16
votes
Max Martin has the most No. 1s among music producers in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, surpassing George Martin
Link information
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- Title
- Max Martin Breaks Record for Most Hot 100 No. 1s Among Producers As Ariana Grande's 'Yes, And?' Debuts
- Authors
- Gary Trust
- Published
- Jan 22 2024
- Word count
- 457 words
Some day, the ultimate producer will be born...the seventh son of a seventh son...and thus shall he be named:
Martin Martin
And could this be why there is sometimes the impression of an air of familiarity between different songs. Because they have the same producer?
Yes, and we sort of know already what chords and what order of notes sound pleasant to most people. Combine that with the fact that most music uses samples from the 60s (or even earlier) from the same artists and you get a lot of likeness from song to song.
Musician here. Harmonically, you're right - chord progressions in popular music are often very similar, mostly because of their simplicity and reliance on clear voice leading to be catchy. Melodically though, note order isn't as solved - there's a huge number of possible orders, combine that with note length, and you get into the billions.
I'm curious as to where the "most music uses samples from the 60s" idea originates. Many producers, including those behind songs with billions of streams, use sample packs much newer than this - because they're higher quality and music production has changed in the last 60 years. This isn't even considering Splice, a collection of royalty free samples that has dominated the industry in the last few years. I guess you could be referencing the Amen Break which is the most used sample?
Presumably The Onion’s report on how every song starts off as a sample of Hall and Oates
I'll defer to you on the specifics, seeing as you are the musician in this conversation and I'm assuredly not.
The samples thing is about the repeated use of older samples. For example the drum break from Clyde Stubblefield and, yes, the Amen break are absolutely everywhere. I should say that 60s may have been an overconfident statement stemming from a faulty memory, since these two examples are from a later period. Nevertheless, hundreds if not thousands of reuses of a single drum break means you get a bit of samey-ness.
I've been trying to find more sources but I'm having some difficulties bringing you more examples.
Producers have a huge influence on the end result. It's why Mut Lang was a rock muse and sug night was a rap god. These people know the stuff to get payed