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

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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