Stockholm – the Powerhouse of Sound

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
transforming the music industry
– The Stockholm Musictech scene, 25 companies in five markets
7
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
tech hub
Music Tech
Where global
music hits
are born
01
02
03
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.
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?
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
investments 3 . Total investments in the entire tech sector amounted to USD 892 million 4 , 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'
100'
0
USD
555
million
Stockholm’s Musictech
companies
USD
892
million
Total investments in
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

Why The main Stockholm creators is of the the leader Stockholm in 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.
03
Digital music production
04
Music publishers and
rights management
02
Musical instruments,
aids and equipment
01
Music accessories
05
Streaming and other
forms of music and audio
entertainment
The image shows the distribution of the
25 companies in five segments

The 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 entertainment
electronics. These are aimed mainly at music
consumers. The segment is contiguous to Fashiontech.
Happy Plugs
Pugz Gear
Sudio
Zound Industries
Product/business idea:
Since 2012, the company
produces a range of popular,
colorful headphones. The
products are sold in more
than 6 000 stores in 70
countries, including through
wholesalers like Colette, Le
Bon Marché, Selfridges and
Urban Outfitters.
Founded: 2011
Founder:
Andreas Vural
happyplugs.com
Product/business idea:
The company creates
distinctively designed wireless
headphones with high
functionality. It became one
of Kickstarter’s most successful
projects in 2015.
Founded: 2014
Founders:
Hamid and Vahid Toosi
Investment:
USD 1.5 million (2015)
pugz.com
Product/business idea:
Sudio produces studio quality
designer headphones.
The name originates from
an incident where one of
the founders by accident
happened to see Phil Collins
having an issue with his
headphones in New York.
Founded: 2012
Founders:
Johan Gawell, Carl
Sundqvist och Jonas
Wistrand
Investment:
USD 0.18 million (2015)
Product/business idea:
To create products at the
junction of electronics
and fashion. Urbanears
headphones are the
company’s best-known
product, but it has also
developed other kinds of
electronics in cooperation
with the British company
Marshall. The products are
sold in 20 000 stores in 95
markets. In 2015, three of
Zound Industries’ products
were awarded the iF Design
Award, one of the world’s
most prestigious. The same
year the company secured an
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.com

02
Why The main Stockholm creators is of the the leader Stockholm in Musictech scene
” 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 10
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
Smart Guitar
Nord Keyboards Clavia
TactSense
Teenage Engineering
Product/business idea:
The company has developed
the world’s first smart guitar
which is able to wirelessly
transmit, process and share
music and data. This enables
the user to perform, record
and share performances
online. Behind the guitar are
Swedish and Italian artists
along with scientists from the
Royal Institute of Technology.
Nominated for the Stockholm
Innovation Scholarship in the
Creative Industries category,
2012.
Founded: 2015
Founder:
Michele Benincaso
Investment:
Undisclosed amount in 2015
Product/business idea:
The company manufactures
keyboard and drum products
that are used by stars such
as Prince, Pet Shop Boys and
Madonna.
Founded: 1983
Founders:
Hans Nordelius and Mikael
Carlsson
nordkeyboards.com
Product/business idea:
Tactsense captures an
infrared video signal
from the conductor’s
hand and transform that
into tactile impulses on
to the musician’s body
surface – helping visually
impaired musicians feel the
movements of the conductor.
Tactsense received the City
of Stockholm Innovation
Scholarship in 2015 in the
Creative sector.
Founded: 2015
Founders:
RicWasserman, Jan
Lundqvist, RunoAndersson,
Ellen Sundh and Wu Jing
Product/business idea:
The company was started by
the founder of the clothing
brand Acne and produces
synthesizers in a garage in
Södermalm, Stockholm. The
best-known product is called
OP-1. Teenage Engineering
cooperates with Swedish
design brands like Ikea and
Cheap Monday as well as
Elektronmusikstudion. Half
a million synthesizers have
been sold worldwide and
are used by the likes of
Depeche Mode, Beck and
Pharrell Williams.
Founded: 2006
Founders:
Jesper Kouthoofd, David
Eriksson, Jens Rudberg and
David Möllerstedt
mindmusiclabs.com
teenageengineering.com

The 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:
Auxy is a music app for
electronic music production
on iOS. Within one month
of its launch on App Store
in 2014, it had been
downloaded 500 000
times. The app has, among
other things, been awarded
“Apples Best of 2014”.
Founded: 2014
Founder:
Henrik Lenberg and Fredrik
Gadnell
Investment:
USD 0.85 million (2014)
Product/business idea:
The app ScoreCloud Express
is a notation software
that turns music into sheet
music and has been called
“Google translate for music”.
Behind the technology lies
20 years of research and
cooperation between two
processors from the Royal
College of Music and the
Royal Institute of Technology.
In 2013, the app was
awarded a Gold Lion in
Cannes. It has become
the most sold app [all
categories] in Japan.
Founded: 2008
Product/business idea:
Moodelizer’s technology
customizes music to match
the mood of a film and
thereby strips away much of
the complexities of adding
music to film.
Founded: 2012
Founder:
Carl-Michael Herlöfsson
moodelizer.com
Product/business idea:
Music Adaptive Improviser
(MAI) is a software
system for adaptive music
generation, based on music
morphing. MAI composes
and performs music in
real-time. Connected to
interactive applications
like computer games, MAI
generates highly adaptive
musical soundtracks.
Founded: 2004
Founder: Lars Jonas Edlund
musifier.com
auxy.co
Founders:
Sven Ahlbäck and Sven
Emtell
Investment:
USD 1 million (2013)
scorecloud.com

Why The main Stockholm creators is of the the leader Stockholm in Musictech scene
12
Propellerhead
Soundtrap
XLN Audio
Product/business idea:
The company develops
software products for digital
sound production for PC
and Mac, along with apps
for mobiles and tablets. The
company is best known for
its software Reason, which
helps musicians from all over
the world to co-create and
cooperate.
Founded: 1997
Founders:
Ernst Nathorst-Böös, Marcus
Zetterquist and Peter Jubel
propellerheads.se
Product/business idea:
With Soundtrap you make
music online. You can plug
in your own instrument, use
the software instruments
available in Soundtrap
or just record a song
directly with your computer
microphone.
Founded: 2012
Founders:
Per Emanuelsson and
Fredrik Posse
Investment:
USD 2.5 million (2015)
soundtrap.com
Product/business idea:
A software company that
creates virtual musical
instruments. Swedish star
producer, Max Martin,
co-owns the company.
Addictive Keys and Addictive
Drums are two of its betterknown
products.
Founded: 2005
Founders:
Niklas Möller and Lars
Erlandssson
xlnaudio.com

The 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
Enterprise
X5 Music Group
Product/business idea:
Auddly is a music
management tool that
gathers all information about
a musical piece in one place,
as an independent bridge
between the music industry’s
copyright owners and master
owners. In 2015, ABBA’s
Björn Ulvaeus, star producer
Max Martin and Aviciis’
manager Ash Pournouri
invested more than USD
1 million in the business.
Founded: 2012
Founders:
Niclas Molinder and Daniel
Hagenfeldt
Investment:
USD 1 million (2015)
auddly.com
Product/business idea:
The company manages
and buys production music
directly from musicians who
are not affiliated with a
copyright organization. Its
more than 50 000 customers
are production companies,
websites and TV-channels in
some 100 countries. In 2014,
venture capital company
Creandum invested USD 5
million in the business.
Founded: 2009
Founders:
Oscar Höglund, Jan
Zachrisson, David
Stenmarck, Peer Åström and
Hjalmar Winbladh
Investment:
USD 5 million (2014)
epidemicsound.com
Product/business idea:
ICE is a service center for
the global management of
music rights. It’s a global
company which is owned
and cooperates with, among
others, Swedish collective
management organization
STIM as well as British PRS
and German GEMA. ICE
provides more than 19
million musical works.
Founded: 2007
Founder:
Founded as a joint
venture between collective
management organizations
STIM (Sweden) and PRS for
music (UK)
iceservices.com
Product/business idea:
This digital music publishing
company licenses existing
music and publishes
compilation albums like
”The 50 greatest pieces of
classic music”. The album
topped the download chart
in ten countries when it was
released on iTunes. In 2013,
the Red Herring magazine
named X5 Music Group one
the 100 most innovative
companies in Europe. In
June 2016 the company
was acquired by Warner
Music Group.
Founded: 2003
Founders:
Johan Lagerlöf, Daniel
Bäckström, Stefan Enberg,
Jan Nordlund and Fredrik
Nyström
x5musicgroup.com

The 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:
Blicko is a digital jukebox
that lets the users influence
the playlist while listening
together. It offers a
democratic music service for
your restaurant, bar, store or
even your home.
Founded: 2012
Founders:
Jesper Ahlberg, Theodor
Zettersten and Andreas
Andrén
blicko.com
Product/business idea:
Pacemaker Music is a DJ
app with access to Spotify’s
and iTunes’ music libraries.
It offers a whole host of
mixing effects and can be
used on iPhones, iPads and
Apple Watches. Last year,
the app received the Apple
Design Award - Honoring
Outstanding Design and
Innovation.
Founded: 2011
Founders:
Jonas Norberg, Daniel
Wallner and Olof Berglöf
Product/business idea:
Singbox is a karaoke app
that lets the user compete
against friends and share
the results. Singbox have
previously developed
versions for the Swedish
edition of the Eurovision
song contest and the world’s
first official ABBA app.
Founded: 2007
Founders:
Carl Ljungström and John
Ardelius
singbox.com
Product/business idea:
StrumLive is an online
community for live music. It’s
an arena where anyone can
perform his or her music for
free in front of an audience
that can communicate with
the artist in several ways.
Founded: 2014
Founders:
Lucas Sandberg and Petter
Ögren
strumlive.se
pacemaker.net

Why The main Stockholm creators is of the the leader Stockholm in 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
Spotify – the world’s
streaming giant
Product/business idea:
The music, and recently
video, streaming service
that in just a few years have
developed into a giant
that dominates the world
market. 13
Founded: 2006
Founders:
Daniel Ek, Martin Lorentzon
15
10
5
0
30
11
Spotify Apple Music Deezer Pandora
Radio
6
Rhapsody/
Napster
Spotify still leads the way regarding the number of downloads, income and active users 15 – currently 100 million
people 16 . Compared with its closest competitor (Apple Music 17 ), Spotify has almost twice as many paying users 18 .
In fact, Spotify has more paying users than the five largest competitors combined.
4
3,5 1
Tidal
30
Investment:
USD 526 million (2015)
USD 500 million (2016)
spotify.com
Spotify is the most popular
app on Facebook 14 and
at the beginning of 2016,
it released a new version
containing podcasts, video
and ‘fresh finds’ – a playlist
with new songs from artists
that have been identified
as shooting stars by a set of
algorithms.
25
20
15
10
5
0
0,5
1 1,5
2,5 3
4
5 6
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 startup 19 and in 14 th place globally 20 . In 2015 it was valued
at USD 8.53 billion 21 . During 2015, the company secured investments of USD 526 million. This year, it has received
a further USD 500 million 22 . Spotify employs more than 1 500 people all over the world.
10
12,5
15
20

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
02
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.
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 company 22 .

Why The main Stockholm creators is of the the leader Stockholm in 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 billion 23 .
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 Gårdsäter

Milestones 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 network 24 .
2006
Spotify is founded by
Daniel Ek and Martin
Lorentzon.
2009
Epidemic Sound is
founded.
2011
Spotify is named a pioneer
by World Economic
Forum. Launches in the
USA.
2014
Auxy launches for
iOS October 29.
Gets named one of
best apps
by Apple.
2005 2010 2015 2020
2005
Teenage Engineering
is founded with Jesper
Kouthoofd at the helm.
2008
Spotify launches in
Sweden, Great Britain,
Germany, France,
Italy, Spain, Finland and
Norway.
2010
Teenage Engineering
launches the synth OP-1.
Napster/Facebookfounder
Sean Parkers’
Founders Fund invests
in Spotify. Spotify pays
more than €45 million
in licenses.
2013
Spotify launches
for phones and in
eight new markets.
24 millions active
users have streamed
4.5 billion
hours of music.
2015
Pugz becomes Sweden’s
most successful Kickstarter
ever with SEK 11.5
million.
Midi Hack – a music
hack-a-thon – takes place
in Stockholm.
Teenage Engineering
launches the Pocket Operator
10-series together
with Cheap Monday.
A report from the European
commission points
to clear evidence that
Spotify has contributed to
the decrease in the illegal
downloading of music 25 .
2016
Spotify launches a new
version containing podcasts,
video and ‘fresh finds’ – a
playlist with new songs
from artists that have been
identified as shooting stars
by a set of algorithms.
Soundtrack your brand/
Spotify for Business and
Starbucks enters into a partnership
covering more than
7.500 American Starbucks
locations.
Spotify reaches 30 million
paying subscribers.
Zound Industries is founded
by Konrad Bergström
and Kenneth Schönborg. 2012
Spotify reaches four million
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 Höglund

Examples 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
Scientists 28 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 Gårdsäter

Sources
24
Sources
Media and interviews
1. Statista 2016: Digital Music, Key
Takeaways, worldwide
www.statista.com/outlook/202/100/digital-music/
worldwide
2. TechCrunch 2016: Sweden Is A Tech
Superstar From The North
techcrunch.com/2016/01/26/sweden-is-a-techsuperstar-from-the-north/#.czceqpa:RjFV
3. Primarily obtained through searches on
CrunchBase of their respective companies
4. The Nordic Web 2016:
www.thenordicweb.com/news/
5. Mashable 2016: How Stockholm is
becoming Europe's premier tech hub
mashable.com/2016/01/22/stockholm-europe-techhub/#AW9KHjxpU8qw
6. Webbsökning på respektive företag
These figures we have obtained from various sorces,
allabolag (figures from), corporate web sites, emailed
companies and from SvD which wrote that Spotify
has 800 employees. www.svd.se/spotify-har-egenbostadsko
7. 2013: Interview Urbanears
www.thefuturepositive.com/blog/interviewurbanears/
8. The Verge 2015: Teenage Engineering
designed a set of incredible pocket
synthesizers that cost $59 each
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/22/7868157/
teenage-engineering-pocket-operator-synthesizers
9. Wired 2015: Auxy’s Awesome iPad Music-
Making App Comes to the iPhone
http://www.wired.com/2015/12/auxy-for-iphone/
10. The Observer 2016: Stockholm Is the Next
Powerhouse of Sound
www.observer.com/2016/03/stockholm-is-the-nextpowerhouse-of-sound/
11. The Verge 2015: Pacemaker, our favorite DJ
app, just got even better
http://www.theverge.
com/2015/12/17/10293578/pacemaker-
DJmixing-features-ios-update
12. The New Yorker 2014: REVENUE STREAMS- Is
Spotify the music industry’s friend or its foe?
www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/24/
revenue-streams
13. Statista 2016: Number of paying Spotify
subscribers worldwide from July 2010 to
March 2016 (in millions)
www.statista.com/statistics/244995/number-ofpaying-spotify-subscribers/
14. Statista 2016: Most popular Facebook apps
in November 2015, by monthly active users
(in millions)
www.statista.com/statistics/276371/most-popularfacebook-apps-by-monthly-active-users/
15. TechCrunch 2015: Spotify Claims Streaming
Music Throne Worldwide, But Pandora Is
Still Top Service In U.S.
techcrunch.com/2015/12/01/spotify-claimsstreaming-music-throne-worldwide-but-pandora-is-stilltop-service-in-u-s/
16. Statista 2016: Number of global monthly
active Spotify users from July 2012 to
January 2016 (in millions)
www.statista.com/statistics/367739/spotify-globalmau/
17. Billboard 2016: As Spotify Nears 30 Million
Subscribers and Apple Music Exceeds 11
Million, Is Streaming Turning the Corner?
www.billboard.com/articles/business/6875477/
spotify-30-million-subscribers-apple-music-11-millionsubscribers
18. Forbes 2016: With 30 Million Users, Spotify Is
Gaining Subscribers Faster And Faster
www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2016/03/21/
with-30-million-users-spotify-is-gaining-subscribersfaster-and-faster/#48f5d646402e

Sources
25
Financial Times 2016: Spotify within
earshot of 30m paying subscribers,
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/1159aca6-d1e3-
11e5-92a1-c5e23ef99c77,Authorised=false.
html?siteedition=intl&_i_
location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.
ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F1159aca6-d1e3-11e5-
92a1-c5e23ef99c77.html%3Fsiteedition%3Dintl&_i_
referer=&classification=conditional_
standard&iab=barrier-app#axzz40L5VXOWt
Svenska Dagbladet 2016: Konkurrenten:
”Vi försöker inte ta kunder från Spotify”
http://www.svd.se/vi-forsoker-inte-ta-kunderfranspotify/om/deezer
19. The Telegraph 2015 : Spotify valued at
$8.53bn valuation after fresh funding round
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/
mediatechnologyandtelecoms/11664186/Spotifyhits-8.53bn-valuation-after-fresh-funding-round.html
20. The Telegraph 2015: These are the most
valuable startups in the world
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/picturegalleries/11904378/These-are-the-most-valuablestart-ups-in-the-world.html?frame=3460665
21. The Telegraph 2015 : Spotify valued at
$8.53bn valuation after fresh funding round
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/
mediatechnologyandtelecoms/11664186/Spotifyhits-8.53bn-valuation-after-fresh-funding-round.html
22. Crunchbase 2016: Spotify,
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/
spotify#/entity
23. TechCrunch 2015: Kobalt Tunes Into $60M
Led By Google Ventures For Its Music Rights
Collection Platform
techcrunch.com/2015/02/26/kobalt-tunes-into-
60m-led-by-google-ventures-for-its-music-rightscollection-platform/
24. Wall Street Journal 2014: Apple Buys Beats
for $3 Billion, Tapping Tastemakers to
Regain Music Mojo
http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-to-buybeats-1401308971
25. IFPI 2015: Musikförsäljningsstatistik helåret
2014
ifpi.se/dokument-och-statistik?cat=2014
26. Europeiska Kommissionen 2015: Streaming
Reaches Flood Stage: Does Spotify Stimulate
or Depress Music Sales?
ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientificand-technical-research-reports/streaming-reachesflood-stage-does-spotify-stimulate-or-depress-musicsales?search
27. Breakit 2016: Hennes vision har tagit form –
ny app skakar om musikbranschen
www.breakit.se/artikel/2744/hennes-vision-hartagit-form-ny-app-skakar-om-musikbranschen
28. Statista 2015: Digital Music, Key
Takeaways, worldwide
www.statista.com/outlook/202/100/digital-music/
worldwide
29. TV4 2016: Nyhetsmorgon
www.tv4.se/nyhetsmorgon/artiklar/alexander-
bard-instagram-kommer-att-d%C3%B6-ut-
56c9b172b9a9f6cd43000069
30. Financial Times 2014: The Spotify effect
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/59e6e6d6-5a49-
11e4-8771-00144feab7de.html
Interviews and mail contacts
Björn Lindborg, #sthlmmusic, among others.
Jens Rudberg, Teenage Engineering
Jon Mauno Pettersson, Breakit
Rikard Jönsson, Midi Hack
Sara Herrlin, SUP46, #sthlmmusic
Contact with some of the companies through e-mail
Photo Cover: Teenage Engineering / Press