With 25 Billboard Hot 100 number one hits to his name, Max Martin is effectively the king of pop music. We wanted to find the key to his success—with a little help from a lot of data. 00:00 - Behind the data 00:39 - Our dataset 01:53 - Was Max Martin right? 03:32 - Why intros are shorter now To read our daily chart on hit-maker Max Martin: https://econ.st/40EN0TH For more of The Economist’s data journalism: https://econ.st/3KsCaud Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter: https://econ.st/3QAawvI How blurred lines changed pop music: https://econ.st/3KcdxAA Why streaming changed pop songs: https://econ.st/411UC26 Did pop music peak in 1971?: https://econ.st/3ZH1f9h What makes good music?: https://econ.st/3nEM0QJ