
Sweden has always had great success showcasing its musical talent globally, especially in the dance and pop spheres. But 2025 is shaping up to be a special year for Swedish music at large, especially when it comes to the artists who are experimenting with genre-defying sounds.
At the start of the year, we put a spotlight on this scene with our list of Swedish Artists To Watch in 2025 featuring some of the country's most promising indie acts, as well as hip-hop stars who are pushing their styles into new melodic territories. The list exemplifies the global appeal of Sweden's music scene.
Next month, the 42nd edition of Sweden's Grammis awards show returns to recognize the nation's best and brightest musical talents. As a proud sponsor of this annual celebration, Spotify recently had the honor of announcing the nominees for the Best New Artist category, which include: Becky and the Birds, Hannes Aitman, ORKID, Sunnan, and Y4ska.
NEXT
To get the inside scoop on Sweden's thriving music scene, as well as the genres and artists breaking through, For the Record sat down with Emma Vikstr m, Spotify Music Editorial Lead in the Nordics.
What makes the Swedish music scene so unique? Despite being a small country, Sweden exports the most music per capita. Our artists have had a major impact globally, and Spotify data shows that Swedish artists are streamed more outside of our country than within.
There are legendary groups like ABBA that helped shape the sound of pop music, trendsetters like Robyn that have had an outsized influence on the artistry of stars like Tove Lo, and ubiquitous icons like Avicii that left an indelible mark on dance music.
Songwriters and producers have been just as important to our music culture as well, if not more! You know your favorite global hit? There's a good chance a Swedish songwriter or producer was involved. Max Martin defined an entire generation of pop music and is still making his presence felt through artists like Ariana Grande. And there are so many more examples. Ludwig G ransson has worked with Rihanna, Patrik Berger has worked with Taylor Swift, and Carl Falk has worked with One Direction, to name a few.
Was this still the case in 2024? New releases from Swedish artists are definitely finding fans abroad.
Looking back at 2024, we saw notable releases from hitmakers like Galantis, Zara Larsson, and Robyn, and they all resonated with a global audience. And interestingly, artists who may not be familiar names globally-like Elliphant, Benjamin Ingrosso, and Mapei-have also found new fans abroad. Swedish songwriters Noonie Bao and Linus Wiklund also influenced a whole world with Charli Xcx's Apple, one of the biggest songs from Brat Summer.
And we can't forget that last year's Wrapped also revealed Bladee as the most-streamed artist among other artists.
How do you explain the massive global appeal of Swedish music? From a creative perspective, Sweden has a well-developed music education system, with many young people learning to sing, play instruments, and write songs from an early age. There's a collective affinity for melodic pop sounds here thanks to popular music competitions like Melodifestivalen and generational melodic wealth of ABBA's catalogue. And because many Swedish artists sing in English, their songs have a larger global appeal that has increased with the help of Spotify.
From an industry perspective, this global appeal has definitely been aided by Spotify and the overall growth of digital audio and streaming.
And looking at this in the opposite direction, music fans in Sweden are also early adopters who are tapped into global sounds. The first region where Shaboozey's A Bar Song (Tipsy) landed a number-one hit was in Sweden and Nordics.
How do Spotify's editorial playlists shape music trends in Sweden and the rest of the world? Our playlists highlight the best and most culturally relevant music for users, but in contextual ways. Some playlists will cater to different tastes, moods, and times of day. Other playlists, like New Music Friday Sweden and pov, highlight the new or trending hits. Fresh Finds Nordics surfaces unsigned artists for the listeners who love being the first to know about an artist. And Hot Hits is all about the biggest hits on the planet right now, plain and simple.
It's also been exciting to watch Teddy Swims, Benson Boone, and GAYLE make waves in the music world at large, as well as our global playlist ecosystem. They all had their first hits playlist adds in Nordics or Sweden and reached the top of the charts here before anywhere. Nordic users love discovering new music and being first with trends, which makes our curation strategy even more bold. We bet on songs in our playlist ecosystems that then eventually turn into global hits and keep our users satisfied.
Music sharing and discovery continue to evolve. How does this benefit artists and consumers? Artists from almost anywhere in the world have a chance to be discovered. A Swedish artist could have a bigger fan base and audience in other countries, and artists from other countries could have bigger fan bases in Sweden. That's the beauty of Spotify being global by design.
For listeners, it has never been easier to find their new favorite artists. With more than 100 million songs on Spotify today, there's something for everyone to discover. And sometimes, those discoveries happen through the songs and artists and genres recommended by our editors.
We're aware of the responsibility that our platform has to spotlight promising artists who may be in the early stages of their careers or are just breaking through to stardom and take active strides to ensure we support these by leaning into the Best New Artist category at Grammis or developing our Fresh Finds Nordics flagship
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
01/09/2026
Bridge Technologies will announce at IBC2026 (Booth 1.A71) that its VB440 produc...
01/09/2026
DAZN has announced an agreement to acquire EverPass Media, a commercial sports distribution platform serving bars, restaurants, hotels, and other venues in the ...
01/09/2026
The USTA and Kalshi have announced a multi-year partnership making Kalshi the Official Prediction Market Partner of the US Open, beginning with the 2026 US Open...
01/09/2026
MASV will exhibit at IBC2026 (Booth 5.B40, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14). CTO Majed Alhajry will appear on a panel session, A Tale of Two Feeds: Automation o...
01/09/2026
FingerWorks Telestrators has announced a partnership with Broadcast Rental to ex...
01/09/2026
FOR-A has announced the expansion of viztrick AiDi into two dedicated products: Go Vertical! AiDi and AiDi Sports Hub. Developed by Nippon TV and delivered glob...
01/09/2026
Sony Pictures Television has launched Live TV on PS5, a free ad-supported streaming experience available to PS5 players in the United States. The service is acc...
01/09/2026
Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin has installed a Riedel production infrastructure spanning video, intercom, control, and I/O across the venue, implemented in col...
01/09/2026
Arkona technologies GmbH has announced an OEM partnership with BFE Studio und Medien Systeme GmbH to offer arkona-branded control panels for its SDI-IP routing ...
01/09/2026
Cricket Australia has launched Cricket TV, a direct-to-consumer streaming service built on Eluvio's Content Fabric platform. The service is currently in ear...
01/09/2026
Eluvio has announced it was selected to power Pasifika , a new direct-to-consume...
01/09/2026
Layercake, the company behind the intelligent media workflow platform Streamcake, has appointed Jon Marquard as Director and Chairperson. The appointment marks ...
01/09/2026
Gravity Media has announced a multi-year renewal of its agreement with Stawell Gift Event Management to produce the complete broadcast of the Powercor Stawell G...
01/09/2026
Beam Dynamics will exhibit at IBC2026 for the first time (Stand 14.FT29, Hall 14), introducing License Intelligence, a new module for managing software licenses...
01/09/2026
Interra Systems has announced that ZOO Digital has selected BATON for file-based quality control across its media workflows. ZOO Digital delivers localized ente...
01/09/2026
Bridge Technologies has announced the deployment of its VB330 monitoring probe at Sunrise, supporting the Swiss telecommunications provider's IP-based telev...
01/09/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the continued expansion of its managed coach communications partnership with Scottish Rugby Union, now entering its third se...
01/09/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
01/09/2026
SMPTE today detailed the centerpiece of its IBC2026 program: the SMPTE Roadshow: Future of Media Infrastructure, a full-day workshop on Monday, 14 September, th...
01/09/2026
Inside the Music and Sound of Michael
Sound Particles have announced an upcoming webinar with John Warhurst, the Academy Award- and BAFTA-winning supervisin...
01/09/2026
Piano offers tutorials, lessons & feedback via app
Roland have just launched a new digital piano that integrates with a mobile app in an effort to encourage...
01/09/2026
Update introduces 7.1.4 support via Dante
Trinnov have just announced a software update that will allow Nova units with eight licensed Optimizer channels to...
01/09/2026
SBS secures exclusive rights to FIFA World Cup 2030
1 September, 2026
Media releases
Major sports rights deal ensures all Australians will be able to view...
01/09/2026
SBS announces the launch of outcomes-based measurement across its network
1 September, 2026
Media releases
New offer sees national broadcaster put outcomes...
01/09/2026
Revealed: The Booster Economy' how $140bn+ in everyday inheritances'...
01/09/2026
SBS census explorer to provide new insights into contemporary Australia
1 September, 2026
Media releases
The 2026 Census Explorer will give marketers new i...
01/09/2026
SBS and oOh!media launch exclusive SBS News content partnership across office, a...
01/09/2026
SBS offers marketers greater reach with extension into outdoor, creator economy ...
01/09/2026
SBS and The Guardian join forces to supersize sustainability challenge for 2027
1 September, 2026
Media releases
SBS Media and Guardian Australia have join...
01/09/2026
SBS goes deeper in 2027 with provocative Australian documentaries, star-studded ...
01/09/2026
Amazon MGM Studios have commissioned a new thrilling 6-part drama, Crouch End, b...
01/09/2026
New York August 31, 2026 Nielsen is announcing four new local methodology enhancements that will be activated into Local TV currency data starting today, Au...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Pronology, a developer of cutting-edge broadcast workflow solutions, showcases the newest capabilities for its StreamFile Core platform at the 2026 IBC Show (S...
01/09/2026
PROTON Unveils Next-Generation FLEXY Camera at IBC 2026
Brie Clayton September 1, 2026
0 Comments
10-metre serialised coax unlocks new perspectives an...
01/09/2026
Hulu Drama The Season Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton September 1, 2026
0 Comments
Senior Colorist Mark Kueper of Picture Shop crafts ...
01/09/2026
Pluxbox Launches CoreOC to Transform Mission-Critical Media Operations
Brie Clayton September 1, 2026
0 Comments
A vendor-agnostic operational control l...
01/09/2026
Layercake, the company behind the intelligent media workflow platform Streamcake, today announced the appointment of Jon Marquard as Director and Chairperson. T...
01/09/2026
Actus Digital, a LiveU company, will unveil the next generation of its Actus X platform at IBC2026 on LiveUs Stand 7.C24, demonstrating how broadcasters can sim...
01/09/2026
Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, delivered transformational technology a...
01/09/2026
Quortex, the intelligent video technology company carved out from Synamedia by Lumine Group, today announced that Odisha Television Network (OTV), the leading r...