Stockholm insights
The Music Industry In Stockholm
Photo: Lieselotte van der Meijs, Imagebank SwedenThe music industry in Stockholm has a long history with many prominent contributions to the international music scene. With its heritage and former glory days with ABBA and Avicii, the music industry in Stockholm is still significant and still growing.
The music industry in Stockholm has a long history with many prominent contributions to the international music scene. With its heritage and former glory days with ABBA and Avicii, the music industry in Stockholm is still significant and still growing.
Sweden in general - and Stockholm in particular - is one of the world's top music exporters, despite our small size. What is it that makes Stockholm so successful in music? One answer is that success breeds success. In Stockholm, the technology and music industries have grown to become world leaders. It is at the intersection of these two successful hubs that synergies emerge.
Stockholm is the birthplace of many leading music technology companies. Pioneers like Spotify and SoundCloud, as well as synthesizers from Teenage Engineering, are all inventions from Stockholm. Other companies that have had a global impact include Soundtrack Your Brand and Epidemic Sound.
5 facts about Stockholm and music
- Proud hometown of ABBA, Zara Larsson, First Aid Kit, Europe, Tove Lo, Robyn, Icona Pop, Swedish House Mafia, Lykke Li.
- Pioneers like Spotify and SoundCloud, as well as synthesizers from Teenage Engineering are all inventions from Stockholm.
- Sweden is the world's third-largest net exporter of music, and Stockholm is the hub of that business.
- Stockholm-born Max Martin has the single most No. 1 songs among producers in the history of the Billboard Hot 100.
- Seedtable recently listed music and audio startups to watch and work for in 2024, 13 of which are based in Stockholm, more than any other city relative to population size.
The music industry in numbers
Over the past ten years, the Swedish music market has grown rapidly. In 2022, companies in the industry had a turnover of just over SEK 2 billion from sales of recorded music. Ten years earlier, the amount was almost half that. Digital music, and in particular streaming services, accounted for the largest share of music sales in Sweden. Over 94% of revenues were generated through streaming as of 2022, while CDs and vinyl each accounted for 3% of total recorded music sales.
Photo: Ulf LeideMain players in the market
The largest record companies in Sweden are Warner Music Sweden AB, Sony Music Entertainment AB, and Universal Music AB. In recent years, Universal Music AB and Sony Music have had the largest market shares, while smaller companies such as Playground Music Scandi AB or Border Music Distribution are gaining a smaller but stable share. Some smaller companies, such as Kobald Music Scandinavia AB, which also produced superstar Avicii's songs, still generate a significant and growing revenue stream.
Spotify plays a key role in the consumer side of the Swedish music market. The Stockholm-based streaming giant has been a leader in the music streaming market worldwide and in Sweden in recent years.
Spotify
Spotify changed the world of music forever. Launched in Stockholm in 2006, today it's the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with more than 602 million users, including 236 million subscribers in more than 180 markets. Spotify has inspired its own Netflix TV series, The Playlist, which focuses on its invention by coder and co-founder Daniel Ek, and the growth of Spotify into a tech unicorn.
Soundcloud
Soundcloud is an artist-first platform empowering artists to build and grow their careers. It is one of the largest music streaming services in the world and is available in 190 countries. Soundcloud was founded in 2007 by two students from the Stockholm School of Economics, Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, who later relocated the business to Berlin.
Photo: Henrik Trygg