Maroon 5 presents: How to become one of the largest ensembles in the world in five steps

Although rock music is declining and bands are almost non-existent, American band Maron Five has managed to maintain its formidable status for 20 years.

On the occasion of their arrival for two performances in Israel, we examined how they turned from a failed rock band of high school students, into a band that does not leave the charts, against all odds

Avi Goldberger, in collaboration with the Bluestone / live nation group

24/04/2022

Sunday, 24 April 2022, 07:45 Updated: 11:02

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Just 20 years ago, in 2002, five childhood friends from Los Angeles College graduated.

Confused by their future, they decided to try to recreate their youthful dream and re-establish their band from high school.

As teenagers they had a failed band called Kara's Flowers, who released one album, which left no impression.

In the new round they decided to call themselves Maroon 5. Shortly after the re-establishment, thanks to rock songs with touches of funk, alternative and pop, they won a recording contract with a small record company called "Octone" from New York.

In terms of style, this was not a good time to try to succeed with a guitar ensemble.

The early 2000s saw the huge grunge, Britpop and metal ensembles of the nineties fade, with hip hop and pop stars taking their place.

In this environment, few expected a bright future for a band that operated in the classic format of vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards and drummer.

Despite this, the Maronites went with their truth and recorded an album laden with melodic classical rock songs, called "

In a world dominated by artists like Eminem, Jay-Z, Fink and Enrique Aglesias, "Songs About Jane" had a hard time standing out and Maron Five had to work hard.

The album was released in the summer of 2002 and the band performed non-stop to try and promote it.

From the beginning, the singer Adam Levin (whose name can be understood as having a Jewish origin) became a kind of sex symbol and the star of the gossip columns thanks to his show, which also included a frequent waiver of a shirt.

And yet, despite Levin's rising profile, it took time.

The band built more and more audiences and only two years later, in 2004, did it start to see the fruits.

At first it was the song "This Love" that became a huge hit followed by "She Will Be Loved";

Both have become top 10 hits around the world.

Unprecedentedly, 26 weeks after its release, "Songs About Jane" finally managed to climb to the top ten best-selling albums of the week album in the United States.

Thanks to the show and the waiver of the shirt, Levin became a kind of sex symbol and a spoken figure in the gossip columns (Photo: GettyImages)

Two decades since its initial success, Maron Five, who is coming to two shows in Israel in early May, has been impressively successful in maintaining their status as a huge band, perhaps the largest in the world.

When other bands of their generation (perhaps apart from Coldplay) have not released hits for a long time, the Maroons have some all the time.

As album sales in the streaming era dropped to an unprecedented low, the Maroons continue to sell several million from each of their releases.

And it was not easy.

We tried to concentrate on five points (after all, they are from closet 5 ...) how Adam Levin, Jess Carmichael, James Valentine, Matt Flynn, PJ Morton and Sam Ferrer managed to build themselves and maintain their position in the pick.

In the early years, even though the Maroons' first two albums, "Jane" and "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" sold about 15 million copies worldwide, the band knew how to compromise.

Instead of regularly leading their tour, they agreed to diminish their dignity and warm up other great artists, in order to reach a more mature audience.

It turned out that the Maronites warmed up the Rolling Stones, Duran Duran and the Police with quite a few performances, thus exposing themselves to a completely new audience segment.

Not only on stage Maroon Five collaborated.

The band members have already successfully internalized from their first albums that the rock world is in decline and the world of pop and hip hop is thriving.

Maroon Five decided to apply the well-known saying "If you can not beat them, join them".

Thus, over the years they have joined in duets for the stars of the hour, especially for the stars, in creating hits.

The first attempt was with Rihanna, in the hit "If I Never See Your Face Again" from 2008 and since then Maroon Five have repeated the idea over and over again successfully.

Their last collaboration was last year with Megan de Stallion, in the excellent section "Beautiful Mistakes".

Between Rihanna and Megan there were a few more collaborations not to be missed.

In 2011 they teamed up with Christina Aguilera and Wise Califa and created, respectively, the hits "Moves Like Jagger" and "Payphone".

In 2016, they collaborated with acclaimed rapper Kendrick Lamar on the hit "Don't Wanna Know" which reached number six on the US charts.

"Girl Like You" was not only accompanied by Cardi B. In his clip, Levin and his friends starred in some of the biggest stars in the world.

Aces like Alan DeGeneres, Elizabeth Banks, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Silverman and even Gal Gadot from Israel.

The clip for the mesmerizing segment helped him become, among other things, the song of the year in Galgalatz in 2018. The success of "Girl Like You" becoming the song of the year in Galgalatz was a kind of sweet ending to two decades, they were almost always there, almost achieved the song of the year.

"This Love" finished second in 2004, "Move Like Jagger" fourth in 2011, "One More Night" 10th in 2012, "Animals" 6th and "Maps" 10th in 10th 2014, and "Sugar" to 9 in 2015.

On the way from Maron Five, they were also often chosen as the band of the year, in 2004, 2007, 2012 and 2014.

The final stamp of the Israelis' love for them was when in the parade of the decade that concluded the teens, they were chosen as the band of the decade,

She too has a part in success.

Gal Gadot (Photo: screenshot, screenshot)

Openness in the creative styles

Working with artists from different genres has led Maroon Five to also develop and create in parallel with their guitar pieces pieces from other and fashionable genres.

Along with rock songs, the Maroons also operate in the world of dance, EDM, electronics and hip hop, which keeps them as an updated ensemble, which manages to reach the young audience all the time as well.

The Maronites have taken care to act this way from the beginning.

Already in the single "This Love" from 2004 they turned to Kenya West who will make the song a successful remix.

They later worked with other reputable remixers and producers, such as Tiesto, Farrell Williams and Mark Ronson, who managed to open the lineup to more plazas and audiences.

Along the way, starting with the 2012 album Overexposed, Maron Five also began working with producers who tuned their sound to new venues.

Among other things, the Maronites worked with people like the Swedish Black.

The producer, who was best known for his works with pop singers like Britney Spears, Taylor Swift and Avril Levin, brought Maron Five closer to the current audience with a hit like "Animals" from the album "V".

That Black was not the only one and the Maroons worked with the biggest producers of the pop world and together released huge hits.

With Dr. Locke they released "Sugar", with Monsters & Strangers "Memories" and with Max Martin "Day Light".

Maron Five performing in Israel, Hayarkon Park, Tel Aviv, May 9 and 10 (Photo: GettyImages)

4. Adam Levin's Connection With Musical Reality Shows On TV

One of the major phenomena in music in the last 20 years has been the transformation of musical reality shows into an influential and central factor in the success of stars.

Huge names like One Direction (and Harry Styles), Susan Boyle, Kelly Clarkson, Camilla Cabio and many more - have burst from reality shows around the world.

Programs like "The X Factor", "The Voice", "America's Got Talent" and others.

Adam Levin correctly understood the trend and to be in matters joined the program "The Voice", where he served as a judge / mentor for eight seasons, from 2011 to 2019. The influence of "The Voice" on Levin and Maron Five was enormous.

Not only was the song "Moves Like Jagger" revealed in a performance in the first season with Levin, in a huge performance that made it an instant hit, in Israel, by the way, the song gained a special push thanks to Tal Friedman's parody of "Great Country", which created a local version of the song "Move Like Comfort" ", As a reference to the Ethnics lead singer, Zeev Nehama.

Levin also became very attached to the artists and the program.

In the three of the eight seasons he participated contestants from his team won, some of which he also helped down the road, after the season ended.

After the success of their first four albums, Maron Five, and especially Adam Levin, realized that they would be more commercially and artistically successful, if they set up a record company through which they would release their music.

Thus, in 2012, Levin founded the label "222".

To amplify the power of "222", Levin has signed a collaboration with the world's largest record company, Universal Music, to give back and distribute their music everywhere.

Starting with the fifth album, "V" from 2014, Maron Five's music comes out on "222", allowing them complete artistic control over the work, with no outside dictates.

One of the big hits that came out on "222" was the single "Memories" which came out in late 2019. The ballad with the reggae vibe became a huge hit in 2020, an international anthem that connected people great to the situation during that year's closures.

As part of the nostalgic spirit evoked by "Memories", "222"

Along with Maroon Five, "222" also signed other artists, most notably those Levin discovered through his job at "The Voice."

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