Songs from Sweden by Ola Johansson

Author:Ola Johansson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811527364
Publisher: Springer Singapore

The Role of Stockholm

Virtually all Swedish activity associated with globally connected songwriting and production takes place in Stockholm, while earlier Swedish rock music thrived in the periphery as well (see Fig. 1.​1). From a network perspective, Stockholm is Sweden’s media and music industry center that draws people from all over the country. From a cluster perspective, Stockholm is large enough to have agglomeration advantages, but small enough that everybody knows each other in an industry such as music. This is important in the cultural industries where information circulates quickly as buzz and the constant search for new collaborative efforts necessitates face-to-face contacts. Stockholm appears to be in a “goldilocks” position in terms of size—not too big, not too small. Avicii’s former manager and co-writer Ash Pournouri lauds the relative smallness of Stockholm’s music industry, making network effects “fantastic” in a place where things get done quickly (Milne 2014). Economist Braunerhjelm (2009) finds a blend of competition and cooperation in Stockholm as well as a reputation for openness, informality, and lack of hierarchy within the industry.

There are also important practical factors, such as the Stockholm airport, which is Sweden’s premier transportation gateway and its only international air hub. Stockholm’s moderate centrality in international travel was sufficient enough not to be an obstacle when its reputation surged, as this anecdote illustrates:A high-strung songwriter at Murlyn Music in Stockholm told Thomas Mottola, the powerful chairman of Sony Music, that his nervous system couldn’t take flying to New York to play his latest pop piece. No problem, said the famously short-fused Mottola. Instead, the Sony boss flew to Sweden. (Morais 2001)

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