As the home of Spotify, Sweden was one of the first countries to see truly-mainstream adoption of music streaming. But over time, that also led to expectations that it would be one of the first countries to hit a streaming ceiling: market saturation.
Is that happening? Not just yet, according to Ludvig Werner, CEO of IFPI Sweden. Interviewed for our latest country profile, Werner said that price increases, Sweden’s growing population – up roughly 1m in the last 15 years – and the adoption of streaming by older listeners are key factors.
“The entire streaming market has become more and more mature. hey had been tapping into music genres, for example, that have been traditionally older music: folk music or classical or country or schlager, that is pretty big up here,” he said.
“I think there’s been a lot of effort, a lot of programmes and initiatives and marketing activities, pulling people over to Spotify and other DSPs.”
The IFPI does not have accurate figures for the number of music-streaming subscribers in Sweden, although Werner suggested it is somewhere north of four million.
He added that streaming has managed to reaches even the fringes of Sweden’s population – “to people who didn’t really think they needed it… Even if you’re not really interested in music. It’s like electricity: that’s how you get music.”
Sweden was the 16th biggest recorded-music market globally in 2022 according to the IFPI, with revenues growing 6.7% to $235.5m. Streaming accounted for just under 80% of those revenues, with subscriptions up 5.7% to $166.9m as part of that.
It may not be the growth of the boom years, but neither is it yet the stagnation that had been predicted, although the Swedish music industry will not be complacent about the work needed to continue finding new ways to grow.
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