Max Martin photographed Novo.4, 2019.
'Melody reigns supreme when it comes to mainstream hits, and Max Martin is still the undisputed champion of pop melody,' says Hit Songs Deconstructed's Dave Penn.
On the Billboard Hot 100 dated Oct. 28, 1995, "We've Got It Goin' On" by Backstreet Boys squeaked in at No. 97. The song ultimately missed the top 40, but blockbuster success lay ahead for the boy band, which would go on to score three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 and six top 10s on the Hot 100.
Following a similar arc, one of the writers and producers of the group's first Hot 100 entry, Max Martin, who also made his first inroads on the chart with the song, didn't appear on the list again for nearly two years. But in May 1997, Robyn's "Do You Know (What It Takes)" debuted directly in the top 40. That August, it peaked at No. 7, becoming Robyn's first top 10, as well as the first for Martin, one of the song's writers and producers.