From Abba to Avicii: why Sweden exports so much pop

There is something that unites the greatest pop songs of the last fifty years: it is a nation.

And no, we’re not talking about the United States. And not even the UK. The nation in question has one thirty-second of the inhabitants of the United States and one seventh of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom, yet it is the third country in the world for exporting hits. From ABBA to Avicii, through Roxette, Ace of Base, Max Martin, Shellback, Avicii, Robyn, Tove Lo, Lykke Li and Loreen: a huge part of the pop music that has been climbing the world charts for fifty years speaks Swedish. Or rather, to be more precise: he speaks English, but sounds Swedish. Not only, as is natural, have Swedish blood in the hits that allowed ABBA to sell over 380 million copies worldwide, but also the more recent ones by Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and even “our ” Maneskin. Not only that: the platform that revolutionized the way we listen to music, Spotify, was born in Sweden. Swedish do it better? Yes, Swedes do it (pop) better. And the topic has long been a case study on which pop theorists, communication experts and musicologists have questioned themselves, all looking for the answer to a simple but at the same time enigmatic question: why does Sweden export so much pop?.

From ABBA to Loreen

It was 1974 when a quartet then unknown to the international public competed in the Eurovision Song Contest.

ABBA, called so because of the initials of the names of the four members, Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, had been born two years earlier in Stockholm. While the competitors from the other competing countries performed on the stage of the event each in their own language of origin, ABBA had the intuition to sing in English, trying to make themselves understood by as many people as possible. Their song was called “Waterloo”. It was a born hit, with a chorus that to say was catchy would be an understatement: «Waterloo / I was defeated, you won the war / Waterloo / promise to love you forevermore», sang Agnetha and Anni-Frid, showing off their flamboyant costumes. It was the beginning of an extraordinary success, the echo of which still resonates throughout the world today. Forty-nine years later, in 2023, a Swedish artist returned to triumph on the Eurovision stage, rather than to close a circle to continue to fuel the sacred fire lit by the “Mamma Mia” quartet: Loreen with “Tatoo” two years ago he made history on the stage of the continental event, winning his second victory in eleven years, after that of 2012 with “Euphoria”. In the interesting Netflix series “This Is pop”, which deals with various themes related to popular music, there is an episode called “Stockholm Syndrome” and it is a genealogy of the pop phenomenon made in Sweden.

Beyond ABBA: the case of Roxette and that of Ace of Base

It is common opinion that the “Big Bang” of Swedish pop, if we want to define it that way, was represented by ABBA’s global success after their triumph at the Eurovision Song Contest.

The first to claim it was Björn Ulvaeus, driving force behind the hits that allowed the quartet to climb the world charts: «When a person born in a small country like Sweden has such success, everyone thinks: “If he made it her, I can do it too'”. Right, very right. But it was not entirely obvious that after the success of ABBA so many Swedish musicians would be able to establish themselves on the world scene, writing some of the most important pages of pop music. To wit: they have Swedish DNA – in no particular order – “Baby one more time” by Britney Spears, “I want it that way” by Backstreet Boys, “It’s my life” by Bon Jovi, “I kissed a girl”, “California gurls”, “Teenage dream” by Katy Perry, “We are never ever getting back together”, “Shake it off”, “Blank space” and “Bad blood” by Taylor Swift. And again: “Supermodel” by Maneskin, “Moves like Jagger” by Maroon 5, “Kiss you” and “What makes you beautiful” by One Direction, “Cant’ feel my face” by The Weeknd and “I don’t care ” by Ed Sheeran. The link between ABBA, whose career took place in less than ten years, between 1974 and 1982, is represented by Roxette. Starting from Halmstad, a city overlooking the Kattegat Strait, between Denmark and Sweden, Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson fueled the fire lit by Björn Ulvaeus and his companions, conquering the United States between the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 90s with hits like “The look”, “Listen to your heart” and “Joyride”. To confirm once and for all to the Anglo-American public that in addition to ABBA tunes there was much, much more, Ace of Base then took care of it: it was 1993 when their “All that she wants” made the discos around town dance world. Behind that hit that mixed dance pop and reggae fusion there was the hand of a producer destined to have a central role in the globalization of Swedish pop music.

The man who brought Swedish music into the future

Denniz Pop, real name Dag Kristler Volle, who died prematurely in 1998, wanted to somehow detach Swedish music from the cumbersome legacy of ABBA, bringing it into the future.

And he succeeded, also thanks to the brilliant intuition of opening a recording studio that was much more than a simple recording room. The Cheiron Studios in Stockholm were a sort of Andy Warhol’s Factory applied to music: Denniz Pop gathered talented Swedish musicians, authors and composers around him. When Ace of Base became a worldwide phenomenon, suddenly English and American labels rushed to Stockholm in search of the producer: everyone wanted to sign with Cheiron to produce, record and compose for their artists. The first to be shipped from the US to Sweden? They were the five members of a boy band originally from Orlando, Florida, who would soon become popular with a hit entitled “I want it that way”: they were, naturally, the Backstreet Boys. The turning point, however, only occurred when a song began to take shape within the walls of Cheiron that would represent a point of no return for world pop music of the 2000s: “Baby one more time” by Britney Spears.

The legacy of Denniz Pop

Denniz Pop, however, did not have time to witness the resounding success of that single born from the minds of two of his students, Max Martin and Rami Yacoub (another was Shellback, real name Karl Johan Schuster), destined to appear in the credits of all the greatest pop records of the next twenty years: the producer died after a long illness in August 1998, two months before the triumph of the former Disney starlet. Over the last fifteen years (at least), rather than importing American stars, Sweden has been exporting producers and hitmakers to the United States: it was by collecting performances at the main electronic music festivals in Europe and the United States that Avicii, 17 billion streams on platforms with hits like “Wake me up”, “Hey brother” and “Level”, still ballads all over the world today, established himself as one of the greatest DJs of his generation. Max Martin has lived in Los Angeles for some time. According to estimates, thanks to the many successes signed over the years he has managed to build a net worth of 400 million dollars. In terms of the number of hits he wrote that ended up at the top of the charts, he is second only to Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

Music culture in Sweden

Of course, ABBA, Roxette, Ace of Base, Denniz Pop’s methodology.

But for some there is more. On Reddit, many users trace the success of Swedish pop to Stockholm’s music culture: «We have compulsory music lessons as part of the curriculum from first to ninth grade, which I think helps encourage a lot of people to be interested in music. We also have our own “culture schools” (direct translation) which focus on music and instruments, theatre, choir and other arts, all of this is therefore quite accessible and allows children and teenagers to develop their interest in music early », writes a user in a thread. It’s an interesting (and encouraging) interpretation. But there are those who point out: «Norway has exactly the same thing and is nowhere near Sweden’s success in pop music. The same can be said of Denmark.” And yet another reiterates: «Sweden is simply very good at marketing its brands globally, especially for a country of its size. IKEA, Volvo, H&M, Electrolux, Ericsson, Spotify, Klarna, Linux. I’m sure I forgot some. I suppose their global spread of pop music is just an extension of that success.” In short, the question remains open. And as long as it does, Swedish pop will continue to dominate the world.