In a rare interview with The Guardian – Swedish songwriter Max Martin who has worked with Britney, Taylor Swift, and Ariana Grande says we should be ‘grateful’ that pop stars allow their lives to ‘fall apart’ for the job.

Max rarely does interviews and he notes, “I just like to stay in the background as much as possible.”

“I think we all should be grateful [to the artists],” he says.

“It’s easy for us to say that they become these rich, spoilt divas – and I’m not talking about Britney specifically, just in general – but we forget that these artists go out into the world and work and tour and become super-famous for our enjoyment. And then we watch their lives fall apart in front of our eyes for doing something amazing.”

He sighs. “I’m so thankful that someone actually still wants that job. I’ve seen it many many times, what fame does. And it goes back to why I don’t do interviews. Especially now with social media: our lives are on display all the time and when you’re famous it’s on a whole other level. We’re not made to be that famous, it’s not normal. It’s not in our DNA.”

Selena Gomez rolled out new singles but the fact that the new videos for the tracks were shot on the iPhone 11 Pro is receiving more press than the songs themselves.

The reality is that the Selena videos were shot by director Sophie Muller and would be very difficult to replicate by the masses with iPhones. These videos are typically shot on iPhone rigs that include expensive lenses and stabilizers. I won’t argue that the Selena videos are closer to reality being that Sophie Muller kept the shoot pretty simple and it’s more honest than the previous Shot on iPhone” ads.

Peta Pixel notes, “As you can see from the behind the scenes video below by Hunter Simmons, the video seems to be captured on an iPhone 11 Pro with no additional lensing. And while the phone is no doubt sitting under some very expensive cinema lighting—and it’s definitely sitting atop a fluid head and fancy stabilizer arm—the setup and the results are far from the iPhone-on-a-gimbal-with-a-cinema-lens-hanging-out-of-a-car shots in the Bentley ad above. The camera moves in the video are pretty much limited to moving in and out, with some post-processing done to layer other shots onto the original. Despite coming from a well-known music video director, the result comes off simple and straight-forward enough that someone could recreate with their own phone at home… which may have been the point”.

Selena Gomez released the new single “Lose You to Love Me“. Produced by the Finneas, the track was written with Julia Michaels, Justin Tranter, Mattias Larsson and Robin Fredriksson. The video was directed by Sophie Muller and shot in black and white on the iPhone 11 Pro.

Toni Watson aka Tones and I has finally entered the U.S. Charts. The track Dance Monkey has topped the U.K charts for 4 weeks straight. The song has already clocked 300 million+ Spotify streams. In fact, it’s the longest-Running No. 1 Hit By solo female artist in Australian history.

Spotify played an important role in the track’s success. Spotify notes, “Due to the global editorial team’s collaboration, the song was included on various international playlists. This curation is in part what helped transition Dance Monkey from an internet sensation to a certified global chart topper in 16 countries including Norway, Finland, Lithuania, Denmark, and Ireland”.

Lewis Capaldi’s power ballad “Someone You Loved” grabs the No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Songs radio airplay chart. It has also topped the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart. The LA Times says “it’s highly unusual for a stripped-down ballad to gain such impact when the Top 40 is crowded with busy hip-hop tracks by the likes of Post Malone and Travis Scott”. But that’s exactly why the track exploded, it’s different and makes you feel.

“Look at the records around it on Spotify, globally or in the U.S.,” said Capitol Records Group chairman and CEO Steve Barnett, who traveled to Boston from L.A. to present Capaldi with a plaque commemorating the song’s latest sales achievement. “There’s nothing like it.”