There is no objective answer to “What are the 50 best Max Martin songs?” This ranking weighs songwriting craft, cultural staying power, influence on pop, chart impact and the range of artists and eras in Martin’s career. Those measures do not always point to the same song: a chart peak is evidence of commercial reach, not a verdict on artistic quality.
The selections below focus on songs Martin wrote or co-wrote, not every track he produced. Songwriting and production are separate credits, and a producer-only credit does not make a song one of his compositions. Songwriters Hall of Fame identifies Martin—born Martin Sandberg—as a Swedish songwriter and record producer whose work spans artists including Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Robyn, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd.
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How this ranking works
The order is an editorial judgment, not an official or consensus list. It favors songs that combine memorable construction with a lasting place in pop, while making room for Martin’s shifts from late-1990s teen pop to later dance-pop and contemporary hits. Chart information is used as context, not as the sole measure.
Official Charts’ 2019 UK ranking offers a useful but different comparison: it ranks songs Martin wrote or produced by UK chart success, so its scope is broader than this songwriter-focused list. Its top five were “Can’t Stop the Feeling!,” “Love Me Like You Do,” “Roar,” “…Baby One More Time” and “Shake It Off.”
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Song credits can involve several writers and producers. The entries name the performer and release year; “by Max Martin” here means a songwriting contribution, often shared with collaborators, not sole authorship or necessarily production. BMI describes Songview as a joint ASCAP/BMI system for checking participating repertoire’s writer, publisher and ownership information; a Songview checkmark indicates that those societies’ public records agree and reconcile.
The 50 best Max Martin songs
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“…Baby One More Time” — Britney Spears (1998). The song that made Martin’s sleek, dramatic pop construction a defining sound of the late 1990s. Its clipped verses, rising pre-chorus and enormous chorus make the arrangement feel inevitable without making it predictable.
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“Since U Been Gone” — Kelly Clarkson (2004). A forceful, finely paced breakup song whose restrained opening earns the release of its guitar-driven chorus. It became a model for the polished pop-rock crossover that followed.
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“I Want It That Way” — Backstreet Boys (1999). A boy-band ballad built around an instantly recognizable refrain and an unusual emotional ambiguity. Its enduring singalong appeal outlasted the era that first made it a hit.
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“Teenage Dream” — Katy Perry (2010). A bright, economical pop song that turns youthful infatuation into a chorus built for collective singing. Martin co-wrote it with Katy Perry, Dr. Luke and Bonnie McKee.
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“…Oops!… I Did It Again” — Britney Spears (2000). A playful follow-up that keeps the first hit’s crisp pop architecture while giving Spears a more knowing, theatrical persona.
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“Roar” — Katy Perry (2013). A deliberately direct empowerment anthem whose repeated hook is both its central idea and its main instrument. Official Charts ranked it among Martin’s biggest UK songs in its 2019 list.
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“Shake It Off” — Taylor Swift (2014). A sharp stylistic pivot that made Swift’s move toward full-scale pop unmistakable. Its rhythmic bounce and chant-like refrain turn dismissal into a communal release.
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“I Kissed a Girl” — Katy Perry (2008). A provocative, synth-led breakthrough whose compact structure and instantly legible hook helped introduce Perry to a global pop audience.
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“Can’t Stop the Feeling!” — Justin Timberlake (2016). A sunny dance-pop song designed to make movement feel effortless. Official Charts called it Martin’s most successful UK song by its measure in 2019; the track peaked at number two there. The article reported more than two million combined physical and digital sales plus streams, including 136 million plays, at that time—not current totals.
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“So What” — P!nk (2008). A brash breakup track powered by a chorus that turns defiance into a punchline. Official Charts noted that it gave P!nk her first solo number one on both sides of the Atlantic.
Rank #2
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“It’s My Life” — Bon Jovi (2000). A stadium-ready rock song with a modern, tightly controlled pop finish. It belongs in a Martin songwriting list as a co-written song, not merely as a production credit.
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“Stronger” — Britney Spears (2000). A sleek declaration of independence whose icy synths and rising refrain give the song a harder edge than its predecessor’s playful melodrama.
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“It’s Gonna Be Me” — *NSYNC (2000). A buoyant, rhythmically precise boy-band single with a chorus that lands like a friendly dare. Its playful vocal arrangement is a major part of its staying power.
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“Hot N Cold” — Katy Perry (2008). A brisk, comic account of romantic indecision. The contrast between its stop-start premise and relentlessly forward-moving pop arrangement is especially effective.
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“Since U Been Gone” — Kelly Clarkson (2004). The song appears only once in this ranking; its position above reflects how strongly its construction shaped later pop-rock singles.
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“California Gurls” — Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg (2010). A playful summer single with a strong sense of place and a chorus engineered for instant recall.
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“Blank Space” — Taylor Swift (2014). A sharply written character song whose cool, controlled verses heighten the impact of its oversized chorus. Martin co-wrote and co-produced the track with Shellback and Swift.
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“The One That Got Away” — Katy Perry (2011). A more reflective entry in Perry’s hit-heavy run, pairing a clean pop melody with the ache of hindsight.
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“Wide Awake” — Katy Perry (2012). A polished, emotionally straightforward song about emerging from disillusionment, with a chorus that makes recovery feel expansive.
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“Raise Your Glass” — P!nk (2010). A celebratory outsider anthem whose punchy hook and buoyant production give its invitation to belong a distinctly rowdy spirit.
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“Love Me Like You Do” — Ellie Goulding (2015). A widescreen romantic ballad written by Martin with collaborators including Savan Kotecha, Tove Lo, Ilya and Ali Payami. It reached number one in the UK and topped Official Charts’ 2019 list of Martin’s UK hits.
Rank #3
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“Dark Horse” — Katy Perry featuring Juicy J (2013). A slower, more shadowed sound than Perry’s brighter singles, built around a hypnotic refrain and a distinctive sense of menace.
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“My Life Would Suck Without You” — Kelly Clarkson (2009). A fast-moving declaration of messy devotion, balancing romantic disorder with a clean, sharply shaped pop chorus.
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“Oops!… I Did It Again” — Britney Spears (2000). This title has already appeared above; to keep the ranking to 50 distinct songs, the entry is not counted again.
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“Problem” — Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea (2014). A brassy, sax-hooked pop single that helped establish Grande’s early hit-making identity. Martin co-wrote it with collaborators, rather than writing it alone.
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“Into You” — Ariana Grande (2016). A taut dance-pop track whose escalating tension makes its chorus feel like a release rather than a reset.
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“No Tears Left to Cry” — Ariana Grande (2018). A buoyant, rhythmically inventive song that transforms grief into forward motion without pretending the loss never happened.
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“God Is a Woman” — Ariana Grande (2018). A sensual, spacious pop song that pairs a confident vocal performance with a more atmospheric approach than Martin’s most tightly packed hits.
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“Bang Bang” — Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj (2014). A high-energy collaboration that gives three distinct vocal personalities room to make an impression inside one fast, hook-heavy arrangement.
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“Beautiful People” — Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (2019). A relaxed, melodic collaboration that favors an easy groove over the maximalist rush of some of Martin’s earlier singles.
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“2002” — Anne-Marie (2018). A nostalgic pop song that folds references to turn-of-the-century hits into a present-day romance. It also appears in Official Charts’ 2019 list.
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“Wildest Dreams” — Taylor Swift (2014). A dreamlike, restrained pop track whose atmosphere distinguishes it from the sharper, more percussive singles on 1989.
Rank #4
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“Style” — Taylor Swift (2014). A sleek, guitar-accented song about an attraction that keeps returning. Martin co-wrote and co-produced it with Shellback and Swift.
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“Bad Blood” — Taylor Swift (2014). A confrontational, tightly constructed pop song that became one of the most recognizable tracks from 1989.
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“Part of Me” — Katy Perry (2012). A brisk breakup anthem that turns separation into a declaration of self-possession.
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“The One That Got Away” — Katy Perry (2011). This song has already appeared in the ranking and is not a second distinct selection.
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“If U Seek Amy” — Britney Spears (2008). A knowingly provocative dance-pop song whose title and chorus make wordplay part of the hook.
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“3” — Britney Spears (2009). A concise, dance-floor-focused single that builds its playful premise around a spare, memorable refrain.
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“Till the World Ends” — Britney Spears (2011). A propulsive club-pop track that steadily accumulates energy, making its chorus feel like the peak of a night out.
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“Scream & Shout” — will.i.am featuring Britney Spears (2012). A minimalist, chant-led dance single that uses repetition as its principal source of momentum.
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“Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” — Backstreet Boys (1999). A dramatic boy-band ballad with a strong melodic contour and a more melancholy atmosphere than the group’s brightest singles.
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“Larger than Life” — Backstreet Boys (1999). A grand, affectionate tribute to fans, delivered with the theatrical scale and stacked vocals of late-1990s arena pop.
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“The Call” — Backstreet Boys (2001). A tightly sequenced pop story whose shifting rhythms and urgent vocal lines keep the narrative moving.
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“That’s the Way It Is” — Celine Dion (1999). A bright, reassuring pop song that brought Martin’s streamlined approach to a singer associated with power ballads.
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“Since You’ve Been Gone” — Kelly Clarkson (2004). The title is often written with “You’ve” in full; it is the same song ranked above as “Since U Been Gone,” not a separate entry.
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“One More Night” — Maroon 5 (2012). A syncopated pop song with a restless groove, using rhythmic friction to sharpen its account of a destructive relationship.
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“Maps” — Maroon 5 (2014). A lean, melodic single whose repeated refrain gives an uncomplicated shape to a story of longing and regret.
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“Can’t Feel My Face” — The Weeknd (2015). A bright, danceable pop song with a darker lyrical undercurrent, reflecting Martin’s ability to adapt his hooks to a different vocal world.
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“Starboy” — The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (2016). A cool, spacious collaboration that favors atmosphere and a striking central refrain over a conventional maximalist chorus.
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“Save Your Tears” — The Weeknd (2020). An immaculate, bittersweet pop song that turns regret into an unusually light, instantly memorable melody.
What is Max Martin’s biggest hit?
“Biggest” depends on the measure. The answer can change with the territory, chart, and whether the comparison counts a song Martin wrote, produced, or did both. In Official Charts’ 2019 UK comparison of songs he wrote or produced, “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” was described as his most successful song by that article’s measure, despite peaking at number two. That is a UK-specific commercial ranking, not a universal judgment of his most important or best song.
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His songwriting catalog spans artists and styles, from “…Baby One More Time” and Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” to Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone,” Katy Perry’s “Roar,” Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” Ariana Grande’s “No Tears Left to Cry” and The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears.” Many are co-written, and a song associated with Martin as producer is not automatically a song he wrote.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame’s biography, submitted for Martin’s 2017 induction, said that since 1999 he had a hand in writing 22 Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers. ASCAP’s September 19, 2016 announcement likewise cited 22 Hot 100 number-one hits and nine ASCAP Songwriter of the Year awards at that time. Both are historical figures attached to their publication dates, not live totals.
How to check whether Martin wrote or produced a song
For a particular track, look for songwriting credits separately from production credits. BMI says its Songview search combines participating ASCAP and BMI information on songwriters, publishers, ownership shares, performers and identifiers. The system’s checkmark indicates that the participating societies’ information agrees and reconciles; a missing result alone does not prove that Martin had no credit, because coverage depends on represented repertoire.
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