This 26-year-old discovered the formula that every hit song follows.

He kept it secret for 30 years.

When he finally revealed it in 2023, it explained why you can't get certain songs out of your head.

Here's the $2 BILLION psychological weapon hiding in plain sight: 🧵
Meet Max Martin - the Swedish producer behind more #1 hits than anyone except Paul McCartney.

Britney Spears. Backstreet Boys. Taylor Swift. The Weeknd.

99 songs in the Billboard Hot 100. 25 #1 hits.

$2B+ in revenue from his formula.

But nobody knew his secret until now.

In 1989, a failed Korean singer invested $200,000 to start an entertainment company in his garage.

Everyone called him crazy for trying to "copy American MTV."

34 years later, his $92 BILLION empire is conquering the world.

Here's the story behind the godfather of K-pop: 🧵 Meet Lee Soo-man in the 1970s.

Student by day, folk singer by night.

But his quiet acoustic performances couldn't compete with foreign rock acts that had Koreans "going wild."

That moment of being upstaged planted a seed: "What if Korean music could conquer the world instead?"

In 1983, Paul McCartney gave Michael Jackson business advice that would make MJ billions...

And destroy their friendship forever.

The story behind this $47.5 million power move reveals the most ruthless lesson in music business history: 🧵 MJ and Paul McCartney were close friends in the early 80s.

They collaborated on "The Girl Is Mine" and "Say Say Say" - massive hits.

During studio sessions, Paul pulled out a thick notebook showing all the song catalogs he'd been buying.

"This is where the real money is."

TLC was the biggest girl group on Earth.

"Waterfalls" dominated MTV. "CrazySexyCool" sold 11 million copies.

Yet they filed for bankruptcy owing $3.5 million.

Here's how ONE sneaky trick destroyed three superstars: 🧵 The numbers seemed impossible.

TLC had sold 65+ million records worldwide by 1995.

"CrazySexyCool" alone generated over $175 million in revenue.

Yet T-Boz, Left Eye, and Chilli were each making roughly $35,000 per year.

Something was very, very wrong.

Frank Ocean vanished at the peak of his career.

No interviews. No social media. Complete radio silence.

Then he dropped one album and changed the industry forever.

Here's the psychological warfare behind music's greatest disappearing act:🧵 Meet Christopher Edwin Breaux in 2005.

Writing songs for Justin Bieber, John Legend, and Brandy.

Getting paid $25K per song but staying completely invisible.

Most writers would chase credit. Frank was playing a different game:

Studying the industry while creating in silence.

In 1982, Michael Jackson saved the dying music industry.

Not just with better songs or flashier performances...

But with ONE $500,000 bet everyone called him crazy for.

Here's how MJ invented the modern artist playbook that every superstar still copies today: 🧵 The music industry was dying in 1979.

Rock sales were tanking. Disco was dead. MTV barely played Black artists.

Record labels were desperate for a solution.

Enter: The "superstar strategy" - invest everything in fewer artists, but make them MASSIVE.

MJ was their test case.

Taylor Swift lost her entire life's work to her biggest enemy.

- $300 million sale behind her back
- 6 albums stolen from under her nose
- Years of "manipulative bullying" to silence her

Then she orchestrated the most expensive revenge in music history: 🧵 The betrayal was brutal.

After building her career from age 16, Taylor's original label Big Machine sold her master recordings to Scooter Braun - without giving her a chance to bid.

Her response? "This is my worst case scenario."

But what happened next shocked the industry…