Max's Influence and Inspiration

[gm33]

Music is such a big part of most people's lives in the world. Couples have songs. People cry to songs. They use them to be uplifted when they are sad. With Max Martin producing so many popular songs, I'm sure there are thousands of stories of how some of his songs influenced their lives, one way or another. Most of these are undocumented.

Here's an interesting article about a Saudi women who was taught music was evil, until she listened to an old cassette tape

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/10/world/meast/sharif-saudi-women-drive/index.html

Growing up in Saudi Arabia, Manal al-Sharif was taught in school that listening to music -- just like driving, showing her face in public or making a decision without consulting her male guardian -- was forbidden and sinful.

She believed so strongly in music's satanic powers that she burned many of her father's and brother's cassette tapes so they couldn't play them anymore.

Then one day in 2001, al-Sharif was about to dub over one of her brother's American tapes with a lecture on Islam when curiosity got the best of her. She let herself listen to a few bars. And the first song to touch her ears helped reroute the course of her life.

It was the Backstreet Boys' "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely."

"They had been telling us that music was Satan's flute -- was a path to adultery," she said in a recent presentation at the Oslo Freedom Forum, a human rights conference in Norway. "This song sounded so pure, so beautiful, so angelic. It can be anything but evil to me. And that day I r

[Joshua]

I don't have an inspiration story that compares with that, but wow, what a wonderful article. I can at least say that Max's music was the soundtrack to my teen years in a big way. I feel like he somehow knows personally every little thing I love about music and puts it all into every song he makes. I connect with his songs like no-one else's. He's the reason I defend pop music to those who look down on it. He also sparked my major interest in all things Swedish, a place I knew little about only a year or so ago. He is my main musical inspiration, even the old songs I made when I was 15 had B-choruses haha. I guess he's also partly responsible for all my bad boyband-esque performances I made my school mates suffer through back in the day too. I've never seen his songs as silly pop candy that was just part of a phase I went through when I was young. I took his music seriously then and I take it seriously now. He's pretty much the only writer that consistently makes me feel the same indescribable feeling whenever I hear his work.

[precios]

Given that Midnight Red are being pushed hard in the United States, I suspect this similarity (unintential or not) will be noticed by more people than the few there who would have known E-Type's "True Believer" song.
The verses and electro breakdown bits in between sound more along the lines of Max/Dr Luke's recent work with Britney & Ke$ha than RedOne's usual stuff??  Still a good song tho.

[rebekahELLE]

I also read that article somewhere recently.  It's very powerful, and the song she refers to is one of Martin's best songs, IMO.  Both of my sons are musicians and play much different music than pop.  But since I have written about Max Martin and follow his work, my youngest son has turned into a MM fan, listening to a lot of his older songs.  He admitted to liking the BSB's songs, but said he would never admit that when younger.  He even admits that Britney has some great tunes.  To this day, my favorite Max songs are tied between Britney's, Baby One More Time and BSB's, I Want It That Way. 

[Joshua]

Rebekah, that's great that you're passing on the Max appreciation. I constantly feel the desire to educate my friends on writers and producers, and to some degree it's worked. They'll sometimes mention that Max wrote such and such new song that they like. But usually people don't think to look out for those details, which sucks, seeings as though pop producers are usually the real artist behind their songs.

[Blondex59]

I really love music, I listen to it, I sing it almost everywhere and every second of my life but did you know that music influence our brain? I bet you don't so that's article might be interesting for you http://skywritingservice.com/blog/how-music-can-influence-on-brain-and-make-you-smarter

[NeutronSynergy]

Yeah , and now they are producing the health effect out of it by scientists and neuroscientists together with some of the worlds most creative minds  (in the business) including Peter Gabriel and classical conductors like E.P Salonen.

http://syncproject.co/welcome#about