{"id":211285,"date":"2024-09-18T12:57:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T11:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=211285"},"modified":"2024-09-18T12:58:02","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T11:58:02","slug":"to-this-day-i-dont-look-at-charts-i-dont-cloud-my-head-with-stuff-i-cant-affect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/to-this-day-i-dont-look-at-charts-i-dont-cloud-my-head-with-stuff-i-cant-affect\/","title":{"rendered":"‘To this day, I don\u2019t look at charts, I don\u2019t cloud my head with stuff I can\u2019t affect.’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>\"Music<\/i><\/a><\/figure>

MBW\u2019s World\u2019s Greatest Producers series sees us interview \u2013 and celebrate \u2013 some of the outstanding talents working in studios across the decades. This time, we meet Swedish writer-producer Rami Yacoub, who reflects on his partnership with Max Martin, Britney’s breakthrough, One Direction fans sleeping outside his studio, his five-year hiatus, and selling his catalog – several times. World\u2019s Greatest Producers is supported by Hipgnosis Song Management<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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For most songwriter-producers, that first American No.1 single is something to obsess over.<\/p>\n

Charts are closely monitored for signs of upward momentum. Data points are scrutinized for clues that this could be the tune that\u2019s headed for the top. Armies of music industry workers are mobilized to relay details of every spike in sales and streams.<\/p>\n

However, Rami Yacoub and Max Martin, it seems fair to say, are not most songwriter-producers. When Britney Spears\u2019 eternal \u2026Baby One More Time<\/em> \u2013 the first song they\u2019d ever worked on together, which is not a bad way to start \u2013 hit the summit of the Hot 100 in January 1999, they were so busy in the studio it took them almost a month to notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cMax walked into the studio one day when I was comping some vocals and said, \u2018Oh, by the way, we\u2019re No.1,\u2019\u201d chuckles Yacoub. \u201cI was like, \u2018Where?\u2019 \u2018Oh, the US\u2019. \u2018When?\u2019 \u2018Three weeks ago, I forgot to tell you.\u2019 I call him Max \u2018By The Way\u2019 Martin\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair attempted a belated celebration, heading out into Stockholm on a quiet Monday night for a Swedish feast of Beef Rydberg, champagne and cigars, but their hearts weren\u2019t in it. Conscious of the recording session they had booked for the following morning, they called it a night before 11pm, and have rarely made a big deal of their astounding commercial success ever since.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because, for Yacoub at least, writing and producing the song itself has always been the most satisfying part of the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us realized what an amazing record it was until our heritage and legacy became something in the culture,\u201d he says. \u201cAt the time, it was just a song to us. It wasn\u2019t something we thought about. Now, it\u2019s easier to look back and see the impact\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

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