Joaquin Orozco

Writing II

Due Date: 3/4/2021

Ms. Gordon

 

In the first reading, the text discusses a Swedish musician known as Max Martin, his origins and his impact on the music industry. Born Karl Sandberg, he grew up adept in many areas of music from being able to play a variety of instruments to being the front man and main songwriter for the glam-metal band It’s Alive. Despite his numerous successes in music, he actually had a secret kept hidden from his bandmates and friends: his love of pop music. However, soon in 1994 his life would take a turn when meeting Swedish DJ Denniz PoP, his soon-to-be mentor. Noting his talent for songwriting to be greater than his skill at performing, he decided to give Sandberg the name: Max Martin. From then on, Martin’s work became the foundation for most pop songs, writing masterful melodies for many artists such as The Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. In the second reading, the text discusses the impact of many Swedish musicians on the world of pop music. In this article, we learn of Martin’s impacts on the industry, first starting in 1997 with Backstreet Boys’ album “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)”. In the 90’s, he worked with N’Sync and Britney Spears, producing hit albums. Soon enough, he was even responsible for making Taylor Swift’s hit album “Red”, full of hit songs. Listening to all these songs, I noticed that the songs all share similar melodies yet they differ in a variety of ways. For example, “I Want It That Way” is different from “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” in tone and instrumentation. With this method known, I can now analyze the melodies to find patterns and see how they compare and contrast.