Every European country has a visiting card, something that is known and discussed all over the world. Italy prides itself on its food and fashion, France prides itself on its wine and Germany prides itself on its cars, and Singapore is known for its love of online casino games. But not everyone knows that Swedish pop music and music, in general, is one of the most popular in the world. Why Sweden is the main supplier of world hits in recent decades after the United States and Great Britain. For a country of 10 million, this is phenomenal.
How do we perceive Sweden? Adventure by ferry from Finland, Stockholm is a city on islands, national parks in the north, and mysterious Gotland. All this is just a tourist experience. But if you understand the cultural code, it turns out that music in Sweden will be much higher than that of any other country in the world. At the same time, music is popular all over the world. And besides, it is surprisingly diverse – from hits to electronics and hardcore. How is it that music is the best way to understand Sweden? Let’s dig in!
Stockholm, the ’70s: ABBA and Role Models
In the history of Sweden, most likely there will be no musicians more popular than ABBA: 500 million copies of their albums have been sold worldwide. Roxette’s competitors are far behind. At the same time, the cover group ABBA A*Teens is also in the top 15 Swedish bands of all time.
Also, Sweden has been and remains a very receptive country to music trends. The first performances of The Beatles outside the UK took place in Sweden, Sex Pistols also visited the country one of the first in Europe. And European MTV was the first to open broadcasting to the UK, Denmark, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden back in 1987.
Upplands-Väsby, the ’80s: Europe
After ABBA’s success, big international labels began to look closely at the Swedish market. Naturally, everyone wanted to find the next great group. It didn’t take long to wait: ABBA’s last hit at that time, “The Visitor ”, hit the charts in 1982, and already in 1986, the song “Final Countdown” sounded from each iron. The CBS company was lucky: it was she who signed the contract with the Europe group from the Stockholm suburb of Upplands-Väsby.
Halmstad, the ’80s: Roxette and the Cult of Melody
Chance plays an important role in success. It so happened that a chain of events led to the incredible popularity of the Swedish duo Roxette. The single of the group “The Look”, which eventually took the first line of the Billboard charts, was recognized in the United States thanks to an American student. A certain Dean Kashman went to Sweden on an exchange and after the trip brought a disc with a song to a local radio station. Then everything happened by itself. And after Europe, the duo from Halmstad became the next major group, the king of music from Sweden.
Malmo, the ’90s: The Cardigans and Producer Pop
Malmö officially became the pop capital of Sweden in 2000, a title awarded by national radio. And it was to Malmö that The Cardigans moved from Jönköping. Their demo was heard by producer Ola Hermanson and invited the band to record their first album, “Emmerdale”. Ola ended up recording almost all of the Cardigans’ albums – a rare loyalty to a single producer for bands. By the way, Hermanson is also famous for recording the first album by Franz Ferdinand.
Linkoping, the ’00s: Ghost and Mixing Styles
Ghost shared many fans of the genre: some do not consider them to be real metal, some, on the contrary, speak of them as an unexpected evolution of the style. The band, also known for their cover versions, draws a lot from the world of pop music, singing The Beatles, Depeche Mode, and Pet Shop Boys, and Forge, the vocalist, claims to take a lot from a wide variety of genres, not limited to metal.