Northern Europe
The sound of Sweden
A country of nine million that exports pop the way other countries export oil — and, on the other side of the ledger, some of the most precise melodic death metal ever recorded. The dansband and schlager tradition underneath both is the part outsiders never hear.
1,316 artists in the catalog.
What Sweden does that nowhere else does
Genres far more common here than across the rest of the catalog. The multiplier is how much more common, weighted by how many artists carry it.
Five records to start with
Not a canon — a way in. Each one links to what it is, who it's for and where to go next.
Swedish artists worth walking into
Ordered by how much we can tell you, not just by how well-known they are.
Psilodump
chiptune
Where to start →Vikingarna
dansband music
Where to start →Roxette
Europop · dance-pop
Where to start →Kikki Danielsson
country music · country pop
Where to start →Siw Malmkvist
schlager music
Where to start →Lil Peep
alternative hip-hop · alternative rock
Where to start →Kent
rock music · synth-pop
Where to start →Carola Häggkvist
pop music
Where to start →Basshunter
Eurodance · electro
Where to start →Katatonia
alternative metal · doom metal
Where to start →Per Gessle
pop music
Where to start →Europe
glam metal · hard rock
Where to start →