The article “Blank Space: What Kind of Genius Is Max Martin?” discusses the man behind many of the biggest hits over the past twenty years, Max Martin. Max Martin is a song-writer who chooses not to become a famous celebrity, and instead, writes songs for famous artists. He writes the song and sings it himself for the famous artists like Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, so they can sing it like he does. The article also discusses Martin’s background. He learned music through Sweden’s excellent state-sponsored music-education programs, and later became front man and main songwriter of a glam-metal band. However, he had a secret passion for pop music. He was mentored by Swedish DJ Denniz PoP. The article also discussed the advantage that Martin and other Swedish song-writers has, which was their relative freedom from the racial underpinnings of the long-established American distinction between R. & B. and pop. The article “The Sound of Sweden” discusses how Swedish sound may now be the reigning pop language everywhere. It reinforces what the first article says about how pop music is usually behind a Swedish person. After listening to some of the songs from the articles, I’ve noticed that they sound very similar, and they share many features of the pop genre.