Blue Swede Shoes: Sweden market report

As one of the world’s songwriting strongholds, Sweden has been a Nordic powerhouse for live music for decades. But nowhere is immune to the challenges of post-pandemic cost increases.

If the comeback from the pandemic meant it was party time in Sweden, as gig-goers poured out of confinement to rediscover the sensation of live entertainment, there is just a touch of a hangover in the air in 2024.

Sweden has had a wobbly time of late, its economy contracting last year and the Swedish krona slipping against not only the dollar and the euro but also the krone of neighbouring Denmark.

Although there is probably no need for a whip-round just yet as Sweden remains one of Europe’s wealthier, more mature markets and a strong destination, even if its buying power has diminished slightly – but for now, Sweden at large is paying close attention to the price tags when it goes shopping.

“Basically, we are having a good year. We have a fair number of international tours – not as many as last year but that’s understood,” says Thomas Johansson, Live Nation’s venerable chairman, international music, who is also chairman of the Nordics and Baltics.

“But the business on some shows – not just Live Nation shows – reflects the fact that people are more aware of ticket prices; basically, because the Swedish krona, not dissimilar to the Norwegian currency, has been at an all-time low versus the pound and the euro and the dollar, so prices are relatively high.”

“If you push the ticket price, people will not buy because they can’t afford it”

The combination of the weak krona, stagnant wages, and high interest rates means the Swedish demand for live fun in 2024 has started to find its elastic limit.

“If you push the ticket price, people will not buy because they can’t afford it,” says Johansson. “You need to be careful with ticket prices – I have always thought that, not just now.”

When you factor in historically high touring costs – not to mention the fear of military engagement with Sweden’s easterly next-door neighbour but one–it all adds up to a slightly delicate moment.

“This is a good year for us,” says AXS general manager Jay Sietsema, adopting the positive-yet-nuanced tone of most Swedish executives just now, “but it’s been up and down across the market. Sweden came out of the pandemic really strong, and then inflation went crazy, and the market really flattened for a while, and now I think we’ve hit a stable point. What I’m hearing from the promoters is that it’s more and more expensive for the artists to come, but I think demand remains steady.”

On the face of it, this is not obviously a market in the throes of austerity. Pink, Bruce Springsteen, and Taylor Swift have been through Stockholm’s Strawberry Arena this year – pre-and post-name-change from its Friends Arena incarnation – along with numerous other international and local tours. Sweden Rock in Sölvesborg went off well in June, and another Live Nation event, August’s Luger-promoted Way Out West in Gothenburg, has plenty of well-earned cachet.

But equally, festivals such as All Things Live’s Big Slap in Malmö and Live Nation’s Lollapalooza Stockholm have opted out this year – the former for good, the latter for a period of reflection. Festivals, of course, are struggling across the continent, but Sweden is too small a market to simply put the show on and hope for a miracle, and consequently, its portfolio of major events remains a little fluid.

“Sweden must be the country that has had the most big festivals close down”

“Sweden must be the country that has had the most big festivals close down,” says All Things Live’s David Maloney. “There’s really only Way Out West and Sweden Rock still going strong after all these years. All the other festivals are gone.”

So, by all accounts, this is a year of adjustment, with plenty of decent business being done against a backdrop of realism. As Svensk Live operations manager Joppe Pihlgren points out, a marginally slower year in Sweden represents a return to normality, coming after two years that were supercharged by consumer savings and unbridled supply and demand. If the going seems a little tougher now, he suggests that’s because the bounce couldn’t go on forever.

“At the end of ’22, when we got free from the pandemic, everybody was very enthusiastic for live shows, and people had saved a lot of money, there was a lot of support, the market was very boosted,” says Pihlgren. “But, if you have a record year, everything has to go up the next year, such as artist fees, and the market can’t support that.”

In the meantime, Sweden marches on – not quite booming but still pretty good. In the three key cities of Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö, there are plenty of shows; ASM Global’s Avicii Arena is out of action this year for a major refurb and will return in 2025; meanwhile, Eurovision came and went in Malmö, striking a blow for gender inclusivity even as it became another conduit for anger at the war in Gaza.

Economic prognoses suggest that the worst has passed for Sweden and that strong fundamentals will keep it clear of further recessionary after-shocks. A slightly cloudy day may already be brightening up.

“There has been a negative perception, with the high interest rates, the inflation, the war, and I think that has stabilised,” says Sietsema. “And we’re seeing that there’s still a huge interest in music, in theatre and events and sports, and that the crowds continue to grow. The demand has not lessened. The challenge is to not let inflation run away with everything so the prices get too expensive. But I’m optimistic for the Swedish market. As I said, the demand is still looking good.”

“Sweden has always been a competitive market”

Promoters
The powerful Live Nation Sweden sits at the heart of the live giant’s Nordic and Baltic network – roughly 90 of its 200 staff in the region are based in Stockholm. Its operations reflect the fact that, while Sweden is a perennially formidable touring market, it also remains one of the world’s most productive pop music hubs.

“Before we did Live Nation,” says Johansson, giving a history lesson few people need, “we looked after a band called ABBA. After that, we did a band called Europe, and after that, we did Roxette worldwide, and we did fantastic business.”

These days, Johansson’s focus is broad, but Swedish talent remains a priority, from Ghost to the newly rebooted Roxette.

“One act in particular that we have worked with for a couple of years is Benjamin Ingrosso,” he says. “We are doing nine outdoor shows for his tour starting the end of July, and he is headlining one of the Way Out West dates. We have sold about 95% of the tickets, sold out the [Olympic] stadium in Stockholm at 31,000, and it’s looking like every show will be sold out at various capacities. But again, the tickets are correctly priced, and people can afford to see it.”

Luger, Live Nation’s ‘indie’ division, also remains busy, masterminding the Way Out West festival and delivering a heavy slate of gigs, with Bright Eyes, Headie One, and The Soundtrack of Our Lives among those doing the rounds this year.
FKP Scorpio has been active in Sweden since 2011, absorbing local indie Woah Dad! in 2019, along with its founders Niklas Lundell and Joel Borg. The promoter is predictably industrious, with recent shows including a Massive Attack tour warm-up at Gothenburg’s Filmstudio and Ne-Yo’s first Swedish concert since 2010 at Hovet in Stockholm, as well as Ed Sheeran shows at Strawberry Arena next summer.

“Sweden has always been a competitive market,” says Borg. “Niklas and I have been working together for over 15 years. We co-founded Way Out West in 2007 while working at Luger/Live Nation, and before that, we ran clubs and magazines. Now, we continue with initiatives like Rosendal Garden Party.”

“One thing is always certain: people will always want to attend a great concert or experience a world-class festival”

This summer, FKP also began hosting live music events at Drottningskärs Citadel, on the archipelago island of Aspö, off the coast of the naval city of Karlskrona, with Petter, Uno Svenningsson and Eric Gadd making up the first set of shows.

“Sweden is still a small country,” says Borg. “The krona has been weak, and the market has struggled with post-pandemic bottlenecks. Prices have gone up, yada yada – same for everyone. But one thing is always certain: people will always want to attend a great concert or experience a world-class festival.”

All Things Live was behind Sweden’s three Taylor Swift shows in May, with each night breaking the previous night’s record for attendance at the then Friends Arena, ultimately drawing 178,679 people in total and making a large contribution to a 3% spike in Sweden’s core inflation rate that month. For all of the talk of mega-tours’ effect on local economies, Maloney doesn’t appreciate the widespread surge pricing that now goes hand in hand with such shows.

“Overall, it is an important show to do – for Stockholm, for the artist, for the audience,” says Maloney. “It is good for everybody, but what is spoiling the market – and this is a problem for all the major shows – is the €100 hotel room that suddenly costs €700. If restaurants and hotels are going to take such liberties, it is going to have a negative effect on sales.

“Secondary ticketing is something we can work on and try to prevent, but when you do a show and the guy running the hamburger joint facing the venue just earned more money than I did because he charged €30 for a burger and a Coke Zero, then that’s not right.”

Healthier, again, is the strength of domestic acts – perhaps one of the more positive legacies of Covid, which of course took international artists off the menu for two years.

“The domestic market in Sweden now is bigger than it’s ever been,” says Maloney. “All the Swedish tours we have done with Veronica Maggio, HammerFall, or Evergrey have done amazing business. That’s something we are really concentrating on now.”

Read part two of the Swedish market report, which focuses on festivals and venues, here.

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The Solutionist: Anna Sjölund’s 25 years in live

In November 2023, it was announced that Anna Sjölund was to leave Live Nation – where she’d spent her entire career until then – for ASM Global. In a move dubbed “seismic” by one exec, Sjölund swapped her widely regarded career as a promoter for a gig in the venue business. And while the latter is new territory for her, it’s a kind of homecoming for the European director.

The 45-year-old Swede has returned to her old stomping ground of Avicii Arena, where she cut her teeth (and broke her foot) as a production assistant in the earliest throes of her career. It was in the carpark of the arena, then known as Stockholm Globe, where she first met ASM’s SVP Operations Marie Lindqvist after their cars ran into each other.

Decades later, Sjölund is set to spend many more working hours at Avicii, now ASM Global’s Sweden office, with Lindqvist at the helm. “I’ve lived these venues, and I know the people very well… I’m having a full-circle moment,” says Sjölund.

High school dropout
Sjölund spent the lion’s share of her youth in Lund, a province at the southern tip of Sweden best known for its prestigious university. Ironically, this is where Sjölund’s education was put on the back burner when she got her “lucky break” in music. “When I was in the seventh grade, I slipped into a group of older kids and ended up taking part in this EU-funded youth project at Mejeriet, a venue in Lund,” she tells IQ.

“We put on events for young people, like parties, viewings of 90210, and concerts,” she remembers. “We took tickets at the entrance or cleaned or did the coat check. When I started working at the big gigs, I realised I didn’t want to do anything else, so I dropped out of school.”

Sjölund had been attending a sports school, where basketball was her focus – “I wasn’t very good, but I was pretty tenacious,” she admits. A leg injury sustained in her first year prompted her to spend more time at the club, before she quit school altogether.

“I never really went back after that,” she said. “I would cycle from the club every morning to the record store Folk & Rock where we sold tickets, count the stubs and report back. Then I’d do the same at the other resale shops in the city. That’s basically what I did for a year.”

“I would cycle from the club every morning to the record store Folk & Rock where we sold tickets, count the stubs and report back”

Not entirely done with education, Sjölund relocated to the US to take her senior year of high school, only to return to the club a year later with renewed ambition. “I started this little side company, and we worked as stagehands and riggers and crew for extra cash,” she says. “Some of those were EMA Telstar shows – Thomas Johansson’s company. When the Stockholm promoters had shows down south, they would call me and ask for crew. We would put together a group of friends and build the stage for them.”

Sjölund’s work then took her as a production assistant to Hultsfred Festival, where her path again crossed with staff from EMA. Soon after, EMA enlisted her for Tina Turner’s Twenty Four Seven tour in 2000 at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg. “I was 20 years old, and that was my first stadium show,” she says. “Seeing the audience on those shows was amazing, and I just loved working in a venue. I had so much fun [that] I woke up the night after the show with Elvis tattooed on my back.”

Sjölund went from strength to strength with EMA, and the firm offered her a three-month stint at the then Stockholm Globe, working under then head of operations Tor Nielsen. In addition to working on concerts, Sjölund had a hand in producing an NHL game – sparking her lifelong passion for ice hockey “I didn’t go outside for three months, and
I loved it,” she says. “I wore Harley Davidson boots every day and walked so much that I broke the bones in my foot. It was the kind of fracture that people in the military service get.”

Nielsen says that Sjölund made a strong impression from the get-go: “From day one, you could see there was something special with Anna. She was smarter than all the guys around her and with lots of energy and curiosity. From day two, you saw a coming leader in our business.”

“I thought my job was to go out there and beat up the promoter… I was so tough with settlements and riders”

EMA Telstar founder Thomas Johansson had a similar feeling: “I knew that she was going places because she was very determined to work, and she spent a lot of time getting it right… she’s very thorough at her job.” Unsurprisingly, EMA offered the wunderkind a full-time position, which Sjölund accepted, but first, she had to deliver on a promise she’d made.

A year earlier, Tobbe Lorentz, an agent and longtime friend of hers, was in need of a European tour manager for Norwegian rock band Gluecifer, and 21-year-old Sjölund agreed to step in, despite lacking any experience in that role. “She was hesitant at first, but I assured her it was an easy job,” says Lorentz, who now works at UTA. “What could possibly go wrong with these hi-fuelled garage rockers from Scandinavia in the early 2000s?” he laughs.

Gluecifer turned out to be the least of his worries. “I thought my job was to go out there and beat up the promoter,” laughs Sjölund. “I was so tough with settlements and riders. And then I learned that it’s about cooperation. It was a real learning experience.” Sjölund had spent five weeks on the road and though she was the only woman among 16 men, she loved the band so much that she agreed to a second tour with them, postponing her move to EMA. Ultimately, Sjölund says it was clear that tour managing was not for her.

“I always wanted to work as a promoter, though I didn’t necessarily know whether I would be a production person or promoter,” she says. “I love being a facilitator. I want to provide the best possible set of scenarios for the artists, for the audience, and for the staff. The thrilling thing is to help other people get their vision across from stage.”

That passion for producing was only reaffirmed upon her return to EMA Telstar: “After a month at the company, I decided I would never do anything else,” she says.

“Even in the early days, [Anna] came across as knowledgeable and well-informed about her market”

Promoter’s prerogative
After a handful of years working full-time at EMA Telstar as a production assistant and booking agent, Sjölund made the jump to promoter – but it wasn’t an easy bridge to gap at first.

“Nobody would pick up my calls,” she remembers. “I had a list of agencies, and I kept calling them.” Ever determined, the promoter’s perseverance was eventually noticed by the likes of John Giddings, Rob Markus, and Tony Goldring.

“It didn’t matter how late at night I called Anna; she would always pick up. Unlike us mortals, she didn’t seem to need sleep to function,” laughs Goldring, with whom Sjölund worked on concerts such as Rihanna’s first show in Sweden in 2008 and Alicia Keys headlining Way Out West.

“Even in the early days, she came across as knowledgeable and well-informed about her market. When there were issues, we always found solutions together, and when I needed
more money, which was always, she tried to help but was clear when she couldn’t.”

A quick glance at the testimonials accompanying this feature will tell you that Sjölund is renowned for such problem-solving skills – and she’s the first to admit she’s “at her best” when there’s a crisis – but it’s something she’s learned the hard way.

“I’ve made numerous fuck-ups,” she laughs.“Very early in my career, I once forgot to book a venue for a confirmed show, which was bad when it was announced. It was a shock to everybody, especially since the date wasn’t available.

“Sometimes you make the wrong call or miss something, that’s the nature of the business”

“I also misjudged one of my first arena shows,” she continues. “I loved the band so much, I thought it was going to be a hit, but I only sold about a third of the venue, and we lost a fortune. I’ll never forget the feeling of losing money for the company or seeing those empty chairs. I didn’t sleep for weeks.”

But these days, Sjölund is matter of fact about mistakes and says she rarely gets upset. “Sometimes you make the wrong call or miss something, that’s the nature of the business,” she says. “You’ve just got to figure it out and solve the problem. Owning your mistakes and trying to learn from them and not repeat them is a part of this. Tony [Goldring] once said that we’re judged on how well we solve problems, and I’ve always thought about that.”

The Prague years
After a decade of working as a promoter at EMA (which by then had become Live Nation Sweden), Sjölund decided to take advantage of the firm’s international footprint and accepted a job as vice president of operations Central and Eastern Europe for Live Nation.

“It was a huge step up… I had no clue what I was doing,” she laughs. “I was 32, a female in a very male-dominated business, and I had moved to a country where I didn’t speak the language.That experience taught me how to be humble. I was very excited about doing everything and wanted to come in and change things, but there are cultural considerations. Every European market is different, and I didn’t realise that until I came to Prague.”

Though the secondment was challenging, Sjölund speaks fondly of her time in Prague, where she made “friends for life” and oversaw some of her most “challenging and fun” shows, including Madonna and U2 in Istanbul, Lady Gaga in Budapest, and Depeche Mode in Prague.

“I also did a lot of special projects like Linkin Park next to the Red Square in Moscow, which was an MTV-broadcasted show for the premiere of Transformers 3,” she muses.

“If you get asked to be the MD of a company you worked for since you were 20, you’re going to say yes”

“Doing a show like that in Russia, at that time, and with a movie premiere connected, was crazy. Plus, my daughter was ten days old, and I was gone for a week.” The VP also spent months in Baku, working on concerts connected to the UEFA’s Young Women’s Championship and the Formula 1 Grand Prix. And though the country’s live music market was relatively underdeveloped at the time, she worked on concerts with the likes of Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, and Shakira in the Azerbaijan capital.

“She put Mariah Carey on at the Grand Prix one year and Pharrell Williams the next, providing ‘internal transport’ – as requested on the rider – in the form of a sunseeker… Respect!” says John Giddings, Solo.

Sjölund adds: “It was incredibly interesting to do big shows in a market where there had been no big shows like that. We had to start from scratch. I’ve always liked working in other markets. I’ve always wanted to learn more – that’s what excites me; new things and challenges.”

A corporate detour
But there was one challenge Sjölund didn’t enjoy. In November 2017, Thomas Johansson enticed the Swede with a job as co-managing director at Live Nation Sweden – the most senior position of her career until that point.

“If you get asked to be the MD of a company you worked for since you were 20, you’re going to say yes,” she says. But climbing the corporate ladder was never on the promoter’s agenda, and the role took her away from doing what she loved the most.

“It turned out it just wasn’t for me,” she says. “I had too much to do with running corporate stuff and didn’t have time to do what I love – being a promoter. There’s no time for both. I want to work with the creative and the content; I realised that’s the part I felt passionate about.”

“Being a woman is a challenge that I felt many times”

Becoming the co-managing director of the Swedish branch of a multinational company at the ripe age of 38 is impressive by anyone’s standards but even more so for a queer woman in a notoriously male-dominated industry.

“Being a woman is a challenge that I felt many times,” she says. “I don’t know how many times people have told me to ‘focus on my family’ – nobody ever tells a man that.” Sjölund hastens to add that fortunately many of the men she has worked closely with, such as Thomas Johansson and Tor Nielsen, have been “fantastic” champions and lifelong friends, but admits that there were “countless times where the boys’ club has been annoying to handle.”

Having spent the majority of her career as “the only woman in certain rooms,” Sjölund says gender equality in the industry has come a long way but that there’s still more work to be done.

“If you compare now to 15 years ago, it’s fantastic,” she says. “You’ve got amazing women like Emma Banks, Lucy Dickins, Kim Bloem, and Kelly Chappel ruling the business, but I wish there were more of us. It’s unbelievable to me that we don’t manage to bring more women into senior positions.

“The people responsible for the lack of women in high positions are the men who never leave those high positions. Everybody needs to move around a little to create new opportunities… you’ve gotta make room for the Kim Bloems!” she says.

While her experience as a woman in the industry has, at times, been rocky, she says her sexuality has “never been questioned.” In fact, Sjölund recounts Live Nation adjusting its employee benefits so she and her partner could start their family.

“Lolla Stockholm will always be our baby”

“The wait time for two women to have assisted insemination in Sweden was two to three years, simply because there were not enough donors,” she explains. “But we didn’t want to wait to start our family, so we decided to go private, and you could only do that in Denmark. That wasn’t included in Live Nation’s benefits and when I mentioned that, it was immediately adjusted so we could get the same type of support as any other couple that needed additional help to start their family. I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of an employer.”

Home is where the heart is
Ensuring Sweden remains attractive as a market keeps Sjölund awake at night. Throughout her career, she has been a fierce advocate for her home country and its value to the international live music industry.

“It’s a unique market,” she says proudly. “If you look per capita, Sweden is a pretty small country, but if you go to a festival anywhere in the world, you’ll likely see Swedish artists on stage, and you’ll definitely hear songs played by headliners that are written by Swedish songwriters and producers. Plus, we have a great set of venues, Spotify is Swedish. It’s sort of a music centre.”

It was that kind of impassioned pitch that saw the exec bring US festival brand Lollapalooza to Stockholm in 2019 – one of her proudest achievements. “It was my dream to do that, and I could not have done that without the team headed up by Frida Riklund,” she says. “Lolla Stockholm will always be our baby. It was the first time we had something like that in the centre of Stockholm – at least on that scale.

“Plus, I loved seeing the approach C3 Presents take with festivals and combining that with the European approach to promoting.”

A major source of Sjölund’s pride with Lollapalooza Stockholm was creating an event for all ages – an impressive feat in a country where the age limit is 13 due to sound limits. “We worked with the authorities to find a way to let kids of all ages attend with their parents,” she explained.

“The vibe that created – seeing people of all ages having fun – was something I hadn’t seen before in Stockholm. I loved seeing my kids [Magda and Holly] in Kidspalooza playing around, and then going to watch Billie Eilish, who exploded that year.

“I bought sheep… I had to keep myself busy, so I looked after them and learned to cut them”

“I think it’s really important for the growth of the business to get people enjoying festivals and concerts early. And due to Covid, there’s a whole generation of people that missed a few years there. So I think it’s even more important that you get that opportunity.”

Sjölund is equally proud of developing the relationship between Sweden and the National Hockey League (NHL) – a project she worked on from her first days at Live Nation to her last.

“Sweden has the third most players in the NHL after Canada and the US – that’s pretty cool, being such a small market. Working with the NHL has been a real high point of my career.”

Coping mechanisms
The high of launching Lollapalooza Stockholm was abruptly followed by a low – the pandemic. “Can you believe how unlucky it is to work on a project for so long, launch it, and then the pandemic comes?” says Sjölund, who latched onto some weird and wonderful distraction techniques.

“I bought sheep,” she says. “I had to keep myself busy, so I looked after them and learned to cut them. It was a little bit impulsive,” she admits. “I didn’t think about the fact that not every summer would be like a Covid summer, so I had to restructure a little bit after that.”

When she wasn’t shearing sheep, Sjölund was putting her energy into teaching the Swedish government about the music industry and its value to society, alongside ASM’s Marie Lindqvist.

“There is always an itch in me… I was at the point in my career where I was thinking should I do something else?”

“I think we both found a way of channeling our passion for this industry into something constructive during these miserable years,” says Lindqvist. “Anna turned out to be a natural
talent in lobbying; she could probably also go into politics if she wanted. Very passionate, informed, and convincing!”

The pair regularly met up to walk and talk during that period, forming a strong relationship based on shared values in work and in life. “We share a view about events and about taking care of everyone involved – the audiences, promoters, and artists,” adds Sjölund. A few years down the line and it was that shared vision – plus good timing – that ultimately prompted Sjölund to leave the company she’d spent 25 years at.

“As ASM Global grew in Sweden with more venues and expanded into Finland, it needed someone that could head up the programming team and help us to develop our strategies and content in the growing portfolio of venues in Europe,” says Lindqvist. “I think the stars were aligned, I picked up the phone, pitched the role, and luckily it turned out to be the right time and place for Anna.”

Sjölund adds: “There is always an itch in me… I was at the point in my career where I was thinking should I do something else? There was no reason for me to be a promoter anywhere else – I had an incredible ride at Live Nation, and I’m so grateful for all the folks there and the great opportunities I’ve had. It was time for a new challenge.”

“I’m really excited to see what I can bring to the venue business”

A new chapter
If there’s one thing Sjölund’s colleagues, old and new, can agree on, it’s that she’s going to take the venue business by storm. “I think it’s going to be very good for the venues,” says Johansson. “I think the biggest advantage she has is that she’s been a promoter for 24 years. She knows the problems we have, whereas a lot of venue people have no idea what it is to be a promoter.”

“In the ASM office, we joke that I’m the promoter interpreter,” adds Sjölund. “I think it’s exciting to go from one part of the business to the other. In the end, we all want the same thing – to put on a great show.”

While she admits it’s sometimes still strange to be on the other side of the business, she is also fully embracing the change of scenery. “There’s more room for being long-term and strategic, whereas promoters have to solve problems right now.”

Though there are fewer late-night crisis calls, there are still plenty of urgent problems that need solving… “Avails, avails, avails – that’s the biggest issue,” she laughs. “I want to create more days in certain months. In some of our arenas we have a lot of sports, so there’s a juggle to accommodate home teams and all the artists that want to come and play.”

As she looks to the next phase of her career, Sjölund’s ambitions in the venue business are far from small: “I’m really excited to see what I can bring to the venue business. I want to see more great sports in our arenas, and I’m excited to work with both small venues and big venues, and all the opportunities that brings for new types of content – the sky is the limit. I want every promoter, artist, and fan to leave our venues feeling like they have had a great experience – that’s what I take pride in.”

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Two major Swedish festivals cancelled

Two of Sweden’s leading festivals will not take place next year, it has been confirmed.

Lollapalooza Stockholm will “take a break” for 2024 to give promoters time to “re-evaluate and make improvements across the board”, while organisers of Malmö’s Big Slap have opted to call it a day after 10 years.

Staged by co-creator Perry Farrell, WME, C3 Presents and Live Nation Sweden/Luger, Lollapalooza Stockholm launched in 2019 to become the third Lollapalooza event in Europe following spin-offs in Paris, France and Berlin, Germany. Its most recent Swedish edition, held from 29 June-1 July, was headlined by Travis Scott, Kygo, Lizzo, Zara Larsson, Mumford & Sons and Lil Nas X.

However, HBL reports the domestic market has shifted away from major festivals – referencing the now-defunct Hultsfred, Bråvalla and Peace and Love – in favour of more niche events such as Live Nation’s Way Out West and Sweden Rock Festival (LN also axed this year’s Summerburst, saying it had “decided to focus on the other festivals”).

But despite the country’s struggles with high interest rates and inflation, communications manager Alexander Kihlström denies the economic climate is to blame for Lollapalooza Stockholm’s hiatus.

“I cannot say more details about when the festival will return”

“We’ve had three fantastic festivals so far and it’s entirely possible to do events in Stockholm and around Sweden, which we can see not least from our friends Sweden Rock and Way Out West, who are going like a train again this year,” says Kihlström. “I cannot say more details about when the festival will return. There is a desire and an interest in festivals that have very big international acts.”

Elsewhere, Big Slap, which launched in 2013, was acquired by Nordic giant All Things Live in 2020. But organisers have decreed that its 2023 edition, which welcomed acts such as Burna Boy, Swedish House Mafia, 3 Are Legend, Steve Angello, Rita Ora, Armin Van Buuren Bebe Rexha and Hardwell in August, was its last.

The electronic music festival had grown from a one-day 15,000-cap affair to a 52,000-cap, two-day event in 2022 when it was headlined by Justin Bieber. But citing a desire to go out on top, founder Ali Eftekhari tells Sydsvenskan the festival has reached a “maximum limit” in terms of its development.

Swedish audiences’ propensity to gravitate towards new festivals over established brands is well documented, and a social media post hints that a fresh festival concept is in the works by the Big Slap team.

“A new journey will now begin with a new brand, format, and a new vibe sooner than you think”

“Since 2013, we have been dreaming of making Big Slap bigger and better each year,” reads the statement. “We have achieved all our goals and fulfilled our dreams, all thanks to you.

“Some journeys end at the top! A new journey will now begin with a new brand, format, and a new vibe sooner than you think! Stay tuned.”

Sydsvenskan reports that new festivals are in the offing for next summer in Malmö and Lund, while Live Nation is resurrecting Stockholm’s Sthlm Fields concert series. The June/July series will comprise around 10 shows and feature in the region of 30 artists. Confirmed headliners so far include Doja Cat, Greta Van Fleet, Molly Sandén, TOTO and The Hives.

In addition, Summerburst co-founder Anders Boström is partnering with event manager Navid Kabiri and nightclub guru Samin Adjoudani to launch Drömmen – a one-day celebration of Eurovision and schlager music – at Stockholm Olympic Stadium on 25 May. Plus, promoter One Wknd Only Productions is teaming with Snowman Agency to create two-day music festival Thunderfield in Jönköping from 31 May-1 June.

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Anna Sjölund trades Live Nation for ASM Global

ASM Global has appointed Anna Sjölund as European programming director, with a focus on the growth of the business in the Nordics region.

The industry stalwart joins the venue management giant from Live Nation Sweden, where she has risen through the ranks over 24 years.

In her new role, Sjölund will be based out of ASM’s Stockholm office and tasked with curating content at venues including Friends Arena, Tele2 Arena, Avicii Arena, Södra Teatern and Kulttuuritalo, as well as offering support in the rest of Europe.

While leading the Swedish programming team, she will support the individual venues and regional content teams to deliver and develop “a truly world-class and unrivalled calendar of unmissable live entertainment content”.

Marie Lindqvist, senior vice president of operations in Europe for ASM Global, says: “We are incredibly excited to welcome Anna to the ASM Global team. Anna is highly experienced, widely respected, and comes with a vast network within the industry, especially in the Nordics. I have worked with Anna in various capacities for more than 15 years, so I can confidently say she shares the same passion for growing the footprint of amazing live events in Sweden, and the rest of the Nordic region. Anna is a brilliant new addition to our best-in-class team and I look forward to working with her as we look to a bright future in Sweden and the Nordics.”

“Knowing that Anna was the promoter of your show meant total confidence that every possible aspect of the event was fully covered”

Brian Celler, senior vice president content and programming for UK & Europe at ASM Global, adds: “Let’s be entirely honest, Anna joining the ASM Global European programming team is nothing short of seismic. She is a world-class executive, held in the highest esteem by her colleagues, agents, managers, and artists globally. Knowing that Anna was the promoter of your show meant total confidence that every possible aspect of the event was fully covered. We are beyond thrilled to be part of Anna’s next progression in her career and her integral role in the expanding ASM Global venue portfolio in Europe.”

Sjölund joined Thomas Johansson’s EMA Telstar (now Live Nation Sweden) as a production assistant in 2000, and rapidly rose through the ranks. She has served as VP operations, Live Nation Central and Eastern Europe 2010-2013, and led the touring and festival business at Live Nation Sweden for more than 10 years. Most recently, she served in a global role as SVP Touring International.

Sjölund has established herself as one of Europe’s premier promoters with an unrivalled network in Sweden and the Nordics, promoting hundreds of arena and stadium shows in the region with world-class acts, as well as bringing international festival Lollapalooza to Stockholm in 2019, 2022, and 2023.

She is a longstanding promoter of the NHL Global Series in Sweden, Finland, Czech Rep and Germany – successfully filling Stockholm with 52,000 hockey fans from all over the world this season alone. As a result, Stockholm has had 16 regular season NHL games since 2008 – more than twice as many as any other city outside of North America.

Sjölund says: “During my 24 years with the great Thomas Johansson and the team at Live Nation Sweden I have worked incredibly close with the ASM Global venues here, and have had the fortune to be a part of hundreds of incredible events there – to now continue to develop and expand that business in the European region is something I’m really looking forward to. I joined forces with Marie Lindqvist to gather the Swedish event industry during the pandemic years, and have tremendous respect for her leadership and strategic work, and am excited to continue that partnership and our shared passion for live entertainment on a daily basis.”

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Adam Börjesson to lead Live Nation Sweden/Luger

Live Nation Sweden and Luger, Sweden’s leading music agencies, have found a new head of agency in Adam Börjesson.

He joins the nation’s leading music agencies from Amuse, an independent record label and music distributor in Stockholm. There, he worked as its head of commercial development, building on previous experiences at Universal Music, Jubel, and his own record company Astronaut Recordings.

“I have worked closely with both Luger and Live Nation in various contexts for a long time and am really looking forward to taking on this assignment,” Börjesson says. “They are two industry-leading brands that care about artists, sustainability and corporate culture, and I see enormous potential in developing the offer and advancing the positions further.”

The strategic move to coordinate the two leading agencies’ leadership is poised to improve symbiotic relations between the two companies and their artists, organisers, and partners, per a press release.

“Through an increased focus on collaboration and pooling of forces, we see that we can have positive effects for our entire business”

“We have the luxury of having two strong, differentiated and clearly profiled agencies under the same roof, something we are very keen to maintain and strengthen. Through an increased focus on collaboration and pooling of forces, we see that we can have positive effects for our entire business,” says Mattias Behrer, CEO of Live Nation Sweden.

Börjesson will be responsible for day-to-day leadership and personnel responsibility beginning 1 October, along with leading alongside Luger CEO and founder Ola Bronquist.

Additionally, Live Nation has recruited Julia Carlsson to the role of agent in the Swedish department. Carlsson has previously worked with the company in project management and production.

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Celebrating Thomas Johansson at 75

As part of the team that introduced ABBA to the world, Thomas Johansson has enjoyed an equally stellar career, cementing the Nordic territories into the routing of every international tour that visits Europe. Now, having just celebrated his 75th birthday, he’s contemplating the future. But retirement is not a concept he fully recognises, he tells Gordon Masson.

As is the story with many of the industry’s pioneers, Thomas Johansson fell into the business by mistake when he saw an opportunity to earn a bit of money while getting into shows.

“A friend of mine played bass in a band, and I went along to a gig,” Johansson recalls. “Basically, I went to the promoter and said, ‘My band is worth more than this.’ And the guy agreed and paid more money. The band was four people, but they gave me a fifth – 20% – because I’d doubled their fee. So, all of a sudden, I was getting paid for talking and the bonus was I didn’t have to pay to go to concerts.”

As a teenage artist manager – “I was 16, I think” – that moment sparked an entrepreneurial streak that has lasted six decades, to date, and underscored a love for music that dates back a lot further.

As the first beneficiaries of Johansson’s legendary negotiating skills, that band of friends – The Outsiders – enjoyed four years of fame before splitting in 1969. “They were the opening act on several gigs for Jimi Hendrix,” says Johansson. “We also opened up for a band I did very early in my career called Blue Cheer, who were a fantastic blues-rock American trio, very similar to Hendrix.”

Keen to absorb as much information and experience as possible, Johansson began working for established Scandinavian promoters SBA, based in Denmark. “There were two principals there, Knud Thorbjörnsen and Anders Stefansen, and with them I promoted the likes of Ike and Tina Turner.” He explains, “There was also a lady there called Siw Eriksson, who worked with a lot of jazz acts – Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Miles Davis, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Oscar Peterson – basically all of the jazz greats. And from her, I really learned how to promote shows, because she was the local promoter for all of these jazz icons.

“The people at SBA also did European tours – they did the first European tour with the Stones in the late ‘60s, for instance – and they paved the way for other promoters to follow”

“In essence, the people at SBA also did European tours – they did the first European tour with the Stones in the late ‘60s, for instance – and they paved the way for other promoters to follow. In fact, I continued to work with both Knud and Anders right up until the 1980s when they sort of stopped.”

With a hard-working attitude and a passion to create the best environments for artists and their audiences, the next door that opened for young Thomas saw him in a salaried position for the Musicians’ Union. “I was an agent/promoter, for the [MU] locally in Sweden, and that’s also when I had my first encounter with the Rolling Stones, at the Vinterstadion, Örebro, over Easter in 1967.” That show has taken on legendary status in Scandinavia in the decades since – made all the more remarkable by the fact that the local promoter, Johansson, was just 18 at the time. “I’ve always been a pretty quick learner,” he quips.

Among the many acts that performed in Sweden with the assistance of the teenage Thomas were Traffic, Frank Zappa, Janis Joplin and, in March 1969, Led Zeppelin, who were the opening act for Country Joe & the Fish.

Arrival
Never one to recognise age as a barrier, with barely four years of experience behind him, Johansson decided to launch his own company, EMA Telstar. He asked Siw Eriksson to join him as his assistant. “She’s a fantastic lady: she’s about 92 or 93 now, and I still speak to her,” he says.

He admits, however, that there was a more pressing reason to launch EMA. “The Musicians’ Union fired me,” he says. “There was a Union newspaper, and they asked me to write about modern music, which I did. But I was working with an eight-piece band and two of the guys were not MU members. So, they figured that I was not a good person, and they fired me… but it worked out okay for me in the end,” he laughs.

“I started to work with ABBA, and EMA Telstar produced and promoted all the dates they ever did from 1974 to the last show”

Brushing aside the fact that he was barely out of his teens when he became one of northern Europe’s main promoters, Johansson tells IQ, “It was easier at that time to start a company, because there were not many people doing it. I started up about one or two years earlier than Leon Ramakers did in Holland, and a little bit before Andy Béchir in Switzerland. In England, you had Tony Smith’s father, John Smith, who was a big promoter at the time, and through him I met Harvey [Goldsmith], who was working for John.”

Rather than shoulder all the risk himself, Johansson reveals that EMA’s early incarnation, in 1969, involved three partners. “One of the partners, Olle Nordström, died very early, and the other guy, Benny Englund, is still around and represents Marshall Amps, Fender, Vox: he’s basically the biggest supplier of this type of equipment in Sweden, Finland, and Norway. When Olle died, I bought his shares in the company, and later I bought out Benny as well.”

The Names of The Game
While Johansson has worked with some of the biggest legends ever to appear on stage, it’s perhaps one of the earliest bands from his career who have the greatest legacy.

“I started to work with ABBA, and EMA Telstar produced and promoted all the dates they ever did from 1974 to the last show they ever did at the Budokan, Tokyo in March 1980. We did three European tours, one Australian tour, one Japanese tour, and one US tour,” he states.

Recalling how the band’s career was embraced early on Down Under, Johansson observes, “Australia has similarities to Sweden: it’s remote from the rest of the world, while Sweden is remote from the rest of Europe; and they’re both relatively small countries in terms of population. So, when something happens, it happens big time, and with ABBA it was really big time. Luckily, we went to Australia early in the game with ABBA to do television, which was a real boost for the band at the time.”

“With U2, the first show they ever did here was a little club in Stockholm for 200 kids”

Indeed, Johansson’s influence with ABBA goes back to the very early days. “Actually, I started to work with them the year before Eurovision, so in 1973. All four of them came from successful local groups. I knew Björn from when I was 13 or 14 – he’s three years older than I am – and I managed his wife Agnetha on her solo career and produced her tours.

“So, when the band formed, they asked if I wanted to help them to produce the dates, book the dates, and promote the dates, which I did. And that’s how the relationship started.”

Although Johansson is not involved with the smash hit ABBA Voyage production, he still talks frequently to the members of the Swedish super-group, having also managed Frida’s career and executive produced a couple of her solo albums, “one with Phil Collins as a producer, and the other with Steve Lillywhite as a producer,” he recalls.

Another act who he shares a long association with is Elton John, who just weeks ago brought down the curtain on his touring career in Sweden with Thomas as promoter. “The first show I did with him, he was still called Reginald Dwight, and he was the piano player in a band called Blue Mink. We’ve done all Elton’s shows ever since,” reports Johansson.

Recalling other artists, he adds, “With U2, the first show they ever did here was a little club in Stockholm for 200 kids. Then we drove from that club to do a live TV [broadcast] and after the live TV, to play a club across the street. Queen, we started with very early in 1974; McCartney, we did the first tour after he left the Beatles with Wings in 1973; The Eagles played their first show here in 1977. To me, that’s a big personal thing to be able to say that. Of course, it’s in the past; it’s history. But it’s important to me, and again, it’s reinforced by what I impart to my staff: the artists are the first priority, never forget.”

“Early on with ABBA, we went to America where we did Olivia Newton John’s TV show in Los Angeles”

Join The Joyride
One of the many benefits of travelling the world with ABBA during the 1970s was the myriad opportunities for Johansson to expand his network of contacts. “Early on with ABBA, we went to America where we did Olivia Newton John’s TV show in Los Angeles,” he explains. “She was managed by Roger Davies, whom I’d known since he was managing an Australian band called Sherbet that I’d managed to get on as an opening act for The Hollies. And ever since then, I worked with all of Roger’s acts – Tina Turner, Cher, Pink, Sade, Joe Cocker – anyone he has worked with, I’ve promoted in Sweden and the Nordics.”

Steering ABBA’s live performance career helped make EMA Telstar a powerhouse in the Nordics, allowing Johansson and his company to become the go-to destination for most international acts looking to visit Scandinavia, Finland, and the Baltics.

As the Cold War started to thaw, Russia started to open its doors to western acts, with Johansson also becoming one of the pioneers to take acts behind the Iron Curtain to play the likes of Moscow and St Petersburg.

The 1980s also landed him the opportunity to work with another Swedish supergroup, Roxette, which combined the forces of two already established stars: Marie Fredriksson, who had a number of solo albums to her name; and Per Gessle, the lead singer and songwriter of Gyllene Tider, a band which had already released three No.1 albums – and whom Johansson has been promoting again this year at outdoor shows: “We do 20 outdoor shows with Per and his band this summer – a stadium in Stockholm, a stadium in Gothenburg, another 18 shows, as well as a couple in Finland and a couple in Norway. They’re going to end up selling something like 175,000 to 200,000 tickets,” he informs IQ.

Much like ABBA before them, Roxette used Johansson’s experience to propel them to international success. “We did all the tours and all the shows with Roxette worldwide,” he states. “When Per formed the band, we became his partner, and they played stadiums in Australia, they played stadiums in South America – big stadiums, like 50,000/60,000 people.”

“ABBA and Roxette gave me the opportunity to travel the world and that allowed me to pick up a lot of knowledge, as well as meet lots of people in the business”

That partnership arrangement hints at another Johansson skillset. He had also been a formidable artist manager in his day, but as EMA Telstar grew, and running the company became more time consuming, he started to ease away from artist manager duties, albeit reluctantly. But not before his management credentials had assisted the band Europe to become another A-list act. “We managed Europe for the first five years – they had that huge hit Final Countdown. And then I managed [lead singer] Joey [Tempest]. Even though it became so time consuming to be a manager, I couldn’t keep my hands away. So that’s why I managed Roxette initially and up until 1998 or ‘99 when I sold the company.”

He concedes, “ABBA and Roxette gave me the opportunity to travel the world and that allowed me to pick up a lot of knowledge, as well as meet lots of people in the business internationally – many of whom have become good friends, like Patrick Woodroffe the lighting designer, who worked with me on ABBA, so I turned to him for help when it came to Roxette, too. But as a manager, you need to do so much more than just the touring side of the business: you need to do publishing, record company deals, promotion, and I knew I would not have the luxury of that time when we sold the company to SFX.”

Super Trooper
Selling EMA Telstar to Bob Sillerman’s SFX began a series of transactions that would eventually lead to Johansson becoming chairman of Live Nation’s international touring division. Grasping the idea of a global promoting operation, he was acutely aware that his artist management days were almost certainly over. “The business of being a promoter is a very time-consuming situation, so I had to make up my mind: do I want to be a promoter, or do I want to be a manager? And I decided I would be a promoter,” he says.

Besides, there was a greater goal to aim for. As part of the original SFX deal for EMA Telstar, Johansson had negotiated a number of clauses that would allow him to acquire the operations of partners in neighbouring territories, providing him and his new employers with a powerbase in northern Europe.

“EMA Telstar had been running for 30 years when I sold it, and it was the biggest promoter in Sweden by a long shot,” he comments. “The deal I made was that they would allow me to buy my partners in Norway, Denmark, and Finland, which I did about a year to two years later. And although they were still separate companies, that’s what ultimately became the unit known as Live Nation, the Nordics.”

“Live Nation has created vehicles for artists to be able to tour globally”

As Sillerman’s corporate kleptomania swept up the operations of Johansson’s peers in the likes of the Netherlands and the UK, the concert business suddenly became an industry that the money men started to take more seriously. Subsequently, in early 2000, Clear Channel agreed a multibillion-dollar deal to acquire SFX, and its acquisition strategy accelerated both in North America and internationally before Clear Channel spun off its expanding live music division in 2005 and named Michael Rapino as CEO.

Looking back at the development of the company, Johansson observes, “Live Nation has created vehicles for artists to be able to tour globally. It’s a public company, so it is all transparent and above board, it’s all correctly insured, and it operates in a way that pays attention to the rules of each country it operates in.”

He continues, “It’s also becoming a company that is very environmental – in each country, we have a person who heads up sustainability strategy and who works alongside the festivals, alongside the gigs and the shows, to see how we can be more environmentally efficient. It’s a massively important part of our work now, because if we wait until tomorrow to do something about it, there will be no tomorrow.”

Noting that Live Nation’s regimen requires precise reporting, he adds, “Of course, there’s an extreme amount of administration to do with Live Nation, but the company has been at the forefront of professionalising our business: it has standardised a lot of the things we do, and for young artists, young promoters, and a new generation of audience, it offers a great solution.”

Money, Money, Money
Being backed by the deep pockets of a global corporation has been a game changer for Johansson and the many entrepreneurs who have boarded the Live Nation setup over the past 20 something years. That environment also gives its various territory chiefs the confidence to chase deals they might not have done when still independent.

“The artists always come first. Always, always, always. If you follow that one rule, and if you’re straight and honest and do your job, you will succeed”

“You always have difficult times,” says Johansson, addressing the issue of risk. “I think promoters are very closely related to farmers: it rains too much, it shines too much, it’s too windy, and when the weather is bad the economy is bad, inflation is bad. We complain a lot – that’s promoters.” Despite the myriad challenges that make promoting shows and festivals such a perilous financial enterprise, Johansson has never put himself in a position where he might lose the roof from over his head. “Of course, I’m wrong all the time, and there are shows where I lose money. But you have to be right more than you’re wrong,” he says.

And revealing the mantra that he’s based his entire career around, he tells IQ, “The absolute fundamental thing that I preach to the people here in my office [in Sweden], and to the people in Norway, Denmark and Finland, and the Baltics… I preach to them that our most important partner, client, and asset is the artist. The relationship with the artist, the artist manager, the artist agent, this is the fundament that we build our business on. The artists always come first. Always, always, always. If you follow that one rule, and if you’re straight and honest and do your job, you will succeed.”

One beneficiary of Johansson’s schooling has been Anna Sjölund, who has worked her way up the ranks to currently hold the post of senior VP touring international for Live Nation.

“Thomas is like family to me,” says Sjölund. “I had just turned 20 when I started working for EMA Telstar. I came from a local promoter in the south of Sweden to do a few months work during the summer and never left – it’s been the most incredible ride, learning, growing up, and creating my own path alongside him.

“Thomas is simply a unique force: challenging, fiercely loyal, and a true gentleman. He never gives up, never stops believing in his artists, and he has taught me to never ever stop promoting the show – that’s the job: promote the artist, promote the show, never give up, and always, always, always put the artist first.”

“I transformed myself into a promoter in the early 2000s, and Elton John was the first act I promoted”

The Boss
Having established Sweden as one of Europe’s strongest live music markets, Johansson has been given expanded roles by Live Nation in addition to his ‘chairman international music’ title. “I’m the chairman of the Nordics and also the Baltics, where we have two companies now, in Estonia and Lithuania,” he says. “That role involves overseeing the general business and making sure that it is taken care of in a professional way. That has been my remit for the last four or five years.

“But I am also still a promoter for many acts. For example, we recently had Bruce Springsteen here, whom I have been promoting for many years, and I’m lucky to have Tor Nielsen, whom I’ve been working with since 1977 – he executes the majority of the big shows that I do, whether it’s Metallica, Elton John, or Springsteen.”

Johansson is also quick to point out the evolving nature of the Live Nation staff across his territories. “There are some 90 people in this office here [in Stockholm]; there are about 70 in Denmark; in Norway it’s about 35-40; Finland about 25; and the Baltics about 10-12 people, so it’s more than 200 people in the Nordic hemisphere,” he reports.

For his part, right-hand man Nielsen tells IQ that he began working with Johansson as soon as he’d left university. “I’d basically make sure that the riders of visiting acts were fulfilled,” says Nielsen. “Then, in 1985, I took on the role of production manager for the company and basically became the tour coordinator and agent for Roxette and other acts.”

Adding the title of COO International Artists to his resume in the 1990s, Nielsen adds, “I transformed myself into a promoter in the early 2000s, and Elton John was the first act I promoted, although I’m still overseeing operations to this day.

“We’ve had some interesting clashes over the years, but we’ve always been able to work out the best way forward”

“I’m definitely the longest man standing when it comes to working with Thomas. He’s a mountain of energy and is very sociable, but he can be pretty stubborn. Then again, so can I, so we’ve had some interesting clashes over the years, but we’ve always been able to work out the best way forward.”

And Nielsen reveals one of Johansson’s habits is wanting to see as many shows as possible, even when the show may be the other side of the world. “I remember he flew in to see Roxette in Rio de Janeiro, and he was so jetlagged he fell asleep in the dressing room when the band went on stage and woke up as they came off. And then he caught a plane home.

“He’s a workaholic – when he flies to New York, he’s never out of the office for more than three days, for instance.” But he says some of the people who benefit most from that work ethic are LN Nordic staff. “He really likes to speak with everyone in the office about the projects they are working on. The last 15 years have seen a lot of young people join us, and I think that keeps Thomas energised – he’s a great mentor!”

What The Puck?!
Another facet to Johansson is his work in promoting his favourite sport: ice hockey. “In 1996, I started to talk to the National Hockey League [in North America] and the NHL Players Association, and in 1999/2000, we brought the first NHL teams here.”

While those exhibition games were lapped up by the hockey-mad Swedes, Johansson has worked tirelessly to build on those foundations to the extent that competitive games are now an annual fixture in Europe. “For the last seven or eight years, we have hosted real NHL games that count toward league standings,” he informs IQ. “In addition to Sweden, we’ve held games in Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland, and we have between two and four regular games every year that are televised in over 100 countries.”

“When Michael Rapino took over, he had a vision of building it on a worldwide scale. I really believe that was the most important thing that has happened to live music”

With his home city of Stockholm set to host four games in November, featuring Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, and Minnesota Wild, Johansson notes that those teams include 36 players of European nationalities, including 21 Swedes, hence robust ticket sales for the NHL Global Series games at the Avicii Arena.

Indeed, Johansson draws parallels between the NHL and Live Nation. “It’s an American company with a very good structure; it’s the biggest hockey league in the world, and it features the biggest stars in the game,” he states. “I count myself as very lucky: two of my biggest passions in life are music and ice hockey, and it’s very natural that I do both. In saying this, I never played hockey, personally. But I never played music either. However, I hope I have helped others to enjoy both activities as much as I do.”

Underlining his love for the winter sport, Johansson was on the board of directors of Stockholm ice hockey club Djurgårdens IF for 20 years. “I gave that up about ten years ago, and now I can go and see the games and enjoy them a little more,” he reports. “Being on the board of directors for a sports team is similar to managing a band: it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort… and it can cost you lots of money.”

Voyage
Having spent the majority of his working life as an independent promoter, Johansson says the best decision of his career was the sale of his company to SFX and his subsequent journey in helping to make Live Nation a reality.

“After Live Nation formed, I think that’s when the real evolution of the live business started in a big manner. And when Michael Rapino took over, he had a vision of building it on a worldwide scale. I really believe that was the most important thing that has happened to live music,” opines Johansson.

“It is very rewarding to see young people succeeding. It keeps you on your toes, it keeps you young, and I think most importantly it helps you understand a lot of things”

Indeed, having celebrated his 75th birthday on 19 August, he’s currently overseeing the biggest ever summer season for the LN Nordics division. “We have 42 stadium shows in the Nordic hemisphere this year, where we normally have 18. About half of those shows are bought by us directly, and half of them are Live Nation global tours. That proves there is still a lot of room for other promoters to bring shows to this part of the world. But I genuinely believe that nobody does it better than Live Nation. The company has set so many standards that we make it more economical for artists to tour. The bottom line is that Live Nation is an artist company.”

And as Johansson enters his 60th year in the music business, he’s happy that the empire he has devoted his working life to build is in safe hands.

“For me personally, to see that there are young promoters, both boys and girls, coming through and how skilled they are, how good they are… I’m so proud and happy to be a part of that team,” he says. “Every day I go into the office, the people I work alongside present these fantastic ideas for shows and tours. And the way they are helping to break new acts is fantastic.”

While ‘retirement’ isn’t a word that slides easily into Johansson’s vocabulary, he admits that he took it upon himself over the last decade to spend more time mentoring colleagues. “It is very rewarding to see young people succeeding,” he continues. “It keeps you on your toes, it keeps you young, and I think most importantly it helps you understand a lot of things. A big part of a promoter’s role is to remain curious and willing to learn, and I’ve found that the more I offer my advice and experience to younger colleagues, the more I learn, too.”

With a workaholic attitude, Johansson admits that during the pandemic he attended his Live Nation office every day, as did a number of his co-workers. But he notes, “It’s very difficult not to work hard when you are so interested in what you do. It’s not really like a job; it’s more like a passion. And I’m very lucky as a human being that the majority of my work life has been my passion.

“Of course, there is pain and bumps and idiots all along the way. But the majority of the time, I’m very happy, and I’m very fortunate to be able to do what I want to do”

“Of course, there is pain and bumps and idiots all along the way. But the majority of the time, I’m very happy, and I’m very fortunate to be able to do what I want to do. I appreciate it every day – having something to do that makes you look forward to waking up every morning.”

My Love, My Live
While many individuals count down to the day they give up work with glee, Johansson sailed past standard retirement age a decade ago, and the past ten years coincidentally have heralded the busiest period of his career. “The really rapid growth for Live Nation has been during the last six or seven years,” says Johansson, who also believes that post-Covid, the age-old dilemma about tomorrow’s headliners is being resolved.

“There are a lot of young acts that because of Covid were unable to tour for two or three years, but at the same time they’ve grown because of social media, record releases, television, TikTok, etc. And because of that demand they have built up by expanding their fanbase, there is the opportunity for them to step up to arenas and stadiums. I think that’s what we’re going to see over the coming years – the next generation of big acts coming through.”

He cites Volbeat as an act from the Nordics that is getting bigger on the international stage, while on a global level Johansson believes the Internet has levelled the playing field for emerging talent. “Social media means it doesn’t matter if you come from New York or from Stockholm or Sydney or a suburb of Johannesburg,” he observes.

That genuine excitement within Johansson is infectious, and while his diamond anniversary might just be around the corner, his passion for music remains as strong as when he was a teenager. “I still love to discover a new act playing live,” he says. “But more often, I listen to a lot of new music, and I like to read about new bands, too. Recently, I saw a great band with Metallica, called Mammoth, with the son of Eddie Van Halen – they’re a great rock band, so that was interesting.”

“Klaus-Peter Schulenberg was a colleague of mine when he was a promoter in Bremen”

Noting that Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich had been the person to introduce him to Danish stars Volbeat, 12 years ago, Johansson also flags up Swedish homegrown act Ghost, who he has high hopes for. “They’ve already had a Grammy award in America and now they play and sell out arenas in Europe and America. It’s really one guy – Tobias Forge – who dresses up like the Pope, and every show Ghost does is a story in its own right. So, I’m very proud that we’ve been involved with them from the very beginning – it was Martin Nielsen in Norway and Johan [Karlsson], here from my office, who became involved when the band first played in clubs.”

He also lauds First Aid Kit. “Great songs, great girls, and really good live. We work with them through Luger who, if we were a record company, would be our indie label, as they’re the division that produces Way Out West festival.”

On the festival front, LN Nordics has grown massively in recent years. The portfolio also includes Sweden Rock and Lollapalooza Stockholm in collaboration with C3 Presents; Tons of Rock, Bergen Festival, and Trondheim Rocks in Norway; Denmark’s Copenhell and Heartland; and Blockfest in Finland. “We’re also partners on a few events like Helsinki Rocks and Turku Festival, in which our job is to service them with artists. And I’ve been involved as a consultant on Roskilde since its first edition,” notes Johansson.

Scando Rivalry
As Johansson and his colleagues over the years developed the Nordics into must-visit destinations for international tours, it’s testament to his hard work and vision that rival corporations have established footholds in the region during the past decade.

“Klaus-Peter Schulenberg was a colleague of mine when he was a promoter in Bremen,” says Johansson of the CTS Eventim chief. “He started Eventim as a ticketing company and then bought a lot of local promoters in Germany, so I think it was a natural progression for them to move into Scandinavia.”

“Personally, I welcome the fact that there’s competition to motivate us all”

Meanwhile, ASM has begun operating venues such as Stockholm’s Avicii Arena, Hovet, Annexet, Tele2 Arena, Friends Arena, Södra Teatern, and Mosebacketerrassen. And more recently, venture capital-backed All Things Live has acquired existing promoters in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland to further up the ante in the competitive Nordics landscape.

“They are, of course, rivals, but competition pushes people to do more things and, hopefully, better things,” observes Johansson. “It also gives the artists the opportunity to have the choice of who they want to work with. From that point of view, it’s like everywhere else in the world: you’ll never have a monopoly, which can only be a good thing. Personally, I welcome the fact that there’s competition to motivate us all.”

And Johansson notes that the rivalries between the corporate powers are not as fierce as many commentators would suggest. “We did Elton John with AEG, I did the Rolling Stones with AEG, so we work together, and we talk. We’re both American-owned companies who don’t sit too far away from each other in Los Angeles, so it’s nice to see that there’s a lot of mutual respect between us.”

At the other end of the spectrum, Johansson believes the talent pipeline in his part of the world is in rude health. “There’s lots of good small clubs, all across the country. People always complain there aren’t, but when you start to look at it, there are proper 800 to 1,000-capacity rooms everywhere across Sweden. And then, because of ice hockey, you also have 10-12 relatively modern ice hockey arenas with capacities from 6,000 to 13,000.”

The Next Generation
The wealth of talent doesn’t just exist on stage, however, and when it comes to succession plans for Live Nation, Johansson is very optimistic about the company’s future.

“I want to spend more time with my family; I want to go on long hikes with my dog, Hugin; I want to read more and generally just have more time to think”

“My main ambition is to make sure that the people working here in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Baltics, have the opportunity to continue to work and to become the best at what they do,” he discloses.

“I see myself as working a little bit less in the not too far distance, because there are other things I want to do, which is not just related to the business… I want to spend more time with my family; I want to go on long hikes with my dog, Hugin; I want to read more and generally just have more time to think,” he explains.

“I have no extreme things that I want to do, because I’ve been so fortunate. I’ve travelled the world in an extremely good way, and for that, I’m eternally grateful. I met fantastic people – some of whom have become very good friends. So, it’s not that I want to stop and open a restaurant or a hotel or become the owner of a football club. But I do see myself working a little bit less, eventually. I’ve been asked this question by my family as well, but I explain that I still have commitments to clients, and I will always fulfil my commitments.”

Always the consummate planner, Johansson reveals that he was careful not to fall into the trap of pursuing a career at the cost of his family. “I have one son and two grandkids, and while I want to spend more time with them, I have seen them a lot as they grew up.

“I live on an old farm just outside of Stockholm, and my son and his family have always lived in the house next door, so I’ve been present since my grandchildren were born. I’ve seen them when they started to go to school; when I walked the dogs first thing, I got to say good morning to them… it’s a lovely relationship – my grandson is now 21 and my granddaughter is 18, and they are always dropping in to see me and have a cup of coffee and a chat. In fact, my grandson has been working in security at some of our shows to make money, and I think my granddaughter will also do some of that.”

“There are always places I always want to go back to – I want to be in Italy every day of the week”

Family aside, Johansson would also like to schedule more travel when he can find the time. “There are always places I always want to go back to – I want to be in Italy every day of the week,” he says. “I love New York. I love Los Angeles, Paris, London, Australia. I’m sure I will be able to get back to them all, but I’m not in any rush, because I’ve been there many times with work.”

When it comes to passing on the Live Nation batons, he coyly states, “It’s being worked on,” and while he keeps his cards close to his chest, it’s obviously a progression that he is contemplating very seriously.

“It’s a very difficult thing to do,” he says of the succession plans. “For me, it was natural because I brought the business in, made sure we made the money, and took the company into where it is today. But you have to really think carefully about who can do this in the future… You have to have a good bunch of people to run the whole Nordic area. Maybe that means one or two or three people who have the same vision who can then work together.”

With the succession strategy being a work in progress, for the foreseeable future, Johansson has travel plans on hold, while he remains in the Nordic region to help his younger colleagues realise their potential. “It’s almost like working with an ice hockey team. You can see who is going to be the next star – this guy, this girl, they’re going to be great promoters, they’re going to be great marketeers, they’re going to be great sponsor people. That is a big thing to see, and it’s one of my biggest pleasures in life,” he concludes.

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LN Sweden appoints Eva Alm head of sustainability

Live Nation Sweden has appointed Eva Alm to the newly created role of head of sustainability.

Effective 7 August, Alm will be responsible for “driving and developing Live Nation’s sustainability work, including Sweden Rock Festival and the wholly owned subsidiary Luger”.

Alm joins from Espresso House Group where she was sustainability manager and developed and activated sustainability strategies.

She has held various senior roles in the hotel and hospitality industry and has an academic background in business leadership and international development cooperation.

“Sustainability work should be a natural part of our DNA and play a key role in the business decisions we make,” says Mattias Behrer, CEO of Live Nation Sweden.

“We want to and will contribute to change by inspiring our fans, employees, artists and partners – but also ourselves and the industry at large. [Live Nation Sweden festival] Way Out West is an example where we have shown through creative initiatives that it is possible to break norms and contribute to increased sustainability. Eva has solid experience in activating sustainability strategies and a great commitment, which is exactly what we are looking for in this role.”

“Sustainability work should be a natural part of our DNA and play a key role in the business decisions we make”

Alm adds: “The commitment to sustainability issues is already great within Live Nation and I see it as an incredibly exciting opportunity to be part of the journey to drive sustainability work forward and contribute to both highly set business and sustainability goals.”

Live Nation Sweden’s stable of festivals includes Åre Sessions, Sweden Rock Festival, Lollapalooza Stockholm, and Way Out West. The latter became the world’s first ISO 20121 certified music festival in 2013, validating the event’s sustainability efforts.

Way Out West has been a vegetarian and largely dairy-free festival since 2012 which “helps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40%”.

Other examples of implemented sustainability initiatives include locally produced and environmentally friendly electricity; replacing fossil fuel-powered vehicles; replacing water-flushing toilets with vacuum-flushing variants, which reduced the water consumption at Sweden Rock Festival’s sanitation system by 75%.

This year, at Lollapalooza Stockholm,“a self-produced organic sparkling wine in aluminum cans will be launched “to use more sustainable deliveries and reduce the consumption of disposable materials on site”.

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Live Nation Sweden’s Summerburst called off

The 2023 edition of Sweden’s Summerburst festival has been cancelled by promoter Live Nation.

The electronic dance music staple had been slated for 2-3 June at the 75,000-cap Ullevi stadium in ​​Gothenburg, with acts such as Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Galantis, Martin Garrix, Steve Akoi, Purple Disco Machine, Icona Pop, Meduza and Joel Corry.

However, its cancellation was confirmed in a message to fans on the Summerburst website, just days after its most recent line-up announcement.

“Unfortunately, we need to inform you that this year’s Summerburst will not take place as planned,” it says. “All ticket purchasers will be refunded. Words cannot describe how grateful we are for your support. We hope to see you all again soon.”

“We have decided to focus on the other festivals that take place during the spring and summer”

Organisers elaborated on the reasons for the decision in a statement released to Swedish publication Dagens Nyheter.

“We have decided to focus on the other festivals that take place during the spring and summer,” says a spokesperson.

Launched in 2011, Summerburst had been held in stadiums in both Gothenburg and Stockholm. Returning last year for its landmark 10th edition after a three-year break due to Covid, artists included Marshmello, David Guetta, Afrojack and Alan Walker.

Live Nation Sweden festivals still taking place over the summer include Sweden Rock Festival (7-10 June), Lollapalooza Stockholm (29 June-1 July) and Way Out West (10-12 August).

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Festival Focus: Anna Sjölund, Live Nation Sweden

In addition to her new role as SVP touring international for Live Nation, Anna Sjölund continues her festival work in Sweden overseeing Summerburst and serving on the board of Sweden Rock Festival. She brought Lollapalooza to Stockholm in 2019, which had a highly successful debut and then the pandemic hit. Here she tells us what it took to get through and looks ahead to the future.

How did you and the team get through the pandemic?
The first Lollapalooza Stockholm was fantastic. We had a great bill ready for the second year and then the pandemic struck. It was really tough for us mentally. In 2021, there was a window where it looked like we could have festivals, so we announced, but then everything closed down again. That was particularly challenging. I spent my pandemic time – apart from cancelling and moving shows – being one of the leaders of the industry movement that worked with authorities and politicians here. We’re a commercial company and never relied on government funding before. When the pandemic hit, we realised the people that held the crisis funds didn’t even know what the music business was, let alone festivals. So, we came together as an industry and spent time educating politicians about the value of our industry.

We got great support from [tourism organisation] Visit Stockholm. They see the value in Lollapalooza, especially considering that as a first-year festival 15% of our visitors came from outside Sweden (and this year, that increased to almost 19%). Those numbers are important for a city like Stockholm. So, we got funding – not enough to cover our losses but it meant we kept the majority of our team intact, thankfully.

When we finally got to have the festival this year, it was fantastic. We’re so happy that we got support from many of the acts who stayed on the bill and from everyone who came. It was just amazing to come back and do the festival again.

“I think that the ‘experience’ will be increasingly important”

What trends do you think we will see play out in the next few years at festivals?
Rock music seems to be coming back at the moment, which I love. I also think that the ‘experience’ will be increasingly important. A festival is something you attend all day, and we want people to have a great time from early until late. People expect more every year because the ticket prices go up, but we can offer a great experience for everyone. We have high-end stuff for the people that want that, which means we also can deliver a great product for the kids that saved up their money to come.

Local artists are going to be very important in the coming years because touring costs are up, and the dollar exchange rate is challenging. Having strong local talent that attracts a local audience means you don’t have to programme only the very expensive international talent. We’re in a great position for that because we have very strong local talent in Sweden.

What challenges does the festival industry face?
Staffing, production costs, and the dollar exchange rate. We’re aiming to improve the staffing issue by launching a trainee programme, which will see people working on our festivals on six- to 12-month contracts; we’ll train and pay them. We’re focusing the recruitment outside our standard channels because we want new people. They aren’t obliged to stay with us after the programme, but I hope they will.

“Now more than ever, we need places where we gather and enjoy things together, no matter our background or political views”

Together with Spotify we are the main partners to IFPI on You+ Music, an initiative for youth from urban areas of Sweden. The aim is to open the door and inspire young people with a love of music to work with it – they’ve heard you can be an artist, producer, promoter, or manager – we’re showing them how to get there.

Why are festivals important, and what role do they play in our cultural landscape?
Festivals have a huge role in people’s lives. Live music is very important for many reasons, but festivals in particular, because now more than ever, we need places where we gather and enjoy things together, no matter our background or our political views.

With Lollapalooza, we have people travelling from all over the world to come to Stockholm, and we’re showing the best we have here, so festivals are a great way to showcase your culture.
Finally, festivals employ so many people, from cleaning squads to food sellers, and that’s really important. You’re putting together teams of people who don’t know each other. And it’s a great way to integrate and find communities together.

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Live Nation & Luger launch ‘The Shuffle Ticket’

Live Nation and its Luger subsidiary have launched The Shuffle Ticket, a scratchcard-style promotion offering fans tickets to a randomly selected concert in Sweden.

For 300 SEK (€27), fans will receive two tickets to an event in Stockholm, Gothenburg or Malmö between February and September 2023, but will not discover what show they will be seeing until scratching off their ticket post-purchase.

“When you buy the ticket at shuffleticket.se, a physical ticket is sent to your home,” fans are advised. “Scratch it, and you’ll find a link to your digital tickets.”

The promotion features more than 100 shows of all sizes, including gigs by artists such as Bruce Springsteen, The Weeknd, Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, First Aid Kit, Louis Tomlinson and The Chats, as well as festivals including Lollapalooza Stockholm, Way Out West, Summerburst and Melodifestivalen.

Designed in collaboration with creative collective Forsman & Bodenfors, the initiative is mainly aimed at younger music fans.

“We hope The Shuffle Ticket will give young people the chance to discover new music in an exciting way”

“We hope The Shuffle Ticket will give young people the chance to discover new music in an exciting way,” says Luger project manager Christa Murley, as per Little Black Book.

“During 2022, ticket sales went up again after two years of a negative trend caused by the pandemic,” notes Live Nation Sweden CEO Mattias Behrer. “People are eager to hear live music again. Our new ticket encourages young people to be a part of a new concert experience.”

The first ticket drop took place yesterday (25 January) and sold out in minutes, with further sales to take place on 1 February and 8 February.

Emilie Olsson Lignell, project and campaign manager at Live Nation Sweden, adds: “Putting a playlist on shuffle is a great way to discover new favourites, so why not do the same with live shows? We hope many young people will find their new favourite artists.”

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