Maroon 5: calls Max Martin or Dr Luke and they sing over the production
Coldplay: they create their own song then ask Stargate to add a little magic on it. In this case, that weird voice throughout the song (it's actually Chris voice) and some synth.
It's not even comparable. AOAL is still a Rock song, the lead is Jonny's guitar riff.
Wait, this sounds like they're going pop again smh watch them become the new Maroon 5
I remember reading all the way back when Ghost Stories was released that they intended that album to be more experimental while A Head Full of Dreams was always made with the purpose of being mainstream and poppy.