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Max Martin Salutes 25 Years of Britney Spears’ ‘…Baby One Time’: ‘It Changed the Landscape of Pop Music’

The Swedish producer called the track, and Spears' delivery of it, "pure pop heaven."

Britney Spears and Max Martin attend Pre-GRAMMY Gala and Salute to Industry Icons Honoring Debra Lee at The Beverly Hilton on Feb. 11, 2017 in Los Angeles.

Britney Spears and Max Martin attend Pre-GRAMMY Gala and Salute to Industry Icons Honoring Debra Lee at The Beverly Hilton on Feb. 11, 2017 in Los Angeles.

Lester Cohen/WireImage

As Britney Spears gears up for the release of her debut memoir The Woman in Me, her breakthrough hit, “…Baby One More Time,” just hit a major milestone. The track turned 25 on Monday (Oct. 23) and was celebrated on Instagram by its producer, Max Martin, who shared how it changed the trajectory of both his and Spears’ career, as well as pop music as a whole.

“On October 23, 1998, @britneyspears released her debut single ‘…Baby One More Time’ in the U.S.A, the pop classic that became No 1 in every country where it was released, and that launched Britney’s career as an international pop icon,” Martin wrote, captioning a series of images from Spears’ debut era.


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He continued, “After exactly 25 years to the day, so much has been said about this masterpiece of a song — the artists who could have recorded it, its controversial lyrics, its iconic music video, the record-breaking sales figures, how much it has changed the landscape of pop music and defined a new era, and so on. So this time, I wanted to celebrate ‘…Baby One More Time’ for what it is, that is a pure piece of art and 3:30 minutes of sonic bliss.”

As evidenced by the song’s two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the Swedish record producer added that “‘Baby’ is one of these songs that you just can’t ignore, whether you are a pop music lover or not,” and proceeded to give an eight-part review of the song as if he listened to it for the first time. In his review, the hitmaker gushed over the song’s sad undertones and delighted over its little moments, like Spears’ vocal runs at 0:27 (“Go oh oh-oOoOh”), and said it was “a reminder so much fun is around the corner even if the lyrics seem sad at first listen.” Of the then-budding star’s “cooing,” Martin called Spears’ inflections “pure pop heaven.”

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“…Baby One More Time,” as Martin noted, singlehandedly launched Spears’ career as a pop star. Propelled in part by the success of its single of the same name, the …Baby One More Time album enjoyed six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spent nearly two years (103 weeks) on the chart.

See Martin reflect on “…Baby One More Time” and give his review of the track below.

This article was originally posted by Billboard U.S.

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Foundations

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Andrew Mosker

Andrew Mosker is the founding President and CEO of the National Music Centre (NMC) in Calgary, where he has spent more than two decades building one of Canada's most significant cultural institutions. Under his leadership, NMC evolved from the grassroots Cantos Music Foundation into the national home for music in Canada, culminating in the creation of Studio Bell — a $191 million landmark that now houses special exhibitions for the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (with a special focus on Sum 41 this year), Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame collection, Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and ADISQ Hall of Fame. In 2024-25, NMC presented a special exhibition on the Beatles' first trip to Canada and announced a major partnership with the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, expanding NMC’s global reach. In 2025, Mosker was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal, further recognizing his national contributions to Canada’s cultural landscape.

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