Renowned Swedish songwriter and record producer Max Martin, who has collaborated with Taylor Swift, Backstreet Boys, and Britney Spears, made a perceptive remark regarding the electronic dance music (EDM) genre. Even though EDM has produced a lot of amazing songs, he noted that the genre once became unduly standardized.

Consider a large garden in which every flower stands for a different song or genre of music. Each flower in this garden had its own color and scent, making them all distinctive and varied. But at one point, sunflowers were so popular that it seemed like everyone wanted to plant them. Each of these sunflowers grew in precisely the same manner and had the same number of petals.

Similar to this, many producers felt pressured to adhere to a particular formula during a particular stage of EDM's development: songs had to be played at 128 beats per minute (bpm) and center on DJ mixes or remixes. Although there was nothing fundamentally wrong with this strategy—sunflowers are also beautiful—it resulted in a uniformity of the music scene.

Max Martin's remark is part of a larger criticism of the value of diversity and innovation in the music business. In the same way that a garden requires a variety of flowers to be genuinely colorful and captivating, music gains from experimenting and eschewing strict norms. Instead of following trends or formulas too closely, his comment encourages producers and artists to experiment with different tempos, rhythms, and creative approaches.

Essentially, Max Martin's remarks are a kind reminder that, although there are no restrictions on what can be created, the beauty of music is found in its capacity to change and adapt to different styles.