Tag: International

Swedish Pop Star Tove Lo Kicks Off New Nordic Spotify Studio Program With Veronica Maggio Cover

From ABBA to Robyn, pop music remains one of Sweden’s greatest exports. And among the artists who have risen to international acclaim is Tove Lo, who helped us kick off the new Nordic Spotify studio program Studio It’s Hits by covering Swedish pop star Veronica Maggios “I’m Coming.”

Studio It’s Hits is an extension of Sweden’s most popular playlist, It’s Hits Sweden. The program invites some of the region’s top artists and songwriters to showcase their talent and creativity—whether by recording a cover, remaking one of their own songs, or releasing something totally new. 

“Our ambition is always to support artist creativity and make a positive impact in their career,” says Johan Seidefors, Head of Content Nordics, Spotify. “Through combining this new studio program with the extension of our biggest and most popular playlists, we can give more artists the chance to come to our studio, record something new, and present themselves to existing and new fans.” 

Tove’s cover was recorded earlier this year in Spotify’s headquarters studio in Stockholm. You might be familiar with the original version, “Jag kommer,” which has remained popular since its release a decade ago.

“This song has been one of my absolute favorites since it came out,” Tove told For the Record. “I have so many memories of it, and I’ve always been so impressed with Veronica Maggio’s way with words. I could never write in Swedish the way she can. It’s the perfect mix of poetic, ‘everyday romance’ and making the Swedish summertime feel epic and melancholic all at once.”

While the original song—which has amassed over 65 million streams on Spotify—was written and recorded in Swedish, Tove recorded her version in English. The song was produced by up-and-coming producer Elvira Anderfjärd.

“It was such a cool challenge to translate something so close to my heart and to work with my band and Elvira in the Spotify Studio. Experimenting and playing around with the sound was the perfect studio experience I know and love.”

From BTS to BLACKPINK, the Power of K-Pop Has No Bounds

K-Pop is beloved by fans around the world, so we took to the data to see just how popular the music is globally. The genre, which originated in South Korea, has since taken on a life of its own. Thanks to East-meets-West collaborations from BTS and U.S. singer-songwriter Halsey, whose “Boy With Luv” track has over 380 million streams, the reach continues to grow as more and more fans in countries like Egypt and Colombia connect with the music.

Since Spotify released its first K-Pop flagship playlist, K-Pop Daebak, in 2014 (and then a massive hub dedicated to the genre in 2015), there have been more than 41 billion K-Pop streams on Spotify. From rising artists to international collaborations, there’s something for both new and old K-Pop lovers on the platform.

Top-streamed K-Pop artists on Spotify include BTS, BLACKPINK, EXO, TWICE, and Red Velvet. In 2019, BTS was the first group from Asia to surpass 5 billion streams on Spotify. And, as of February 2020, the boy band reached a new milestone: more than 8 billion streams (8 billion streams!) on the platform.

No “FAKE LOVE” here, folks. See how much Spotify listeners love the genre.

Download the infographic here.

Check out the K-Pop Daebak playlist and stream BTS’ MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 The Enhanced Album, which is exclusively available on Spotify.