sign in sign up
<<
Home , Denniz Pop, Ian Haugland, Max Martin, Neneh Cherry, Roxette, Tove Lo

SWEDISH POP EXPORTS

- – ONE OF THE LEADING POP-MUSIC NATIONS TODAY contacts outside the country. It is therefore A third explanation is the support of natural that everyone speaks at least one Swedish study organisations. Young THE USA: 318 MILLION PEOPLE. other language. Swedes who want to develop their musical Just about all Swedes speak English. talent can get assistance with renting re- THE U.K: 60 MILLION. In contrast to other European countries hearsal spaces and purchasing instruments. such as Italy, Spain and Germany, Sweden Songwriter and producer Shellback does not dub English-language television – with eight Billboard No.1 hits – has SWEDEN: 10 MILLION. series and films: as a result, Swedes expressed his thanks to ABF, a union- hear English spoken every day. Younger supported education fund, for WORLD’S THREE LEADING Swedes who grew up with the internet, opportunity to pursue his music. computers, computer games and music – A fourth reason, and possibly the most where English predominates – can be said important, is mentorship. Swedish songwrit- POP-MUSIC NATIONS TODAY. to be bilingual. ers and producers work in a non-hierarchi- Swedes are also among the most- cal, collaborative way, supporting each other. travelled people in the world. A great many Everything started with Swedish songwriters and producers are ron Studios at ’s Fridhemsplan. Swedish school students travel on lan- (1963-1998). He mentored , the powering the biggest performers in the PoP, who’s first No.1, was with Ace of guage trips, through companies such as EF. most successful songwriter in the world world. During 2014, 25 per cent of the Base, created a non-hierarchical way of Another reason for Sweden’s inter- over the past 20 years. Martin in his turn No.1 hits on the American Billboard pop working, songwriting as teamwork, which national success is the advanced standard has mentored Shellback. chart were written by Swedes. influenced the way modern international and high level of uptake of modern tech- In recent years, Shellback and Martin When performed at the is created and sounds today. nology in the country. have been mentors for the Wolf Cousins, Super Bowl in January 2015, the first Many of the world’s biggest stars today When the internet took off, Sweden nine young producers behind tracks such songs she performed were written by – Katy Perry, , , was number 2 in the world, after the US. as ’s Sweden’s Max Martin. (The sixth and final , , Pink, Madon- Since the birth of mobile telephony, (theme song for the film Fifty Shades of song was Norwegian.) na, , , Adam Sweden has had the second-highest Grey), Ariana Grande’s Problem and Tove Lambert, – perform songs mobile phone density in the world, after Lo’s Stay High. HOW IS THAT created by Swedes. Finland. The ability to adapt quickly to new On several occasions during the technology has proven vital in the increas- Shellback POSSIBLE? 2010s, half the songs on the US Top- ingly digital music industry. The fact that a peripheral, out-of-the-way 10 list have been written by Swedes. All modern recordings are digitalised country like Sweden – with an obscure lan- Swedish pop in the 2010s is domi- in some way. Mixing and editing is done guage understood by nobody outside the nated by women: , , Lykke using computers. And when it comes to Nordic region – could take such a position Li, Seinabo Sey, First Aid Kit, Say Lou forms of music such as techno, house, hip in the English-speaking music world is as Lou… the list could be three times as long. hop, modern R&B and synth pop, all the unlikely as Albania or Uruguay doing it. When it comes to songwriters and music is performed using computers. The story of Swedish pop exports producers, men are in the majority, but There is surprisingly little difference starts with ABBA. The super group was a women are making inroads there too. between a modern recording studio and phenomenon, demonstrating for coming There are numerous Swedish songwriters an IT company. The entrepreneurial spirit generations of Swedish musicians that it among the best in the world today. behind them, the ‘idea factory,’ and the was possible to come from Sweden and interior design are all similar. Stockholm, achieve international success. which during the IT hysteria at the end of Groups such as Roxette, Europe and CAUSES the 1990s was seen as the leading IT city The Cardigans followed, but the founda- How could little Sweden have such a huge in Europe, also has the highest number of tions for today’s Swedish pop exports influence on contemporary popular culture? recording studios per capita in the world. were really laid in the 1990s with the One reason is the country’s diminutive Sweden is also a leader in music songwriters and producers congregating size. The domestic market is so small that distribution, with companies such as around Denniz PoP (1963–1998) and Chei- for most professions, it is essential to have Spotify and Soundcloud.

SWEDISH POP EXPORTS. TEXT BY JAN GRADVALL #1 ‘I started playing drums at 13 after hearing my all-time favourite drummer MUNICIPAL Cozy Powell playing a drum solo. I was 8 REASONS WHY MUSIC SCHOOLS totally overcome by the sheer power of drums and felt right away that “this was If you’re wondering why Sweden produc- it”,’ says Europe drummer Ian Haugland, es such great artists with staying power, who did two years at kommunala musik- SWEDEN ROCKS it’s worth taking a closer look at how skolan. ‘Apart from the drums I can also Swedish children are raised especially play a little guitar and keyboards, but not – within the realm of music. enough to scare the rats out of the cellar!’ Anders Nunstedt, a music reporter and editor for daily newspaper Expressen, Did you know that Sweden is the world’s most says the most obvious reason is municipal #2 music schools (kommunala musikskolan) SINGING IN CHOIRS successful exporter of chart music, in relation that – while not mandatory – were hugely popular in Sweden during the 70s and For those who can carry a tune, many to GDP?* From ABBA to , 80s and still are. ‘During these decades start out in choirs. According to Sveriges success from artists like ABBA gave young Körförbund (the Swedish choir union), Robyn, Tove Lo and First Aid Kit, via Roxette Swedish musicians confidence that, even roughly 600,000 Swedes sing in choirs, though Sweden is a small country, we can and the union represents about 500 choirs. and The Cardigans, there always seems to be at still make a big impact on the international While these numbers may not seem stag- music scene,’ notes Nunstedt. gering at first glance, they actually make least one Swedish act at the top. Here are eight Access to instruments and classes Sweden the country with the highest num- are provided through music schools run ber of choirs per capita in the entire world. reasons why Sweden, with 10 million inhabit- by various local municipalities so many Sweden’s strong choral tradition comes children try their hands at different types from a deep-seated culture of singing folk ants, rocks the music scene globally. of instruments to finally find which ones songs, especially around Midsummer and they’re naturally good at. major festivities like .

* According to a paper by American researchers Joel Waldfogel and Fernando

Ferreira of the University of First Aid Kit Pennsylvania Wharton School, Sweden is the number one ex- porter of chart music relative to GDP in the world, followed by Canada, Finland, the UK, New Zealand and the US (based on data from 1960 to 2007).

8 REASONS WHY SWEDEN ROCKS. TEXT BY LOLA AKINMADE ÅKERSTRÖM Internationally acclaimed Swedish DJ #3 #4 #5 Tim Bergling, more widely known as THE SWEDISH SWEDES INDEPENDENCE , organised the X You project which GOVERNMENT LOVES BEHIND IS was touted as the world’s largest music collaboration – bringing together 4,199 TOO THE SCENES VALUED people from 140 countries who contributed 12,951 melodies, basslines, beats, rhythms, Since 1997, the Swedish government has You might be surprised to find that Swedish Many Swedish artists take full control of breaks and effects – all made possible by awarded its Music Export Prize in recogni- songwriters lie behind many chart-topping their creative process – from songwriting technology. tion of international musical achievements pop songs today. There’s songwriter and to owning their own labels and marketing Sweden-based Spotify is the modern by Swedes. Past honourees have included producer Max Martin, who has penned themselves independently – and day digital equivalent of ‘word of mouth’ Swedish House Mafia, Robyn, members catchy pop tunes for Britney Spears, Taylor sensation Robyn is just one example. She music recommendations. Started in 2006 of ABBA, The Hives, The Cardigans, Max Swift, Katy Perry, Pink, , Backstreet founded Konichiwa Records in 2005 to by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, Spotify Martin, and Roxette. Boys, and ‘N Sync. There’s producer Shell- cover all aspects of her music career such allows users to freely listen to, stream, and ‘Our well-developed social system back, who topped Billboard’s 2012 chart as as media management, recording con- share millions of music tracks to their com- makes it possible for people to create the #1 producer and has written for Maroon tracts, and her creative process. puters and smartphones. Many artists, both music even though they do not have a lot 5. And there is RedOne, who has written ‘I reached a point where it was no international and Swedish, maintain Spotify of income’, says Daniel Johansson, music for , Lady Gaga, Pitbull, and One fun anymore’, Robyn says regarding a profiles – Avicii is one of them. industry researcher at Linnaeus University Direction. To name just three Swedes. previous record company relationship. ‘I With Spotify’s Facebook integration, and founder of music analysis firm Trend- ‘A lot of talent was attracted to Cheiron wanted to alter my situation and create a users can also see and listen to what their Maze. This is often jokingly expressed as Studios in Stockholm where they recorded bubble of my own where I could decide friends are currently playing as well. ‘socialbidraget som ligger bakom det their smash hits alongside Swedish song- the parameters myself.’ This keeps their svenska musikundret’ (‘the social welfare writers’, adds Nunstedt. ‘International acts style and sounds organically unique with- behind the Swedish music miracle’) which like Britney Spears and out the pressures of third party manage- #7 highlights the Swedish government’s sup- came to Cheiron and left Sweden with ment companies. EUROVISION port of musicians and artists through the Billboard top hits in their hand luggage.’ Other examples include: Today Is Swedish Arts Council. Launched in 1986 under its original Vintage Records, which was founded by Sweden’s annual Melodifestivalen is the The council funds those in the early name SweMix, the studio was run by Swedish rapper Rebstar; Rabid Records most watched TV programme in Sweden, stages of their careers by allocating roughly producer Denniz Pop, the brains behind which is run by electro-pop duo The with roughly 4 million viewers out of almost SEK 1 billion (USD 110 million, EUR 102 Backstreet Boys’ hit ‘Everybody (Back- Knife; and INGRID, which is a collective 10 million residents unleashing their inner million) in the form of grants to performing street’s Back)’. The studio changed its name label founded by 13 artists and musicians music critic while voting. More importantly, arts every year. Miss Li is just one to Cheiron when it was sold to BMG in 1993 including and Peter Bjorn & John. the winner of Melodifestivalen goes on to example of artists who’ve received grants and it was where some of Sweden’s top represent Sweden in the annual Eurovision from the Swedish Arts Council. ‘Most of producers and DJs convened to churn out Song Contest – the world’s most watched the really successful Swedish songwriters memorable hits. Though Cheiron Studios #6 non-sporting event. and producers have been able to learn closed its doors in 1998 due to Denniz Pop’s TECHNOLOGY Following Måns Zelmerlöv’s triumph in their craft because of support from socie- untimely death, its producers such as Max Vienna with ‘’ at Eurovision 2015, ty’, continues Johansson. ‘If they’d been Martin have gone on to elevate Swedish Many Swedish artists also control how Sweden now boasts six Eurovision wins. forced into traditional 9-to-5 desk jobs while songwriting globally. their music is consumed and disseminat- Sweden is the second most winning coun- trying to develop as artists, they probably Sweden also boasts music video ed digitally. Audio platform SoundCloud try after Ireland which has won seven times. wouldn’t have become so successful.’ directors such as Johan Renck, who has allows artists to upload, record, promote Winning Eurovision in 1974 with their Another interesting initiative is the directed music videos for , and share their original sounds. Swedish chart-topping ‘Waterloo’, ABBA’s Benny Nordic Playlist, an online platform aiming Robbie Williams, and Sweden’s own Robyn, singer-songwriter Lykke Li actively uses Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus came to a to spread cutting-edge music from the as well as director Jonas Åkerlund, who SoundCloud to spread her music and full circle in 2013 when they were tasked to the rest of the world. keeps pushing boundaries with edgy music share it with SoundCloud’s 20+ million with composing the official anthem for The website is produced by the Nordic videos for , Lady Gaga, Moby, member-strong communities of fans, the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest along- Music Export Programme. , Pink, and U2. followers, and fellow artists. side Avicii.

8 REASONS WHY SWEDEN ROCKS. TEXT BY LOLA AKINMADE ÅKERSTRÖM 8 REASONS WHY SWEDEN ROCKS. TEXT BY LOLA AKINMADE ÅKERSTRÖM

Visitors can learn more about ABBA’s about ABBA’s Visitors can learn more The 90s also brought with it Ace of brought with it Ace The 90s also First Aid Kit: Nils Linde Kit: Nils Aid First Robyn: Magnus Klackenstam PHOTO CREDITS: PHOTO Ruiz, Imagebank.Sweden.se Rodrigo Rivas Front: Roos Daniel Shellback: Duell Larsson: Pao Zara

Base and Neneh’s brother Eagle Eye Cherry brother Eagle Eye Neneh’s Base and who bands like The Cardigans alongside the early pass the baton into would later of indie rockers2000s on to the likes Bjorn & John, and Jens The Hives, Peter Li, Lykke artists Robyn, Today, Lekman. pop charts inand Miss Li now dominate their respective genres. the new ABBAimpressive career at contribution Sweden’s Museum as well as Swedish Music Hallto global music at the on the island of – both located of Fame Djurgården in Stockholm. successful group ever behind the Beatles, the ever behind group successful Europe and Neneh Cherry, came Roxette, 90s. the 80s and early who rocked

- After ABBA, who ruled the 70s and ‘We have a strong tradition of folk music have a strong ‘We the second mostearly 80s to become it’, Spot say The Ian Haugland. ‘Let´s says ABBA in the 70snicks in the 60s inspired in the 80s and so on.’ which inspired Roxette move through the decades. think great artistsin Sweden but I also to other artists to makeserve as inspiration Chart-topping Swedish musical acts and Swedish Chart-topping the proverbialsongwriters keep passing baton to each other as they hit-making THE ABBA EFFECT It’s the not to include nearly impossible this one. of ABBA in a list like influence #8 Robyn