Simon Cowell bribed Max Martin with a Mercedes to own ...Baby One More Time

[Teletubby 150,140]

Simon Cowell once offered songwriter Max Martin a Mercedes in exchange for Britney Spears' mega-hit '...Baby One More Time'.

The 62-year-old music mogul had heard the 1998 tune, which the Swedish studio wizard had originally penned for boy band Backstreet Boys and R'n'B group TLC, and tried to bribe Max with a luxury car to own the rights to the pop classic.

He spilled on his fellow 'America's Got Talent' star's 'Howie Mandel Does Stuff Podcast': “So I phoned up Max.

“I said, ‘Max. Please, please give me this song.’ And he went, ‘I’ve promised it to someone else.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’ll send you a Mercedes – literally a Mercedes 500 SL if I can have this song.’ And he went, ‘No. I promised it to somebody else.’ And I went, ‘Who?’ And he went, ‘Britney Spears.’ I went, ‘Max, let me give you some advice. No one is going to have a hit with a name called Britney Spears.”

However, he couldn't have been more wrong, with '...Baby One More Time' topping the charts across the globe and going triple-platinum in the UK.

source

[Andrew Shaw 303]

“No one is going to have a hit with a name called Britney Spears” may be one of the dumbest things that anyone has ever said 

[HiddenWeirdo 4,277]

Men in high positions bragging about the artwork of a woman. Tell me something new 

[Adrenaliner 3,809]

I think Britney Spears sounds already like an Iconic name

[Hyperobject 66,771]

Just now, Adrenaliner said:

I think Britney Spears sounds already like an Iconic name

same, i've always thought how good it is tbh. 

[nATAH 49,888]

30 minutes ago, Andrew Shaw said:

“No one is going to have a hit with a name called Britney Spears” may be one of the dumbest things that anyone has ever said 

didn't he also say gaga was over at some point? how this man manages to have a career in music despite always being wrong is tragic

[Borisapillar 9,246]

19 minutes ago, HiddenWeirdo said:

Men in high positions bragging about the artwork of a woman. Tell me something new 

She didn't write the song.

[Anderson123 38,508]

Simon has been wrong so many times in the past when it comes to artists lol but he did see potential in that so he obviously wanted the song because it’s good. Glad to see how things worked out, Max Martin is a man of word. 

[XXEENN 1,039]

30 minutes ago, NATAH said:

didn't he also say gaga was over at some point? how this man manages to have a career in music despite always being wrong is tragic

Yes. https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/simon-cowell-lady-gaga-world-2950375 
Not sure if this the most reliable source but I remember him saying this, and also that she is boring as a singer (basically that you need to look at her in order to be interested) 

[HiddenWeirdo 4,277]

37 minutes ago, Borisapillar said:

She didn't write the song.

Yeah, but she's still the artist singing on that record. 

[moonsago 7,285]

2 hours ago, Andrew Shaw said:

“No one is going to have a hit with a name called Britney Spears” may be one of the dumbest things that anyone has ever said 

Are all the legends doubted at first by major music executives? Gaga was dropped by that one guy that was also a judge on one of these shows, X Factor America or something and he said it was his worst decision ever? Didn’t Gaga say so or did he? I remember it happening.