MXM and Wolf Cousins are a pair of Swedish songwriting and production organisations, founded and established by songwriter and record producer Max Martin. MXM Studios and its affiliated producers are based in New York City,[1] and Wolf Cousins Music are in Los Angeles.[2] Both MXM and Wolf Cousins are headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, where their works originate, as they both derive from the works of Maratone Studios and Cheiron Studios.[3]
The origins of Cheiron Studios began in Sweden with record producer and disc jockey Denniz Pop. In 1986, Pop was part of an ensemble of Swedish producers who released remixes of songs for underground distribution on a self-established label Remixed Records.[9] Eventually, their work got recognized in other European countries. Tom Talomaa, who was a nightclub owner and a host for some of their live events, supported the group and helped them advance to more complex equipment for music production. Soon enough, local recording artists came to the group wanting to be signed or have their tracks remixed or produced. This led to a decision to divide the group into two sectors, or labels, each having a different purpose: Basement Division, which took care of the underground side of their music, and SweMix Records, set up for commercial releases and signing new artists.[10]
By 1990, SweMix Records had begun to sign several artists, including Kayo, Leila K, The Cool Runnings, Dayeene and Dr. Alban, the latter of which granted Denniz Pop his first chart entry as a producer with "Hello Afrika", peaking at number 7 in the Swedish Singles Chart.[11] The song was later made part of Dr. Alban's debut album Hello Afrika, which was entirely produced by Pop. In 1991, Remixed Records was sold and made into an official label, signing artists like Solid Base and Sonic Dream Collective.[9] Furthermore, SweMix was split in two: SweMix Productions and SweMix Record & Publishing. SweMix Productions most notably went on to sign on Swedish DJ StoneBridge and received international acclaim when he released his remix of "Show Me Love" by Robin S. and put Sweden on the international map for club music. SweMix Records & Publishing eventually got sold to Bertelsmann Music Group and became SweMix's parent label. As a result, Denniz Pop and Tom Talomaa took over as chairman and creative directors and renamed it Cheiron and began working in the studio.[12]
In 1992, when Cheiron was established, Denniz Pop had parted ways with the SweMix collective, due to creative differences, and wanted to concentrate solely on the operations behind Cheiron. During that time, Pop received a demo from Danish company Mega Records of a song recorded by then-unknown band Ace of Base. He was not initially impressed by the demo, but was stuck with it for a while when he decided to listen to it over and over until he said "I gotta do something with this" and the solution was to make a reggae tune out of it.[13] The song was eventually recorded at the SweMix Studio and was given the title "All That She Wants". The track was an unexpected hit and catapulted both Ace of Base and Denniz PoP into stardom. Later on that same year, record producer Douglas Carr was employed at Cheiron Studios to help carry Denniz's initial sound and mix it with other genres, as well as just dance music.[14] The music that they created together would eventually be used to form the basis of Leila K's second album Carousel in 1993, which was also when Cheiron was introduced to British songwriter Herbie Crichlow.
By 1993, Denniz's original idea of publishing and promoting records went downhill and decided to concentrate on what he was good at, which was writing and producing music. At the time, he was looking at producing music that had a more dance-heavy approach when Tom Talomaa recognized the work of glam metal band It's Alive, who's frontman and founder was renowned record producer and songwriter Max Martin (known by his former stage name Martin White).[15][16] The band was eventually signed to Denniz's Cheiron label and was the creative director behind the band's second album Earthquake Visions.[17] The album, along with its promotional efforts, added up to disappointing numbers and failed to meet success, however Denniz encouraged Max to write more songs and took him on as his mentor, giving him the name Max Martin to replace his stage name.[18] From joining the team, Max stated that it took him around two years to get used to his surroundings and to learn from Denniz.[19]
Mid-'90s success
Cheiron Studios and its members became heavily involved in 1994 and the requests for Denniz PoP's expertise and services had experienced an increase from people worldwide as more new artists wanted to work with him. To handle the offers, he wanted to hire more people to work with him and the interested parties at the studio. Alongside Max Martin, who, at the time, was experimenting in music production with him, Denniz hired Kristian Lundin and John Amatiello, who together produced music under the moniker Amadin,[20] as songwriters and producers, given that they were signed to Dr. Alban's label Dr. Records and have had songs released through Cheiron beforehand. Two people that eventually became close affiliates with working at the studio were David Kreuger and Per Magnusson, who gave a hand at working closely with upcoming artists.[21] As well as hiring new people, Cheiron also began working with Zomba Label Group, owned by BMG, to expand their clientele and reach out to international artists.[22][23]
Within the year, Denniz and Max produced their first song together, entitled "Pumping (To The Rhythm)" and was released through Cheiron under the moniker Draxx,[24][25] which combined both of their stage names to make one name. This is considered to be one of Max's first credited appearances in music. Both Lundin and Amatiello joined Denniz to produce Dr. Alban's third album Look Who's Talking!, which attained a gold certification in Sweden.[26] Denniz also set up a meeting with Swedish musician E-Type, where he and the entire Cheiron team agreed to produce his debut album Made in Sweden, including the hit singles "Set the World on Fire" and "This Is the Way", the latter of which became Max's first chart entry to peak at number 1, as well as generally being his first entry.[27]
In 1995, Herbie Crichlow who had already been writing with the team a couple years prior, began writing material with Denniz and Max for his debut album Fingers, which included the songs "Right Type of Mood", "Big Funky Dealer" and "I Believe". The basis of the album formed a working partnership between Herbie and the Cheiron team in the years to come. They also produced the song "Wish You Were Here" by Rednex, which reached number 1 in several countries around Europe and, therefore, became Max's first certified hit as a producer.[28] This eventually led to Max leaving his band It's Alive to pursue a full-time producing career under Cheiron.[citation needed] Around the beginning of the year, Zomba welcomed then-unknown boy band Backstreet Boys and flew them to Sweden to record material at the studio.[29] Three songs were recorded, one of these being their debut single "We've Got It Goin' On", produced by Denniz and Max. The song became a huge success and dominated European charts, peaking in the top 5 in several countries, and was only a minor success in the United States, peaking at a contrasting number 69.[30][31][32] This led to most of the band's promotion being held in Europe.
Alongside the artists mentioned, Denniz was reunited with Ace of Base when he had the chance to record and produce material with Max for their third album The Bridge and also with singer-songwriter Robyn on her song "Do You Know (What It Takes)". One of Denniz's dreams was to work with Michael Jackson, a dream at which he fulfilled with 3T's song "I Need You" with Jackson providing featured vocals.[33] In 1996, Cheiron helped record album material for Papa Dee and E-Type[34][35] and a few songs from Leila K's third album Manic Panic, including the hit single "Electric". Most successfully, Max and Lundin produced "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" by Backstreet Boys, which kickstarted the boy band's success in their home country of United States, despite the poorly received debut. Additionally, Denniz and Max produced NSYNC's debut single "I Want You Back", which became an instant sensation.[36] In 1997, then songwriter Andreas Carlsson was hired to the team[37] and began working with them on Denise Lopez's second album I Do.[38] Cheiron also worked on other projects for Solid HarmoniE and Robyn, as well as Denniz and Max producing Backstreet Boys' song "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)", which was and currently stands as one of the band's most successful singles to date.
Max, Rami, and Maratone Studios
In November 1997, Denniz PoP revealed that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer and began to fall ill.[39] At the time, he was working with Max Martin and Kristian Lundin on material for Five, as well as his then-girlfriend Jessica Folcker's self-titled debut album, who previously appeared as a backing vocalist in previously released Cheiron songs for Ace of Base, Dr. Alban and Leila K. In the turn of the year, Max began to take creative control for most of the records being produced in Denniz's absence, however, whilst in hospital, Max would frequently visit him to get feedback on the songs he was working on.[40] When released, Jessica's album became an instant Swedish hit with the singles "Tell Me That You Like" and "How Will I Know (Who You Are)" and gained Folcker a nomination for Best Newcomer and Best Female Artist at the Grammis. Furthermore, Denniz and Max received a "Special Grammis Award" and "Special Honor Award" for restoring the world popoularity of Swedish pop music and making Sweden the third largest music exporting country in the world. Denniz however, could not attend the ceremony due to his illness.[41][42] Denniz PoP died of cancer in August 1998, aged 35,[43][44] and wasn't until after his death that people started to recognize his achievements over the years.[45]
In an interview, Lundin opened up about how hard life became in and out of the studio since Denniz's passing, "...it's been difficult for all of us to get any work done here. It's taking us a lot longer than usual."[46] In the wake of his death, Max took over as director of Cheiron Studios, alongside Tom Talomaa.[47]
During the time that Denniz was absent from Cheiron, Max began getting closely affiliated with record producer Rami Yacoub, who was already known for his work with Lutricia McNeal, and was hired just before Denniz's death. Rami cited him as his music industry "godfather" and mentor throughout his career and stated that it was an honor to finally get to work with Max and the people we was surrounded by the most at Cheiron.[48] Rami began working directly on numerous projects, beginning with Solid HarmoniE's single edit of "To Love Once Again"[49] and also producing "...Baby One More Time" with Max, which kickstarted and skyrocketed the career of Britney Spears. Some of the sessions with Britney in particular were done in collaboration with Denniz, recording a number of six songs for her debut album ...Baby One More Time, but none of them made the final cut.[50][51] The song became the most successful song in Max's career and in Cheiron history and peaked at number 1 in every country it charted in, which made it one of the best-selling singles of all time, as well as the greatest debut single of all time.[52]
In 1999, they contributed to four other tracks from Britney's album, including the equally successful singles "(You Drive Me) Crazy" and "Born to Make You Happy", and worked on album material for Gary Barlow and Westlife. Max, Lundin and Andreas Carlsson also took part in Backstreet Boys' hit single "I Want It That Way", which became known as one of the boy band's most signature songs and was even quoted "genre-transcending", compared to their previously released hits,[53] and Celine Dion's hit "That's the Way It Is", which sonically took to a different direction than most of her other hit songs over the century to where some critics labelled it as being "more uptempo".[54] In the turn of the century, Max and Rami recorded and produced more material for what would be Britney's second album Oops!... I Did It Again, spawning hits like "Stronger", "Lucky" and, of course, its title track, which was made the lead single. Cheiron's final projects covered artists like Jessica Folcker, Westlife and Backstreet Boys until Max and Tom Talomaa decided that the studio should close its doors. In August 2000, they announced on the studio's website, "Cheiron was created with the intention of having fun, making a few hits and not getting too serious about it. We feel the 'hype' of Cheiron has become bigger than [the studio] itself and it's time to quit while we're ahead."[55]
In the studio's last few months of life before its closure, the decision was made form a brand new production company called Maratone Studios, where Max, Talomaa and Rami were to reside. Lundin left the company prior to its departure and formed his own studio The Location, with his new production partner Jake Schulze and where Andreas Carlsson would work on further music.[56] Kreuger and Magnusson started a third studio, A Side Productions, and continued their collaborations with Jörgen Elofsson. The Maratone team eventually leased the Cheiron building to Roxy Recordings,[57] which houses Anders Hansson, who replaced Max as lead vocalist of his former band It's Alive, and moved in to Cosmos Studios in January 2001, which was on the outskirts of Stockholm, Sweden. The site's former residence, being production team Kai Erixon and Kent (Gillström) Isaacs, handed the studio to the team after they decided to split up after working together for ten years on numerous projects.[citation needed]
When Maratone Studios was established in February 2001, Max and Rami began to record material for Britney's self-titled third album, where they had the opportunity to write songs with Dido and Spears herself.[58][59] Prior to these sessions, Max also had a daughter, to where most of his time was devoted to family.[60] Not long after Britney's album released, Maratone experienced a slump in recording and producing demand, but still remained moderately active, working with Nick Carter, Celine Dion and Lambretta. Max explained how hard it was to try and create music that he was used to producing in a world where music was always evolving and, as a result, did struggle for the first couple years Maratone came into existence. He said, "The world moved on, which it should. That's what popular culture is about. But I didn't. I stayed in my Cheiron bubble. I had that epiphany where maybe I needed to start listening to new music and figure it out. So that's what I did."[61]
Working with Dr. Luke
In the beginning of 2004, Max Martin started to get acquainted with recording engineer Michael Ilbert, who is responsible for contributing to some of Max's future records, and introduced him to new artists that he hoped would help inspire him for more musical projects. Max eventually moved to New York City for a short while to help him find more inspiration and also learned the foundations of how to play a guitar.[61] He then met record producer Dr. Luke, who was deejaying at a house party at the time, and gave Max a tour of New York clubs.[62] They both began to work on material together back in Maratone Studios, writing for the likes of Pink and Hilary Duff,[63][64] when they were approached by Kelly Clarkson and her team.[65] She flew over to the studio in Stockholm, Sweden to meet them both and recorded what would eventually be the song "Since U Been Gone". The song managed to peak at the top 5 in United States and was cited as a breakthrough for a song like it to be even in the top 40, especially considering its heavy rock influences.[61] From that point on, Dr. Luke was hired by Max to join the Maratone team.
The following year, the Maratone team collaborated on projects with Backstreet Boys and Marion Raven. In the latter half of the year, they also launched the career of The Veronicas with their hit debut single "4ever" and its follow-up "Everything I'm Not". In June 2005, Max had signed an exclusive worldwide deal with Kobalt Music Group that would handle copyright administration for Max and the rest of the producers working under Maratone studios. This included any works from 2005 and onwards.[66]
In 2006, the team worked on album material for Pink's fourth album I'm Not Dead, which sonically followed in the footsteps of Clarkson's recent hits.[67] Shortly after, Maratone welcomed Icelandic producer Arnthor Birgisson, who was known for his work with Bloodshy and working with artists, including Ultra Nate and Janet Jackson. Upon joining, Arnthor became closely affiliated with Rami Yacoub, with their first collaboration being the song "Mistake" by Stephanie McIntosh.[68] In the later months of the year, Kristian Lundin's studio The Location was shut down and was due to be leased to Roxy Recordings the following year. One of their signees at the time, Savan Kotecha, was picked up and hired by Maratone and began working with Arnthor.
In 2007, Savan was writing material for Shayne Ward and was recruited to write material for his second album Breathless. He was assisted by Rami and Arnthor to produce and record the songs made and ended up writing almost every song on the album.[69] The three also worked with Westlife during that time. Dr. Luke also began producing and writing without Max on records for Avril Lavigne and Sugababes. His sessions with Lavigne gave him his first Billboard number 1 as a solo producer with the hit single "Girlfriend".[70] Meanwhile, Max worked on songs with James Blunt, Apocalyptica and old affiliate E-Type to moderate success. In the turn of the year, Rami announced that he was breaking away from Maratone Studios and wanted to go on an indefinite hiatus from studio work to focus on himself. He said, "I know, it's a long pause. We were so close, but after ten years we became like an old couple. I was supposed to take one year off, but it became five."[71]
Maratone's evolution and success in teen pop
Maratone Studios had their most successful year on record in the late 2000s. In March 2008, Max Martin formed and signed a seven-piece alternative rock band called Carolina Liar, which was fronted by Chad Wolf.[72][73] He also executively produced their debut album Coming to Terms.[74] A couple years previous and in the wake of Rami Yacoub's departure, Max also met then-16-year-old Shellback through a mutual friend, who was working in the death metal scene and was not interested in mainstream pop music whatsoever. However, Max invited Shellback to record demos with him and was eventually made a member of the Maratone team in 2007.[75][76] However, their first production contributions as a pair weren't made until 2008, when producing material for the likes of Pink and Britney Spears.[77][78] They also began working with Sophia Somajo during that time, who commented about the first time she encountered Shellback. "He was so young and brilliant and could play every instrument, and he talked non-stop. I was like, 'Is this some kind of savant wunderkind that Martin's found somewhere?'", she said.[79] The biggest success of the year ended up being with Katy Perry with her debut single "I Kissed a Girl". Worked on by Max and Dr. Luke, the song became Maratone's biggest achievement and Max's biggest hit single since Britney's "...Baby One More Time", released ten years previous. The song in later years has also been praised as the beginning of LGBT awareness in music.[80]
In 2009, Max worked with a variety of artists, including Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood and even reunited with Kelly Clarkson, after the success of "Since U Been Gone". This was just before claims had begun to surface about Clarkson having bad experiences with Dr. Luke and how she did not want to be associated with him on future projects.[81] However despite the decision, "My Life Would Suck Without You" still charted and went straight to number 1 in the BillboardHot 100.[82] The team also took part in producing material for Leona Lewis's second album Echo, which ended up being the last sessions that Arnthor Birgisson had done with Maratone Studios before he departed to focus on his own production company Aristotracks.[83] He also met singer-songwriter Ina Wroldsen within the year and both got together to form the duo Ask Embla.[84]
During the year, Dr. Luke experienced his breakthrough year as a solo producer away from working with Maratone and, in terms of producing music, was specifically affiliated with Benny Blanco. He also worked very closely with singer-songwriter Kesha six years beforehand on album material and, once signed to RCA Records, began to expose her to mainstream attention with her featured appearances on songs with Flo Rida, Pitbull and Taio Cruz and her debut hit single "Tik Tok".[85][86][87] Luke also contributed to the song "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus. Co-written by Jessie J,[88] the song became her highest charting song to enter the charts of the time, kickstarting Miley's professional music career.
In the turn of the decade, Kesha released her debut album Animal, which alongside Dr. Luke, also featured contributions from Max and Shellback.[86] The album itself marked a significant milestone in the direction of Maratone's production style from pop rock to dance pop and electropop and, in some cases, a combination of the two.[89][90] This was solidified when they worked with Usher on the song "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love", which became one of the team's first recordings that was influenced prodominantly around club music.[91][92] Max and Dr. Luke had a hand in working with Katy Perry on her second album Teenage Dream, after the success of her debut One of the Boys, with Katy referring to the experience as "a wonderful collaborative effort",[93][94] despite public concerns of Dr. Luke's work ethic with other artists. Max and Shellback also worked with Pink on the songs "Raise Your Glass" and "Fuckin' Perfect", which became instant hits. The pair follow a strong pop style, which was reminiscent in other releases contributed by the Maratone team.[95] During the time that Shellback spent with Max, he also began to develop working partnerships with Benny Blanco and Kristian Lundin. Shellback even worked with Blanco on Maroon 5's song "Moves like Jagger", alongside Christina Aguilera, which was his first song he produced without Max and became an instant hit, topping the charts in over 18 countries.[96][97] The song was also certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2021.[98]
In 2011, Max and Shellback worked with numerous artists, including Britney Spears, Cher Lloyd and Avril Lavigne. They also produced two original songs for the cast of renowned TV series Glee. Adam Anders, who executive produced the songs recorded for show, hired Max after being exposed to how popular Glee was, whilst working on Spears' seventh album Femme Fatale. Anders said, "[Max Martin] owns radio right now. He's had, like, seven No. 1s in the last year, and so if we wanna go to radio with anybody tagging along, I think he's the guy you want. We've done like 30 of his songs on Glee."[99] Maratone signees Carolina Liar also worked on their follow-up album with Shellback, prior to being dropped by Atlantic Records, which performed disappointingly after their debut. The instrumentalists of the group, Johan Carlsson, Peter Carlsson and Rickard Goransson were hired by Max after the album's release to write and produce music under Maratone. Meanwhile, Savan Kotecha reunited with Rami Yacoub after the founding of Rami's Kinglet Studios, which he ran alongside Carl Falk.[100] The site of the studio used to be the site of A Side Studios, run by David Kreuger and Per Magnusson, before it was shut down.[101] They both began working on songs for One Direction, including their hit debut single "What Makes You Beautiful",[100] as well as half of the band's debut album Up All Night.
Establishing MXM/Wolf Cousins
In the late months of 2011, Max Martin got acquainted with one of Shellback's old friends Julius Petersson, who is a consultant and A&R executive for Warner Chappell Music. He expressed a mutual interest in expanding Maratone Studios and its team of producers and wanted to help Max find more people to hire and work with long term.[102] He offered him a publishing deal with the label, which lead to the decision to rebrand Maratone as MXM Music & Productions at the start of 2012.[103][104] From that point, the team began to grow exponentially. In the early months of 2012, Peter Svensson was signed to Kobalt Music Group and, shortly after, was hired by Max after working together previously for Carolina Liar.[105][106] They both wrote together for Vicci Martinez's self-titled album and, later on, contributed to One Direction's second album Take Me Home with Savan Kotecha. Shellback was also introduced to the work of Oscar Holter when recording the song "Let There Be Love" by Christina Aguilera,[107] who was being mentored by Swedish record producer T.I. Jakke. This was also when he met recently signed production duo The Struts, composed of Jakob Jerlstrom and Ludvig Soderberg, when they started working with long-time MXM affiliate Alexander Kronlund.[108] With all artists sharing a publishing deal with Sony Bertelsmann Music Group in common,[108][109] Julius Petersson followed their work and slowly started working with Shellback during their spare time.
In 2013, Carolina Liar's Rickard Goransson began working with numerous artists, such as Zara Larsson and Fifth Harmony. The MXM collective as a whole also worked on material for the band Emblem3. In the later half of the year, The Struts began working with singer-songwriter Tove Lo, after being recruited and signed to Warner Chappell by Julius Petersson.[114] For her first project, they were both introduced to fellow Swedish production duo Mattman & Robin, who were being mentored by producer Jason Gill, and began working frequently with Julius' team of newly hired producers. Shellback also got acquainted with two producers Ilya Salmanzadeh and OzGo from production trio Crossfade, alongside Ferari Zand,[115][116] and worked with him frequently on new material – their first being with Cher Lloyd on her song "I Wish".[117] Additionally, in the early months of the year, the Denniz Pop Awards were founded and established by former members, co-workers, friends and family of the late Cheiron Studios with the goal of helping new songwriters, producers, and artists continue the legacy Denniz Pop once started.[118] Max Martin was automatically made a member of the jury, alongside Jorgen Elofsson, Per Magnusson and John Amatiello. Max's daughter Doris "Daga" Sandberg is also among those who decide the winners.[119]
Max and Dr. Luke contributed to the majority of Katy's fourth album Prism, with the sessions with Dr. Luke being in California, United States and the ones with Max in Stockholm, Sweden.[120] When the album was released in late 2013, two of its singles "Roar" and "Dark Horse" experienced a horrific amount of plagiarism and copyright infringement allegations, which carried on into the following year and sparked the beginning of Dr. Luke's downfall. Furthermore, after Dr. Luke contributed to Kesha's hit collaboration with Pitbull "Timber", he was accused of stunting Kesha's growth as an artist[121] and, in the new year, she was admitted to rehab for bulimia nervosa, something which was said to have been imposed on Kesha by Dr. Luke.[122] Throughout 2014, Kesha began suing him for countless abusive behaviours and, as a result, caused his music career to sink and MXM Music decided to ban him from working with the collective and was stripped off from any future mentioning of his co-written contributions with Max Martin.
On 5 November 2013, Max and Shellback established a production team called Wolf Cousins, which was described to be a place where new talents could be mentored, connected and work with members under MXM Music. Shellback and Julius Petersson became the company's chairmen and Oscar Holter, The Struts, Mattman & Robin, Ilya Salmanzadeh and OzGo all signed a joint publishing deal with Warner Chappell that would, therefore, make them members of Wolf Cousins.[3][123][124] Upon founding the team, Petersson met DJ and producer Ali Payami, who became the last person to be recruited to the Wolf Cousins team.[125]
Success in adult pop
Going into 2014, it was revealed that MXM Music had already begun working alongside top artists, putting the team on track for one of their biggest years to date.[126][127] One of the first songs that marked this milestone was "Problem" by Ariana Grande. Max Martin and Shellback originally contributed to the song, with additional help from Ilya Salmanzadeh,[128] who started working directly with Max throughout Ariana's music career. The team also worked on the songs "Break Free", being the team's second collaboration with Zedd, "Bang Bang", a collaboration with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj an became the third largest sales debut so far that year,[129] "Love Me Harder", which became Ali Payami first breakout recording with MXM Music,[130] and "One Last Time", worked on by Ilya Salmanzadeh and Savan Kotecha. All of these songs ended up making Ariana's second studio album My Everything. Max and Shellback also worked with Taylor Swift on 12 tracks for her fifth studio album 1989, marketed as the musician's "first documented, official pop album".[131] As well as Max and Shellback, the album also delivered additional contributions from Wolf Cousins producers Mattman & Robin and Payami.[132][133] After the success of her previous album, her management wanted to ensure a smooth transition to pop and, since working with them previously, Max and Shellback were hired to produce more material with her. Swift described them both as "absolute dream collaborators", due to pushing her ideas to a different direction, which in turn challenged her as a songwriter.[134]
In late 2014, Wolf Cousins team contributed to the majority of Tove Lo's debut album Queen of the Clouds. She skyrocketed into the music scene when her single "Habits (Stay High)", recorded by The Struts, was remixed by Hippie Sabotage within the early months of the year, which got the song charting in countries that original did not, including the United Kingdom and Sweden.[135][136] Shellback produced the single "Talking Body", alongside The Struts, which became a hit in both United Kingdom and United States.
The following year saw album material recorded for the likes of Sabina Ddumba, Britney Spears and The Weeknd. In the early months of 2016, Max Martin served as executive producer for Ariana Grande's third album Dangerous Woman and recorded the backbone of the project with Ilya Salmanzadeh.[146][147] Its title track and lead single was worked on by Max, alongside Johan Carlsson.[148] However, before given to Ariana, the song was pitched to many other artists, including Rihanna and Alicia Keys.[149] Johan Carlsson got hugely affiliated with Meghan Trainor whilst recording her second album Thank You and wrote together for other artists, such as Jason Derulo, Michael Buble and Little Mix.[150][151] The Wolf Cousins team contributed to the majority of DNCE's self-titled debut album and Tove Lo's second album Lady Wood. Tove's album spawned moderately successful hits, including its hit single "Cool Girl" and "True Disaster", which was the first published song produced and recorded entirely by Oscar Holter.[152] Towards the middle of the year, Max and Shellback were recruited by Justin Timberlake to record material for the soundtrack of the 2016 film Trolls, with one of these songs being the hit single "Can't Stop the Feeling!". Upon release, it became Timberlake's biggest best-selling song of 2016.[153][154]
In 2017, MXM Music worked on comeback albums for Pink, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, all of which peaked at number 1 on Billboard Hot 100.[155][156][157] Mattman & Robin and Justin Tranter worked on numerous projects, including Imagine Dragons on their breakthrough single "Believer", which became the band's first top 5 hit in the United States since their 2013 single "Radioactive",[158] and on Julia Michaels' major-label debut extended play Nervous System. OzGo began to get acquainted with songwriter James Alan Ghaleb, who previously worked with Ilya on material for DNCE, and began writing together for the likes of The Script and Maroon 5. Additionally, both members of The Struts started to work with other artists independently, with Ludvig Soderberg going by the moniker "A Strut".[159][160] More specifically, Soderberg started frequently working with production duo Jack & Coke, after producing alongside each other for Tove Lo's third album Blue Lips,[161] and also worked with artists Dagny and PrettyMuch.[162][163] Going into 2018, MXM and Wolf Cousins worked with various new artists, as well as affiliates. OzGo and Oscar Holter worked on material with Troye Sivan and Leland for a week, one of the songs being "My My My!".[164] During that time, both producers also met Allie X, who together worked on music for Troye and also The Vamps.[165] Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh contributed to Ariana's fourth album Sweetener, including its lead single "No Tears Left to Cry", which was made in response to a concert she held at the night and location of the Manchester Arena bombing.[166] Ariana said that she hoped it would bring light and comfort to everyone the song touched and encouraged people to dance and "live ya best life!".[167] Johan Carlsson also got affiliated with Charlie Puth when working on his second album Voicenotes[168] and went on to produce further material in the year for Macy Gray, Michael Buble and Sabrina Carpenter.[169][170]
Oscar Holter affiliation, Elvira and Rami's return
After working with 5 Seconds of Summer on their third album Youngblood in 2017 and going into 2018, Rami Yacoub took a break from music to focus more on family and looking after his son and expressed to Max Martin the interest of wanting to come back to MXM and Wolf Cousins Studios. He said, "I took time off with my wife and to look after my son. But then I felt I wanted to come back to the family and Max is like 'the door is always open'. They had a great group of people, 95% of whom are Swedish, so it felt like home!"[71] As a result, Rami and Carl Falk decided to shut down operations and productions at Kinglet Studios in 2018, after running for almost ten years, and both went their separate ways. Rami started getting familiar at working with Wolf Cousins and made his first contributions with the team in 2019, writing the song "Don't Worry Bout Me" by Zara Larsson, in sessions with Tove Lo and The Struts.[171] He also participated in the soundtrack of the 2019 film Charlie's Angels, which was executively produced by Ariana Grande and the MXM/Wolf Cousins team.[172]
In the turn of the decade, then-upcoming songwriter and musician Elvira Anderfjard graduated from the Songwriters Academy of Sweden at Musikmakarna and got signed directly to MXM Music to work with Max Martin.[5] She started working with Tove Lo on material for her Paw Prints edition of her fourth album Sunshine Kitty, including the single "Sadder Badder Cooler", written alongside Max.[186] Within the year, Max and Holter worked on four other songs for The Weeknd's fourth album After Hours. Max also contributed to two songs for the soundtrack to the film Trolls World Tour, which was also executive produced by Justin Timberlake.[187]Savan Kotecha was made executive producer of the soundtrack to the film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,[188] which included contributions from Rami, Johan Carlsson, Rickard Goransson and even reunited the team with old Maratone Studios member Arnthor Birgisson. Rami Yacoub saw his biggest credit since working with One Direction, which was writing six songs for Lady Gaga's comeback album Chromatica. This included all three of its collaborations. The song "Rain on Me", done in collaboration with Ariana Grande, was the first female-collaborative recording to debut at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as being the first female duet in history to win a Grammy at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.[189] Johan Carlsson contributed to the bulkhead of Katy Perry's sixth album Smile, as well as Oscar Holter, OzGo and Elvira handing their assistance on a few other tracks. In the later half of the year, the team contributed to three singles from Sam Smith third album Love Goes, being "I'm Ready", "My Oasis" and "Diamonds". Both "I'm Ready" and "How Do You Sleep?" were intended to be on the album's original track list, then titled To Die For, to be released in May 2020, before it got pushed back and renamed.[190]
In 2021, Max Martin, with Oscar Holter, produced the entirety of Coldplay's ninth album Music of the Spheres and became Max's first album to do so. This included the hit single "My Universe", done alongside Korean boy band BTS, which became the first recording by two co-billed lead groups to top the charts and the first song by a British group to debut at number 1 in United States history.[191][192] Holter and Mattman & Robin wrote and produced the song "Good Ones" by Charli XCX and, later on, she also teased a song called "Sweat" that she had recorded and co-wrote with Rami Yacoub as part of the soundtrack for her featured Pandora ME campaign.[193][194] Rami also began working frequently with Ilya Salmanzadeh for artists, such as Justin Bieber and Westlife. Max and Ilya also teamed up with the Jonas Brothers, with additional assistance from Rami Yacoub, to record and produce the song "Who's In Your Head" for their upcoming tour and became Rami's first new song to be credited alongside Max since he departed from Maratone Studios 14 years previous.[195] When Taylor Swift began to release new versions of her albums, Max, Shellback and Elvira Anderfjard were credited as writers on new material and producers on both new and re-worked material on her re-recorded album Red (Taylor's Version). Specifically, the song "Message in a Bottle" was revealed as the first song she ever wrote in sessions with Max and Shellback back in 2012.[196] In the later months of the year, Rami made two songs with Swedish DJ and record producer Alesso called "Somebody to Use" and "When I'm Gone", in collaboration with Katy Perry.[197][198] Alesso said about the collaborative record, "I feel like a song like this hasn't been made in a while. The world needs a fun energetic dance record again. We worked on this song for more than a year and are so pleased with how it came out."[199]
Ali Payami's return and #StemDrop
At the start of 2022, The Weeknd's released his fifth studio album Dawn FM, which was worked on by Max Martin and Oscar Holter, in collaboration with Oneohtrix Point Never. The album was described by the artist as "the album I always wanted to make".[200][201] Rami contributed to Bastille's fourth album Give Me the Future and later with singer-songwriter Anitta on her album Versions of Me.[202] Rami and Ilya Salmanzadeh also co-wrote a song on Charli XCX's fourth album Crash, which eventually included her previously released song "Good Ones", and the album became her highest-charting album in her music career, reaching number 1 in the Official UK Charts and debuting in the top 10 on Billboard Hot 100.[203][204] In May 2022, Italian band Måneskin, who won the Eurovision Song Contest of 2021, revealed that they had been working on their upcoming debut international album with the MXM and Wolf Cousins team extensively after meeting Max Martin in Los Angeles the previous year.[205] The band's single "Supermodel", which was worked on with Max and Rami Yacoub, was premiered on the live final of Eurovision Song Contest 2022.[206][207][208]Justin Tranter, who wrote the song alongside the band said that it was to be the "first of many" they had written together also.[209] The band also teased another song, which is aimed to be on the album called "Gasoline", in support of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, also made by the team.[210][211] Additionally, Ali Payami who took a three year break from working on music, returned with the focus of expanding his clientele and trying to develop a signature sound, whilst still working under MXM and Wolf Cousins. This became official after working with Sorana on her second solo single "Karaoke"[212] and later contributed to Fletcher's debut album Girl of My Dreams.
In the latter half of the year, MXM and Wolf Cousins contributed to three songs off of Lizzo's album Special, including its promotional single "Grrrls",[213] and, later, its second single "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)".[214] Additionally, the year saw the return of collaborative efforts between Ilya and OzGo for nearly eight years on Mabel's album About Last Night....[215][216] Wolf Cousins also contributed to multiple songs on Tove Lo's album Dirt Femme. In September 2022, Sam Smith released the single "Unholy", alongside Kim Petras, which was contributed by Ilya, and received a top position on the charts in nearly 20 countries worldwide. The song's explosive success was credited to the pair teasing the song on TikTok with a video of them dancing in the recording studio a little over a month before its release.[217][218] British house duo Disclosure made a remix of the song and performed it live, posting their love for the song on social media as well.[219] It was announced, simultaneously, that it is expected to appear on Smith's fourth album Gloria. Additionally, other notable contributions that took place by the collective include with acts, such as Beyoncé and Alma. Towards the end of the year, Max Martin partnered up with Simon Cowell of Syco Music, as well as record labels Universal Music Group and Republic Records, to create a talent-searching project for TikTok called "#StemDrop". Simon elaborated on the purpose of the project, "Imagine if some of the biggest songwriters in the world wrote a brand new song and, instead of giving it to a well-known artist, you gave it to the world to record?"[220] The first song of the project called "Red Lights" was released on 26 October 2022 and was written by Max, as well as Savan Kotecha and Ali Payami.[221][222]
Towards the start of 2023, Max Martin contributed to several songs on Maneskin's international debut album Rush!, including "Supermodel". British artist Lewis Capaldi stated that he had written extensively with the MXM and Wolf Cousins team, including Elvira Anderfjard and OzGo. The song "Leave Me Slowly", scheduled to be released on Capaldi's second album Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent, was written by Martin and Oscar Holter.[223] Furthermore, Elvira and OzGo had begun working frequently together on numerous projects for the likes of Maisie Peters and Alma.[224] In March 2023, Max Martin announced that he, alongside Shellback and Fred Again, co-wrote Ed Sheeran's single "Eyes Closed", which was released as the lead cut from his 2023 album - (Subtract).[225] Around the same time, Max shared a photo of him in the studio with Madonna, which sparked a lot of hype on social media.[226]
Together, Cheiron, Maratone and MXM and Wolf Cousins have garnered a huge backlog of artists throughout the years and will continue to do so as part of the entity's ongoing evolution with pop music culture. These are just a selected amount of artists and affiliates the organisations and their songwriters and producers have worked with:
The music of Sweden shares roots with its neighbouring countries in Scandinavia, as well as Eastern Europe, including polka, schottische, waltz, polska and mazurka. The Swedish fiddle and nyckelharpa are among the most common Swedish folk instruments. The instrumental genre is the biggest one in Sweden. In the 1960s, Swedish youth sparked a roots revival in Swedish folk culture. Many joined Spelmanslag and performed on mainstream radio and TV. They focused on instrumental polska music, with vocals and influences from other traditional genres becoming more prominent since the 1990s. By 1970, the "dansband" culture also began. Music in Sweden is a vital part of Swedish culture, as evidenced by the national success of musical shows like Allsång på Skansen and Melodifestivalen.
Karl Martin Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish record producer and songwriter. He rose to prominence in the late 1990s with songwriting credits on a string of hit singles, such as Britney Spears's "...Baby One More Time" (1998), the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" (1999), Celine Dion's "That's the Way It Is" (1999) and NSYNC's "It's Gonna Be Me" (2000).
Dag Krister Volle, better known as Denniz Pop, was a Swedish DJ, music producer, and songwriter. He was a member of the DJ collective SweMix and later co-founded the recording studio Cheiron Studios in Stockholm in 1992.
Kristian Lundin is a Swedish composer, music producer and songwriter.
Nana Hedin Pranschke, known as Nana Hedin, is a Swedish singer.
Maratone is a music production company, and started by two music producers and songwriters, Max Martin and Tom Talomaa. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, it was started in January 2001 after the closing of Cheiron Studios. Maratone moved in at Cosmos Studios after the production team Kai Erixon and Kent (Gillström) Isaacs decided to split up after working together for 10 years on numerous productions. Isaacs bought the old Abbey Road/EMI Studios that is now Cosmos Studios. Cosmos Studios is closely affiliated with Cosmos Music Group.
It's Alive was a Swedish glam-style funk metal band, formed in Stockholm in 1987. Karl "Max Martin" Sandberg was one of the founding members of the band. He dropped out of high school to pursue a career with the band under the nickname Martin White.
Rami Yacoub, also known by the mononym Rami, is a Swedish record producer and songwriter and former member of the songwriting/production houses Cheiron Studios and Maratone. Yacoub collaborated extensively with Max Martin in the early part of his career. He has worked with acts such as Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, Madonna, Charli XCX, Bon Jovi, Backstreet Boys, One Direction, Arashi, Westlife, The Saturdays, P!nk, Celine Dion, Enrique Iglesias, Tiësto, Avicii, NSYNC, 5 Seconds of Summer, Lindsay Lohan, Weezer, Måneskin, Foster the People, Taio Cruz and Loreen.
Cheiron Studios was a recording studio located in the Kungsholmen district of Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1992 by Denniz PoP and Tom Talomaa, it was known for being a place where popular music acts of the late 1990s/early 2000s, such as Backstreet Boys, Boyzone, Robyn, NSYNC, Britney Spears, and Westlife produced many of their greatest hits. In addition, Cheiron Studios was also a record label, Cheiron Records, affiliated with BMG for a while, and a music publishing service, although those ventures were later abandoned in favour of music production.
Nadir Khayat, also known as RedOne, is a Moroccan-Swedish record producer, record executive, singer and songwriter. He has worked in production for high-profile recording artists including Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Mariah Carey, One Direction, and Usher, among others. His credits include several hit songs on Billboard and international charts; pop, rock, R&B, house, hip hop, and dance music are his frequented musical genres. He established his namesake record label in 2010.
Konichiwa Records is a record label founded by Swedish pop singer Robyn. The label has only one other artist signed, Zhala. The name "Konichiwa" is derived from the Japanese greeting こんにちは, meaning "hello" or "good day".
Swedish popular music, or shortly Swedish pop music, refers to music that has swept the Swedish mainstream at any given point in recent times. After World War II, Swedish pop music was heavily influenced by American jazz, and then by rock-and-roll from the U.S. and the U.K. in the 1950s and 1960s, before developing into dansband music. Since the 1970s, Swedish pop music has come to international prominence with bands singing in English, ranking high on the British, New Zealand, American, and Australian charts and making Sweden one of the world's top exporter of popular music by gross domestic product.
Carl Anthony Falk-Gramer, is a Swedish songwriter, record producer and musician and has worked with artists such as Demi Lovato, One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer, Nicki Minaj, Ellie Goulding, Madonna, Avicii, Ariana Grande, Charlie Puth, Jason Derulo, Westlife, Hilary Duff, Iggy Azalea, Liam Payne.
Karl Johan Schuster, known professionally as Shellback, is a Swedish record producer and songwriter. He was listed as the No. 1 producer of 2012 on Billboard magazine's year end chart, and he also topped the list of their "Top 10 Songwriters Airplay Chart" the same year; he has won four Grammy Awards.
"Dinosaur" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, taken from her debut studio album Animal (2010). The song was written by Kesha in collaboration with Max Martin and Shellback; the latter two also produced the song, while all three are responsible for the instrumentation. The song's conception stems from an encounter Kesha had with an older man that had been hitting on her, which she compared to a prehistoric dinosaur. The lyrics discuss an older man that is attempting to hit on a younger female, which is ultimately rejected. The song received generally negative reviews from music critics.
Ilya Salmanzadeh, known mononymously as ILYA, is a Swedish/Iranian songwriter, producer, and singer. He rose to prominence outside of Sweden after co-writing and producing Ariana Grande's hit single "Problem" for her second studio album My Everything (2014).
Ali Payami is a Swedish record producer, songwriter, and DJ.
"Dangerous Woman" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande. It was released on March 11, 2016 by Republic Records as the lead single from her third studio album of the same name (2016). It was written by Johan Carlsson, Ross Golan, and Max Martin, produced by Martin and Carlsson. "Dangerous Woman" is a mid-tempo pop and R&B song.
"Greedy" is a song recorded by American singer, songwriter Ariana Grande. The track appears on Dangerous Woman (2016), her third studio album. The song was written by Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Alexander Kronlund, and Ilya Salmanzadeh, and produced by Martin and Ilya. The song was released on May 14, 2016, as an instant gratification track to accompany digital pre-orders of Dangerous Woman. Grande debuted "Greedy" on Apple Music the day after "Everyday".
Philip Meckseper, known professionally as Jr Blender, is a German record producer and songwriter from Hamburg.
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