It is really easy to suggest that pop music is nothing but disposable, short-lived and destined to be forgotten. And yet people have been arguing the same thing for generations about music that has absolutely been remembered for twenty years, fifty years or longer. At the very least, each generation latches onto the music of its youth for whatever reason, so each era is bound to produce a number of songs that are integral to the memories of millions. Pop music in the 1990s saw a continuance of the teen pop—with one of the most popular preteen and teen-oriented acts being the Osmonds—and dance-pop trends that had developed in the 1970s and 1980s. The usage of digital recordings, accompanied by the use of synthesizers, with synth-pop music among other electronic genres that featured non-traditional instruments steadily increasing in popularity. Dance-pop is a popular music sub-genre that had originated in the late 1970s. It is generally up-tempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. It is also known for being exceedingly eclectic, having borrowed influences from other genres, which varied by artists, producers and time periods.
It is in the late 90s where we find Swedish producer Max Martin, who has to date co-written and produced more than twenty-three Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs, come into prominence. Martin’s most famous creation, “Baby One More Time”, which he wrote independently, reached number one in almost every country it was released.
It is worth noting, however, that the hit song almost never came into fruition. The demo, which Martin had written with an R&B flavor in mind, sat lying around dormant for months. Among the recording artists and musicians who turned it down were the group TLC, due to their assumption that the line “hit me baby one more time” would advocate for domestic violence. Interestingly enough, while writing the song Martin had thought it was simply American slang for “call me.”
Britney and Max Martin create some amazing harmonic tension before returning to the final chorus. Towards the end of the song (around 3:20), “Baby One More Time” presents one of Martin’s signature techniques, a composition style called counterpoint or canon. Counterpoint is the technique of playing a melody or melodies in conjunction with another, and according to fixed rules. He utilized this auditory technique in the final chorus (most notably in “Baby One More Time” among other Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, and NSYNC songs for example) – usually bringing in the bridge melody where the bridge is sung over the normal chorus. And his bridge melodies are usually slight variations of the chorus melody.
