DanielT
Master Contributor
Fascinating what is most listened to these days:
Johan Röhr’s 2,700 songs have been streamed 15bn times and have more plays than Britney Spears or Abba.
A “secret” composer who has released music under hundreds of different names has been identified as Sweden’s most-listened-to artist on Spotify – pulling in more plays than Britney Spears or Abba.
Johan Röhr, a Stockholm-based musician, has been unmasked as the person behind more than 650 different artists on the streaming service who have been played 15bn times, making him Sweden’s current most-played artist.
According to the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN), which identified the 47-year-old, Röhr has created more than 2,700 songs on the platform under names including “Maya Åström”, “Minik Knudsen”, “Mingmei Hsueh” and “Csizmazia Etel”.
Even by international standards, the newspaper said, the success of Röhr’s multitude of identities puts him among Spotify’s top 100 most-streamed artists – above Michael Jackson, Metallica and Mariah Carey.
Much of his success is believed to be associated with his presence on more than 100 of Spotify’s official instrumental playlists, which the company itself curates.
With names like “peaceful piano” or “stress relief”, such piano-heavy playlists are particularly popular among users seeking music to play in the background while they work, eat meals or relax. Inclusion on one of these highly popular lists can make or break a musician’s career.
Last year Spotify celebrated paying out a record 90bn Swedish kronor (£6.7bn) to the music industry. “Many new and promising artists are now breaking through on Spotify and can finally make a full-time living from music,” Daniel Ek, Spotify’s chief executive, said at the time. “We are very, very proud of that.”
www.theguardian.com
Plus this:
Swedish fake artists dominate on Spotify
DN reveals: Has accepted lower compensation than normal.
Swedish songwriters hide behind unknown artist names that dominate popular playlists on Spotify.
By paying them lower compensation, the streaming giant saves money, reports Dagens Nyheter.
Dagens Nyheter has found at least 5,700 fake artist names created by Swedes. The artists have songs on several popular playlists where Spotify places music according to mood and music genre, such as "peaceful piano".
The songwriters are connected to a few Swedish music companies, which, according to DN's sources, have accepted lower compensation than normal. And Spotify has created a cream of the crop for the fake artists' music to the desirable playlists that can have several million listeners.
- I myself have seen agreements where one of the conditions is to lower the price of the music in order to get a place on the right playlist, says Alfons Karabuda, chairman of the interest organization Skap, Sweden's composers and lyricists.
Spotify has declined an interview with DN. In a written statement, communications manager Julia Levander writes:
"Each agreement is unique and we do not comment on details regarding our agreements. We also do not stop artists or bands from creating music under their own names or various pseudonyms”.
www.aftonbladet.se
Johan Röhr’s 2,700 songs have been streamed 15bn times and have more plays than Britney Spears or Abba.
A “secret” composer who has released music under hundreds of different names has been identified as Sweden’s most-listened-to artist on Spotify – pulling in more plays than Britney Spears or Abba.
Johan Röhr, a Stockholm-based musician, has been unmasked as the person behind more than 650 different artists on the streaming service who have been played 15bn times, making him Sweden’s current most-played artist.
According to the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN), which identified the 47-year-old, Röhr has created more than 2,700 songs on the platform under names including “Maya Åström”, “Minik Knudsen”, “Mingmei Hsueh” and “Csizmazia Etel”.
Even by international standards, the newspaper said, the success of Röhr’s multitude of identities puts him among Spotify’s top 100 most-streamed artists – above Michael Jackson, Metallica and Mariah Carey.
Much of his success is believed to be associated with his presence on more than 100 of Spotify’s official instrumental playlists, which the company itself curates.
With names like “peaceful piano” or “stress relief”, such piano-heavy playlists are particularly popular among users seeking music to play in the background while they work, eat meals or relax. Inclusion on one of these highly popular lists can make or break a musician’s career.
Last year Spotify celebrated paying out a record 90bn Swedish kronor (£6.7bn) to the music industry. “Many new and promising artists are now breaking through on Spotify and can finally make a full-time living from music,” Daniel Ek, Spotify’s chief executive, said at the time. “We are very, very proud of that.”
Swedish composer becomes Spotify’s most-famous musician you’ve never heard of
Johan Röhr’s 2,700 songs have been streamed 15bn times and have more plays than Britney Spears or Abba
www.theguardian.com
Plus this:
Swedish fake artists dominate on Spotify
DN reveals: Has accepted lower compensation than normal.
Swedish songwriters hide behind unknown artist names that dominate popular playlists on Spotify.
By paying them lower compensation, the streaming giant saves money, reports Dagens Nyheter.
Dagens Nyheter has found at least 5,700 fake artist names created by Swedes. The artists have songs on several popular playlists where Spotify places music according to mood and music genre, such as "peaceful piano".
The songwriters are connected to a few Swedish music companies, which, according to DN's sources, have accepted lower compensation than normal. And Spotify has created a cream of the crop for the fake artists' music to the desirable playlists that can have several million listeners.
- I myself have seen agreements where one of the conditions is to lower the price of the music in order to get a place on the right playlist, says Alfons Karabuda, chairman of the interest organization Skap, Sweden's composers and lyricists.
Spotify has declined an interview with DN. In a written statement, communications manager Julia Levander writes:
"Each agreement is unique and we do not comment on details regarding our agreements. We also do not stop artists or bands from creating music under their own names or various pseudonyms”.
Svenska fejkartister dominerar på Spotify
Bakom okända artistnamn som dominerar populära spellistor på Spotify döljer sig svenska låtskrivare. Genom att betala dem lägre ersättning sparar strömningsjätt
