went behind the data and analysed every number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1958.
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