Stockholm - the Powerhouse of Sound- The birthplace of Musictech innovations - Invest Stockholm
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Stockholm –
the Powerhouse
of Sound
– The birthplace of
Musictech innovations
June 2016
Introduction 2 Stockholm – the world’s Musictech capital It’s in Stockholm where it all happens. This is where ideas become reality and where companies are created and grow strong. One of the hottest sectors at the moment is Musictech, where music and technology come together. Stockholm is the driving force in Musictech. Here, innovations are transforming the music sector into a more transparent, accessible and democratic industry and offering new forms of entertainment in the process. By Musictech we mean software and hardware for producing and consuming music. Today, companies from Stockholm are dominating the world of streaming music. When combined, Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora Radio (which acquired Stockholm-based Rdio) have a profound influence on the world of revenue-making streaming services. However, Stockholm is not only about streaming and Spotify. Music electronics, digital music production and new companies developing smart new ways of managing music rights are also flourishing and garnering interest from other countries and global giants like Google and Apple. In 2015, Stockholm’s Musictech companies attracted investments of USD 555 million. And yet, this is just the start. In an increasingly digital world, markets are growing rapidly. The streaming sector alone is expected to grow by eleven percent annually and reach a market volume of USD 7.5 billon by 2020. By then, every forth person around the world is expected to use some form of streaming service.1 So, why have Stockholm become the world capital of Musictech? One answer is that success breeds success. Stockholm is a place that acts like an incubator for ideas and where the tech and music industries respectively, have grown into world leaders. It’s in the intersection of these two successful hubs where synergies emerge. We have the future ahead of us. Stockholm’s journey in Musictech has just begun.
Content 3
Content
1 Why Stockholm is the leader in Musictech
– Success breeds success 5
2 The main creators of the Stockholm Musictech scene
– Stockholm, the birthplace of the innovations that are 7
transforming the music industry
– The Stockholm Musictech scene, 25 companies in five markets 8
3 Milestones on the road to success
– Ten years of Stockholm Musictech 19
4 Examples of how Stockholm Musictech influences
the future of the music industry
– ”It's about the future of great ideas.” 21
5 Sources
– Media and interviews 24
Stockholm Business Region
+46 8 508 280 00
www.investstockholm.com
www.visitstockholm.com
www.movetostockholm.com
Why Stockholm is the leader in Musictech 4
Why Stockholm is the
leader in Musictech
Photo: Happy plugs / Image Bank
Why Stockholm is the leader in Musictech 5
Success breeds success
The Musictech companies of Stockholm have already become very successful and are making their
mark thanks to several groundbreaking innovations. But why is it that a city in the north of Europe
has become the breeding ground for so many innovative Musictech companies? There may be
several answers to that question, but here are three.
01
Stockholm - an incubator that
quickly turns ideas into reality
02 03
A world-leading Music Tech Where global
tech hub music hits
are born
01 Stockholm – an incubator that quickly turns
ideas into reality
Stockholm is the capital city, but with an intimate feel. It has a high density of informal meeting
places for smooth knowledge exchange and highly educated, curious and ambitious people who
cross-pollinate different ecosystems.
02 A world-leading tech hub
Stockholm has, after Silicone Valley, produced the most unicorns per capita – startups sold or
valued at over one billion US dollars. The city is the birthplace of international brands and tech
unicorns like Skype, Mojang (Minecraft), Klarna, King (CCS) and Spotify. But also the home of
large corporations like Ericsson – the world’s largest supplier of telecom infrastructure. Did you
know that programmer is the most common work title in Stockholm and that every fifth Stockholmer
works in the tech sector?
03 Where global music hits are born
Sweden is one of the world’s leading exporters of music. Ever since the 90s, a lot of the world’s
biggest pop acts come to Stockholm to produce their music in cooperation with the city’s many
music creators. In fact, this is where a substantial part of American and British hits are created.
Producer and songwriter Max Martin, with more than 20 Billboard number ones to his name, is
the world’s third most successful hit maker after Lennon/McCartney. There is also a well-developed
infrastructure around music with publicly subsidized music education for children.
The main creators of the Stockholm Musictech scene 6
The main creators
of the Stockholm
Musictech scene
Photo: Viktor Gårdsäter
The main creators of the Stockholm Musictech scene 7
” Stockholm has outpaced other European cities
with a mix of unique cultural traditions, visionary
tech leaders, globally oriented startups and smart
government policies. Stockholm has produced
more unicorns per capita than any other city in
the world.”
Tech Crunch, January 2016.2
Stockholm, the birthplace of the innovations
that are transforming the music industry
During 2015, Stockholm’s Musictech companies attracted USD 555 million in open/reported
investments3. Total investments in the entire tech sector amounted to USD 892 million4, which
means that Musictech got a majority share of the entire investment volume. While perhaps best
known for streaming services, there are also many other successful companies in the Stockholm
Musictech sector.
Tech investments 2015
USD
million
1000'
800'
600'
400'
200'
USD USD
555 892
100'
million million
0
Stockholm’s Musictech Total investments in
companies the tech sector
” Stockholm is becoming Europe's premier tech hub.
There is a startup scene here that is rivalling the
likes of London, Berlin and Paris as the most
important tech startup hub in Europe.”
Mashable, 2016.5
Whymain
The Stockholm
creators
is of
thethe
leader
Stockholm
in Musictech
Musictech scene 8
The Stockholm Musictech Scene
- 25 companies in five market segments
Below follows a short presentation of the 25 leading Musictech companies in Stockholm, divided
into five segments. Together, these companies have more than 1000 6 employees and continue to
grow and attract cutting-edge expertise from all over the world.
04
03
Music publishers and
rights management
Digital music production
05
Streaming and other
forms of music and audio
02
entertainment
Musical instruments,
aids and equipment
01
Music accessories
The image shows the distribution of the
25 companies in five segmentsThe main creators of the Stockholm Musictech scene 9
01
“ Urbanears has changed the way
we look at personal electronics.”
The Future Positive, 2013.7
Music accessories
This hardware segment comprises accessories for enter-
tainment electronics. These are aimed mainly at music
consumers. The segment is contiguous to Fashiontech.
Happy Plugs Pugz Gear Sudio Zound Industries
Product/business idea: Product/business idea: Product/business idea: Product/business idea:
Since 2012, the company The company creates Sudio produces studio quality To create products at the
produces a range of popular, distinctively designed wireless designer headphones. junction of electronics
colorful headphones. The headphones with high The name originates from and fashion. Urbanears
products are sold in more functionality. It became one an incident where one of headphones are the
than 6 000 stores in 70 of Kickstarter’s most successful the founders by accident company’s best-known
countries, including through projects in 2015. happened to see Phil Collins product, but it has also
wholesalers like Colette, Le having an issue with his developed other kinds of
Bon Marché, Selfridges and Founded: 2014 headphones in New York. electronics in cooperation
Urban Outfitters. with the British company
Founders: Founded: 2012 Marshall. The products are
Founded: 2011 Hamid and Vahid Toosi sold in 20 000 stores in 95
Founders: markets. In 2015, three of
Founder: Investment: Johan Gawell, Carl Zound Industries’ products
Andreas Vural USD 1.5 million (2015) Sundqvist och Jonas were awarded the iF Design
Wistrand Award, one of the world’s
happyplugs.com pugz.com most prestigious. The same
Investment: year the company secured an
USD 0.18 million (2015) investment of USD 11 million.
sudiosweden.com Founded: 2008
Founders:
Andreas Enkvist, Erik Petersen,
Kenneth Schönborg, Konrad
Bergström, Markus Rudbäck,
Niklas Bergh, Oscar Axhede
and Vincent Skoglund
Investment:
USD 11 million (2015)
zoundindustries.comWhymain
The Stockholm
creators
is of
thethe
leader
Stockholm
in Musictech
Musictech scene 10
02
” Swedish hardware designers Teenage
Engineering have made a name for
themselves by building some of the most
unique and creative musical gear on the
market.”
The Verge, 2015.8
Musical instruments, aids and equipment
This hardware segment is comprised of physical instruments
like keyboards, drums and guitars, as well as physical aids
facilitating the production of music.
Mind Music Labs Sensus Nord Keyboards Clavia TactSense Teenage Engineering
Smart Guitar
Product/business idea: Product/business idea: Product/business idea: Product/business idea:
The company has developed The company manufactures Tactsense captures an The company was started by
the world’s first smart guitar keyboard and drum products infrared video signal the founder of the clothing
which is able to wirelessly that are used by stars such from the conductor’s brand Acne and produces
transmit, process and share as Prince, Pet Shop Boys and hand and transform that synthesizers in a garage in
music and data. This enables Madonna. into tactile impulses on Södermalm, Stockholm. The
the user to perform, record to the musician’s body best-known product is called
and share performances Founded: 1983 surface – helping visually OP-1. Teenage Engineering
online. Behind the guitar are impaired musicians feel the cooperates with Swedish
Swedish and Italian artists Founders: movements of the conductor. design brands like Ikea and
along with scientists from the Hans Nordelius and Mikael Tactsense received the City Cheap Monday as well as
Royal Institute of Technology. Carlsson of Stockholm Innovation Elektronmusikstudion. Half
Nominated for the Stockholm Scholarship in 2015 in the a million synthesizers have
Innovation Scholarship in the nordkeyboards.com Creative sector. been sold worldwide and
Creative Industries category, are used by the likes of
2012. Founded: 2015 Depeche Mode, Beck and
Pharrell Williams.
Founded: 2015 Founders:
RicWasserman, Jan Founded: 2006
Founder: Lundqvist, RunoAndersson,
Michele Benincaso Ellen Sundh and Wu Jing Founders:
Jesper Kouthoofd, David
Investment: Eriksson, Jens Rudberg and
Undisclosed amount in 2015 David Möllerstedt
mindmusiclabs.com teenageengineering.comThe main creators of the Stockholm Musictech scene 11
03
“ One of our favorite
music-making apps...”
Wired about Auxy, 2015.9
Digital music production
This software segment comprises software for music
production – alone or together with other musicians.
The products are aimed at both professionals and consumers.
Auxy DoReMir Music Research Moodelizer Musifier
Product/business idea: Product/business idea: Product/business idea: Product/business idea:
Auxy is a music app for The app ScoreCloud Express Moodelizer’s technology Music Adaptive Improviser
electronic music production is a notation software customizes music to match (MAI) is a software
on iOS. Within one month that turns music into sheet the mood of a film and system for adaptive music
of its launch on App Store music and has been called thereby strips away much of generation, based on music
in 2014, it had been “Google translate for music”. the complexities of adding morphing. MAI composes
downloaded 500 000 Behind the technology lies music to film. and performs music in
times. The app has, among 20 years of research and real-time. Connected to
other things, been awarded cooperation between two Founded: 2012 interactive applications
“Apples Best of 2014”. processors from the Royal like computer games, MAI
College of Music and the Founder: generates highly adaptive
Founded: 2014 Royal Institute of Technology. Carl-Michael Herlöfsson musical soundtracks.
In 2013, the app was
Founder: awarded a Gold Lion in moodelizer.com Founded: 2004
Henrik Lenberg and Fredrik Cannes. It has become
Gadnell the most sold app [all Founder: Lars Jonas Edlund
categories] in Japan.
Investment: musifier.com
USD 0.85 million (2014) Founded: 2008
auxy.co Founders:
Sven Ahlbäck and Sven
Emtell
Investment:
USD 1 million (2013)
scorecloud.comWhymain
The Stockholm
creators
is of
thethe
leader
Stockholm
in Musictech
Musictech scene 12
Propellerhead Soundtrap XLN Audio
Product/business idea: Product/business idea: Product/business idea:
The company develops With Soundtrap you make A software company that
software products for digital music online. You can plug creates virtual musical
sound production for PC in your own instrument, use instruments. Swedish star
and Mac, along with apps the software instruments producer, Max Martin,
for mobiles and tablets. The available in Soundtrap co-owns the company.
company is best known for or just record a song Addictive Keys and Addictive
its software Reason, which directly with your computer Drums are two of its better-
helps musicians from all over microphone. known products.
the world to co-create and
cooperate. Founded: 2012 Founded: 2005
Founded: 1997 Founders: Founders:
Per Emanuelsson and Niklas Möller and Lars
Founders: Fredrik Posse Erlandssson
Ernst Nathorst-Böös, Marcus
Zetterquist and Peter Jubel Investment: xlnaudio.com
USD 2.5 million (2015)
propellerheads.se
soundtrap.comThe main creators of the Stockholm Musictech scene 13
04
” A weirdly large number of the music and audio
related companies that you have heard of came
from Stockholm. The capital of Sweden not only
has a curiously large number such companies
operating there, but it also gave rise to some of
the most important.”
The Observer, 2016. 10
Music publishers and rights management
This segment comprises digital music publishers and software
for handling copyright revenue streams. The segment may be
contiguous to FinTech.
Auddly Epidemic Sound International Copyright X5 Music Group
Enterprise
Product/business idea: Product/business idea: Product/business idea: Product/business idea:
Auddly is a music The company manages ICE is a service center for This digital music publishing
management tool that and buys production music the global management of company licenses existing
gathers all information about directly from musicians who music rights. It’s a global music and publishes
a musical piece in one place, are not affiliated with a company which is owned compilation albums like
as an independent bridge copyright organization. Its and cooperates with, among ”The 50 greatest pieces of
between the music industry’s more than 50 000 customers others, Swedish collective classic music”. The album
copyright owners and master are production companies, management organization topped the download chart
owners. In 2015, ABBA’s websites and TV-channels in STIM as well as British PRS in ten countries when it was
Björn Ulvaeus, star producer some 100 countries. In 2014, and German GEMA. ICE released on iTunes. In 2013,
Max Martin and Aviciis’ venture capital company provides more than 19 the Red Herring magazine
manager Ash Pournouri Creandum invested USD 5 million musical works. named X5 Music Group one
invested more than USD million in the business. the 100 most innovative
1 million in the business. Founded: 2007 companies in Europe. In
Founded: 2009 June 2016 the company
Founded: 2012 Founder: was acquired by Warner
Founders: Founded as a joint Music Group.
Founders: Oscar Höglund, Jan venture between collective
Niclas Molinder and Daniel Zachrisson, David management organizations Founded: 2003
Hagenfeldt Stenmarck, Peer Åström and STIM (Sweden) and PRS for
Hjalmar Winbladh music (UK) Founders:
Investment: Johan Lagerlöf, Daniel
USD 1 million (2015) Investment: iceservices.com Bäckström, Stefan Enberg,
USD 5 million (2014) Jan Nordlund and Fredrik
auddly.com Nyström
epidemicsound.com
x5musicgroup.comThe main creators of the Stockholm Musictech scene 14
05
“ Pacemaker, our favorite DJ
app, just got even better.”
The Verge, 2015.11
Streaming and other forms of music
and audio entertainment
This software segment comprises software for streaming
music and other music and audio entertainment. The
segment is contiguous to GameTech.
Blicko Pacemaker Music Singbox StrumLive
Product/business idea: Product/business idea: Product/business idea: Product/business idea:
Blicko is a digital jukebox Pacemaker Music is a DJ Singbox is a karaoke app StrumLive is an online
that lets the users influence app with access to Spotify’s that lets the user compete community for live music. It’s
the playlist while listening and iTunes’ music libraries. against friends and share an arena where anyone can
together. It offers a It offers a whole host of the results. Singbox have perform his or her music for
democratic music service for mixing effects and can be previously developed free in front of an audience
your restaurant, bar, store or used on iPhones, iPads and versions for the Swedish that can communicate with
even your home. Apple Watches. Last year, edition of the Eurovision the artist in several ways.
the app received the Apple song contest and the world’s
Founded: 2012 Design Award - Honoring first official ABBA app. Founded: 2014
Outstanding Design and
Founders: Innovation. Founded: 2007 Founders:
Jesper Ahlberg, Theodor Lucas Sandberg and Petter
Zettersten and Andreas Founded: 2011 Founders: Ögren
Andrén Carl Ljungström and John
Founders: Ardelius strumlive.se
blicko.com Jonas Norberg, Daniel
Wallner and Olof Berglöf singbox.com
pacemaker.netWhymain
The Stockholm
creators
is of
thethe
leader
Stockholm
in Musictech
Musictech scene 15
“ Now Spotify is the Netflix of music sites.
MarkZuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, says,
'Daniel [Ek] just saw the opportunities of
streaming music before anyone else.”
The New Yorker, 2014.12
Innovations from Stockholm is leading the way
30
30
25
20
15
Spotify – the world’s 11
streaming giant 10
Product/business idea: 6
The music, and recently 5 4
video, streaming service 3,5 1
that in just a few years have
developed into a giant 0
Spotify Apple Music Deezer Pandora Rhapsody/ Tidal
that dominates the world Radio Napster
market.13 Spotify still leads the way regarding the number of downloads, income and active users15 – currently 100 million
people16. Compared with its closest competitor (Apple Music17), Spotify has almost twice as many paying users18.
Founded: 2006 In fact, Spotify has more paying users than the five largest competitors combined.
Founders:
30
Daniel Ek, Martin Lorentzon 30
Investment:
USD 526 million (2015) 25
USD 500 million (2016)
20 20
spotify.com
15
Spotify is the most popular
15
app on Facebook14 and
at the beginning of 2016, 12,5
it released a new version 10 10
containing podcasts, video
and ‘fresh finds’ – a playlist
6
with new songs from artists 5 4
5
2,5 3
that have been identified
1,5
as shooting stars by a set of 0,5
1
algorithms. 0
Jul Mar Jun Nov Jan Aug Dec Mar May Nov Jan Jun Mar
10 11 11 11 12 12 12 13 14 14 15 15 16
Spotify is Europe’s highest valued venture capital funded startup19 and in 14th place globally20. In 2015 it was valued
at USD 8.53 billion21. During 2015, the company secured investments of USD 526 million. This year, it has received
a further USD 500 million22. Spotify employs more than 1 500 people all over the world.The main creators of the Stockholm Musictech scene 16
Photo: Henrik Trygg
Other Stockholm-born innovations
Stockholm’s innovation power in Musictech flows over the city limits and across the globe. There
are a whole host of world-leading companies and innovations that was developed by Stockholmers.
Companies that are active in other places or owned by global corporations. Below are eight
companies or innovations that first saw the light of day in Stockholm and continue to make an
imprint in the world of music.
01 Digital music production
Coding Technologies
Coding Technologies is the Stockholm company that created the audio technology for Dolby.
The company was started by Lars Liljeryd in 1997 and was acquired by Dolby in 2007 for USD
250 million. GIPS (Global IP Solution) is the Stockholm company behind Skype’s technology. The
company produces software for real time voice and video processing for IP networks. It was started
in 1999 by Roar Hagen, Bastiaan Kleijn, Espen Fjogstad and Ivar T. Hognestad. In 2010 it was
bought by Google for USD 68 million.
02 Music publishers and rights management
Kobalt Music Group
Kobalt Music Group is the world’s largest independent music publishing company representing
14 000 songwriters and artists, who together makes up 40 percent of the British and American top-
100 lists. The company was founded in 2000 by Stockholm entrepreneur Willard Ahdritz, who still
runs the company from its London HQ. Kobalt has been a driving force behind the push to improve
transparency of the hundreds of thousands of revenue streams in the music industry. In 2015,
Google Ventures invested USD 60 million in the company22.Whymain
The Stockholm
creators
is of
thethe
leader
Stockholm
in Musictech
Musictech scene Stockholm Gay & Lesbian Network 17
03 Streaming and other forms of music and
audio entertainment
Beats Music
Beats Music is a music streaming service based on the service created by, among others,
Stockholmer and serial entrepreneur Ola Sars. In 2010 he launched the streaming service Let’s
Mix, which two years later was acquired by headphone producer Beats, making Ola Sars a
partner in Beats in the process. Apple bought Beats Electronics (which at that point included both
the streaming service Beats Music and headphone producer Beats Electronics) for USD 3 billion23.
Beats Music is today known as Apple Music, second only to Spotify, with 11 million paying
subscribers.
Filtr
Filtr was developed by the digital team at Sony Music Entertainment in Stockholm. The app is the
world’s largest third party service for playlists and gets 30.000 new listeners daily.
Rdio
Rdio is a music streaming service which was created by, among others, Skype founder and Stockholmer
Niklas Zennström in 2010. Before being acquired by competitor Pandora Radio for USD 75 million, the
service was available in 85 countries.
Spinnup
Spinnup is a platform for unsigned artists who want to get their music played on, for example,
Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Tidal, Rhapsody, Amazon and Google Play, making it possible for the
music industry to discover new talents. Spinnup is owned by Universal Music and was developed
by their team in Stockholm in cooperation with the Stockholm company X5 Music Group.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online platform for distribution of sound, primarily music. It is the world’s largest
music community to which twelve hours of music is uploaded every minute. SoundCloud has 175
million unique, active users per month and reaches every tenth online user between 16 and 64
worldwide. The company was originally founded in Stockholm, but was established in 2007 by
Alexandet Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, both students at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
Soundtrack your brand
Soundtrack your brand is a joint venture with Spotify and the only supplier of Spotify Business and
Spotify Enterprise. The company develops and sells solutions to companies and chains that want to
make music a part of their brand experience. McDonalds and Starbucks Sweden are among the
users. The company was founded in 2013 by Ola Sars and Andreas Liffgarden.Milestones on the road to success 18
Milestones on the
road to success
Photo: Viktor GårdsäterMilestones on the road to success 19
Ten years of Stockholm Musictech
It was against the backdrop of the decline of the music industry in the beginning of the 21st century
that Stockholm’s Musictech scene got started in earnest. For many of the entrepreneurs it was
about making music more accessible to consumers through the use of new technology. The quick
proliferation of technical music services in Stockholm that followed came as a result of the fact that
the people of Stockholm were able to adopt the new services thanks to tax-exempt home computers
and access to the world’s largest open fiber optics network24.
2014
2011 Auxy launches for
2006 Spotify is named a pio- iOS October 29.
Spotify is founded by 2009 Gets named one of
neer by World Economic
Daniel Ek and Martin Epidemic Sound is best apps
Forum. Launches in the
Lorentzon. founded. by Apple.
USA.
2005 2010 2015 2020
2015 2016
Pugz becomes Sweden’s Spotify launches a new
most successful Kickstar- version containing podcasts,
ter ever with SEK 11.5 video and ‘fresh finds’ – a
million. playlist with new songs
2005 2010
from artists that have been
Teenage Engineering Teenage Engineering
Midi Hack – a music identified as shooting stars
is founded with Jesper launches the synth OP-1.
hack-a-thon – takes place by a set of algorithms.
Kouthoofd at the helm.
in Stockholm.
Napster/Facebook-
Soundtrack your brand/
founder Sean Parkers’
Teenage Engineering Spotify for Business and
Founders Fund invests 2013
launches the Pocket Ope- Starbucks enters into a part-
in Spotify. Spotify pays Spotify launches
rator 10-series together nership covering more than
more than €45 million for phones and in
with Cheap Monday. 7.500 American Starbucks
in licenses. eight new markets.
locations.
24 millions active
2008 users have strea- A report from the Euro-
Spotify launches in pean commission points Spotify reaches 30 million
med 4.5 billion
Sweden, Great Britain, to clear evidence that paying subscribers.
hours of music.
Germany, France, Spotify has contributed to
Italy, Spain, Finland and the decrease in the illegal
Norway. downloading of music25.
Zound Industries is foun-
ded by Konrad Bergström
and Kenneth Schönborg. 2012
Spotify reaches four mil-
lion paying subscribers.Examples of how Stockholm Musictech influences the music industry of the future 20
Examples of how
Stockholm Musictech
influences the music
industry of the future
Photo: Robert HöglundExamples of how Stockholm Musictech influences the music industry of the future 21 “ We are two to three years ahead in Sweden, which means that the rest of the world is very interested in what we do and how we do it. The next step is to go international.” Michelle Kadir, Digital manager at Sony Music Entertainment and former product manager at Spotify.26 ”It's about the future of great ideas” With those words, Spotify founder Daniel Ek opened the Brilliant Mind Conference, which took place for the first time in Stockholm in 2015. Music and tech is the basis for the conference, which brings together the world's gurus of music, media and tech. Behind the initiative, in addition to Daniel Ek, is Aviciis’ manager Ash Pournouri. The conference is one example of how the future of the music industry is developed in Stockholm. The trend is clear - progress is by leaps and bounds - and Stockholm is playing a major role. Below we list some of the hottest trends. Musictech grows as the world becomes more and more digital Music consumption is expected to grow significantly in the next few years. The streaming segment alone is expected to grow by eleven percent and reach a market volume of USD 7.5 million by the year 2020. It is expected that almost every forth person in the world will be using music streaming services by then.27 Stockholm contributes to more ‘intelligence’ in the music industry As the digitization and hence streaming increases, artists, producers and songwriters can use technology to get more "intelligent" contact with the market. This way, music develops and music services can be fine-tuned to suit specific target groups.
Examples of how Stockholm Musictech influences the music industry of the future 22 One example of a Stockholm company in the ‘intelligence sector’ is MIMA. This Musictech company uses artificial intelligence for real time analysis of billions of news, music, image and video flows, and conversations about music in order to make predictions on hot artists, albums and songs. The company was launched during March 2016 and is a collaboration between Jay Solomon and Ash Pournouri. Another Stockholm example is the app Sony Insights, which has been developed by the digital team at Sony Music Entertainment in Stockholm. It was launched during March 2016 and is aimed at the record company’s artists and managers who, using the service, achieves continuous control over how their music is used in the world’s largest streaming channels. It also tracks what happens in the artists’ social media channels. The information about how the target groups communicate is, among other things, used to plan how the artist should market its music and where the next live performance should be booked. The app is the first of its kind in the world. It is being tested in Sweden and if the outcome turns out to be positive, international expansion awaits. A new music format as the net becomes our new reality Scientists28 are seeing a new effect of the digitalization and that is that the net is increasingly becoming the real (as opposed to virtual) reality where we live our lives. We are moving from being an individualized culture where we only convey personal experiences, to becoming a culture of participation, where we instead create and experience more together. There are several companies and innovations in this presentation that promote interaction and co-production, but one of the most interesting examples is perhaps ORB Industries, which has filed a patent for a completely new music format in Virtual Reality. Using ORB Industries services, artists and creators will be able to package the music experience in a totally new way and allow users to interact through VR. The success story continues Keeping in mind that Stockholm is called ”the streaming capital of the world”29, the future looks bright for Stockholm’s Musictech scene. Stockholm vibrates with ideas and offers unique possibilities of quickly turning ideas into reality. There are many reasons to keep track of Stockholm’s Musictech – this is only the beginning.
Sources 23
Sources
Photo: Viktor GårdsäterSources 24
Sources
Media and interviews
1. Statista 2016: Digital Music, Key 11.The Verge 2015: Pacemaker, our favorite DJ
Takeaways, worldwide app, just got even better
www.statista.com/outlook/202/100/digital-music/ http://www.theverge.
worldwide com/2015/12/17/10293578/pacemaker-
DJmixing-features-ios-update
2. TechCrunch 2016: Sweden Is A Tech
Superstar From The North 12. The New Yorker 2014: REVENUE STREAMS- Is
techcrunch.com/2016/01/26/sweden-is-a-tech- Spotify the music industry’s friend or its foe?
superstar-from-the-north/#.czceqpa:RjFV www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/24/
revenue-streams
3. Primarily obtained through searches on
CrunchBase of their respective companies 13. Statista 2016: Number of paying Spotify
subscribers worldwide from July 2010 to
4. The Nordic Web 2016: March 2016 (in millions)
www.thenordicweb.com/news/ www.statista.com/statistics/244995/number-of-
paying-spotify-subscribers/
5. Mashable 2016: How Stockholm is
becoming Europe's premier tech hub 14. Statista 2016: Most popular Facebook apps
mashable.com/2016/01/22/stockholm-europe-tech- in November 2015, by monthly active users
hub/#AW9KHjxpU8qw (in millions)
www.statista.com/statistics/276371/most-popular-
6. Webbsökning på respektive företag facebook-apps-by-monthly-active-users/
These figures we have obtained from various sorces,
allabolag (figures from), corporate web sites, emailed 15. TechCrunch 2015: Spotify Claims Streaming
companies and from SvD which wrote that Spotify Music Throne Worldwide, But Pandora Is
has 800 employees. www.svd.se/spotify-har-egen- Still Top Service In U.S.
bostadsko techcrunch.com/2015/12/01/spotify-claims-
streaming-music-throne-worldwide-but-pandora-is-still-
7. 2013: Interview Urbanears top-service-in-u-s/
www.thefuturepositive.com/blog/interview-
urbanears/ 16. Statista 2016: Number of global monthly
active Spotify users from July 2012 to
8. The Verge 2015: Teenage Engineering January 2016 (in millions)
designed a set of incredible pocket www.statista.com/statistics/367739/spotify-global-
synthesizers that cost $59 each mau/
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/22/7868157/
teenage-engineering-pocket-operator-synthesizers 17. Billboard 2016: As Spotify Nears 30 Million
Subscribers and Apple Music Exceeds 11
9. Wired 2015: Auxy’s Awesome iPad Music- Million, Is Streaming Turning the Corner?
Making App Comes to the iPhone www.billboard.com/articles/business/6875477/
http://www.wired.com/2015/12/auxy-for-iphone/ spotify-30-million-subscribers-apple-music-11-million-
subscribers
10. The Observer 2016: Stockholm Is the Next
Powerhouse of Sound 18.Forbes 2016: With 30 Million Users, Spotify Is
www.observer.com/2016/03/stockholm-is-the-next- Gaining Subscribers Faster And Faster
powerhouse-of-sound/ www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2016/03/21/
with-30-million-users-spotify-is-gaining-subscribers-
faster-and-faster/#48f5d646402eSources 25
Financial Times 2016: Spotify within 24. Wall Street Journal 2014: Apple Buys Beats
earshot of 30m paying subscribers, for $3 Billion, Tapping Tastemakers to
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/1159aca6-d1e3- Regain Music Mojo
11e5-92a1-c5e23ef99c77,Authorised=false. http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-to-buy-
html?siteedition=intl&_i_ beats-1401308971
location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.
ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F1159aca6-d1e3-11e5- 25. IFPI 2015: Musikförsäljningsstatistik helåret
92a1-c5e23ef99c77.html%3Fsiteedition%3Dintl&_i_ 2014
referer=&classification=conditional_ ifpi.se/dokument-och-statistik?cat=2014
standard&iab=barrier-app#axzz40L5VXOWt
26. Europeiska Kommissionen 2015: Streaming
Svenska Dagbladet 2016: Konkurrenten: Reaches Flood Stage: Does Spotify Stimulate
”Vi försöker inte ta kunder från Spotify” or Depress Music Sales?
http://www.svd.se/vi-forsoker-inte-ta-kunder- ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-
franspotify/om/deezer and-technical-research-reports/streaming-reaches-
flood-stage-does-spotify-stimulate-or-depress-music-
19. The Telegraph 2015 : Spotify valued at sales?search
$8.53bn valuation after fresh funding round
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/ 27.Breakit 2016: Hennes vision har tagit form –
mediatechnologyandtelecoms/11664186/Spotify- ny app skakar om musikbranschen
hits-8.53bn-valuation-after-fresh-funding-round.html www.breakit.se/artikel/2744/hennes-vision-har-
tagit-form-ny-app-skakar-om-musikbranschen
20. The Telegraph 2015: These are the most
valuable startups in the world 28. Statista 2015: Digital Music, Key
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/picture- Takeaways, worldwide
galleries/11904378/These-are-the-most-valuable- www.statista.com/outlook/202/100/digital-music/
start-ups-in-the-world.html?frame=3460665 worldwide
21. The Telegraph 2015 : Spotify valued at 29. TV4 2016: Nyhetsmorgon
$8.53bn valuation after fresh funding round www.tv4.se/nyhetsmorgon/artiklar/alexander-
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/ bard-instagram-kommer-att-d%C3%B6-ut-
mediatechnologyandtelecoms/11664186/Spotify- 56c9b172b9a9f6cd43000069
hits-8.53bn-valuation-after-fresh-funding-round.html
30. Financial Times 2014: The Spotify effect
22. Crunchbase 2016: Spotify, http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/59e6e6d6-5a49-
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ 11e4-8771-00144feab7de.html
spotify#/entity
Interviews and mail contacts
23. TechCrunch 2015: Kobalt Tunes Into $60M Björn Lindborg, #sthlmmusic, among others.
Led By Google Ventures For Its Music Rights Jens Rudberg, Teenage Engineering
Collection Platform Jon Mauno Pettersson, Breakit
techcrunch.com/2015/02/26/kobalt-tunes-into- Rikard Jönsson, Midi Hack
60m-led-by-google-ventures-for-its-music-rights- Sara Herrlin, SUP46, #sthlmmusic
collection-platform/ Contact with some of the companies through e-mail
Photo Cover: Teenage Engineering / PressYou can also read
