The Netflix drama series The Playlist follows the true story of Spotify, one of the most renowned music streaming platforms.
The show follows co-founder Daniel Ek as he works with his business partner Martin Lorentzon, legal director Petra Hansson and CTO Andreas Ehn to build the streaming platform from the ground up.
When a Sony exec named Per Sundin shows interest in them, it shows that Spotify has a presence in the Nordic music business. Sundin helps Daniel’s company by merging with Universal Music Group. We followed Sundin’s life because we were interested in how he helped Spotify become one of the best places to stream music around the world.
What’s his name?
Per Sundin was Managing Director of Sony Music Entertainment when Daniel Ek made Spotify. He was responsible for building the company’s reputation in Scandinavia. At that time, Sundin was fighting against piracy, which caused record companies to lose a lot of money. Due to the rise of piracy, Sundin had to lay off some of its employees.
A few months before Spotify’s launch, Sundin left Sony to join Universal Music Group as President of the company’s Nordic branch, while also serving as Managing Director of Universal Music Sweden. In 2008, Sundin became the first record label music executive to partner with Spotify. When people in the music business didn’t believe the streaming platform would work, Sundin defended the company.
In 2014, Sundin spoke at a meeting of Universal Music Group executives about the importance of Spotify. “Look at the data! We’re transitioning from free to premium. We eradicated piracy. “This [Spotify] is the future, and you can’t stop it,” the executive said at the summit, according to the show’s Spotify Untold source material. Sundin is also the manager who brought in the late Swedish DJ Avicii, whose real name was Tim Bergling.
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What happened to Per Sundin?
Per Sundin was President of Universal Music Nordic Region and Managing Director of Universal Music Sweden until September 2019. He held these positions for eleven and a half years. He then started working as the CEO of Pophouse Entertainment, where he is still employed. On Pophouse, Sundin collaborated with ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus. The company makes, buys and builds brands in the music business.
Sundin’s company works a lot with ABBA and the Swedish House Mafia. They also own the master recordings and publishing rights to Avicii’s music. Sundin left two key jobs at Universal Music Group to join pophouse, but he did not leave the company entirely. He continued to work for the company as non-executive chairman of Universal Music Nordic Region.
Sundin said in a statement at the time: “I am deeply proud and grateful to be able to continue working with Frank Briegmann and the amazing UMG Nordics family as I step into my new role and to have the chance to take on a new project start the entertainment business as CEO of Pop House Group.”
Sources say that Sundin lives in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Jenny Fant Sundin was his wife for 28 years. Sundin said the couple would split in July 2022. He and his wife Jenny have three children and a dog named Khal Drogo. Sundin is also on the board of directors of the Tim Bergling Foundation. This group works to get suicide recognized as a global health emergency and to remove the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
(CelebrityAccess) – STOCKHOLM – Per Sundin is currently Managing Director of Universal Music Sweden and President of Universal Music Nordic Region. He will resign from both offices on September 1st.
Stockholm-based Sundin became CEO of Pop House Group, founded in 2014 by ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus. Their main goal is to create unique live events that represent and help promote the ABBA brand.
Sundin will also assume the role of Non-Executive Chairman of Universal Music Nordic Region in addition to his new role at Pop House. In this role he will continue to report to Frank Briegmann, CEO and President of Universal Music Central Europe and Deutsche Grammophon. Frank Briegmann will also have a seat on the Pop House Advisory Board as a representative of Universal Music.
Sundin said of the deal, “I am deeply proud and grateful to continue working with Frank Briegmann and the amazing UMG Nordics family as I step into my new role and to have the opportunity to launch a new venture in the entertainment business to establish as CEO of the Pop House Group.”
Briegmann added: “Per and I have worked closely, trustingly and successfully together for many years and I am delighted that we will continue to work together as part of this new plan.” ABBA’s magnificent, timeless work has a lot of potential for future generations, and I look forward to working with Per to bring even better experiences to fans and bring more exposure to artists around the world.
Universal Music Group announced today that Per Sundin, who is currently Managing Director of Universal Music Sweden and President of the company’s Nordic region, will leave his current job effective September 1 to become CEO of Pop House Group. At the same time, he will assume the new position of Non-Executive Chairman of Universal Music Nordic Region, expanding his long-standing relationship with the company.
Björn Ulvaeus, one of the founders of the band Abba, founded Pop House Sweden in 2014. Its main goal is to create live events that represent the Abba brand and help to promote it. So far, the Pop House Hotel has hosted the dinner show “Mamma Mia! The Party”, the Abba Museum in Stockholm and the concert and event venue Cirkus, also located in the capital, are some of the things that have been started.
In his new role at UMG, Sundin will continue to report to Frank Briegmann, CEO and President of Universal Music Central Europe and Deutsche Grammophon. Briegmann will also receive a seat on the Pop House Advisory Board as a representative of Universal Music.
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Universal Music Central Europe also said a number of executives have been hired in the Nordic region. On September 1st, Bjorn Rogstad, General Manager of Universal Music Norway, Kimmo Valtanen, General Manager of Universal Music Finland, and Joakim Johansson, General Manager and Marketing Director of Universal Music Sweden, will each take over the management of their respective countries. Together with Casper Bengtson, who will retain his position as Managing Director of Universal Music Denmark, these leaders form the new executive management team for the region.
Sundin said: “I am deeply proud and grateful to continue working with Frank Briegmann and the amazing UMG Nordics family in my new role and to have the chance to start a new company in the entertainment pop-house business as CEO Group.”
Briegmann added: “Per and I have worked closely, trustingly and successfully together for many years and I am delighted that we will continue to work together as part of this new plan.” Abba’s magnificent, timeless work has a lot of potential for future generations, and myself I look forward to working with Per to bring even better experiences to fans and bring more exposure to artists around the world.
Speaking of the other Nordic promotions, Briegmann said: “As the music market at the forefront of streaming and digital transformation, the Nordic region continues to play an important role in the future development of the global music ecosystem.” Congratulations to Bjorn, Joakim and Kimmo on their own appointment as MD. Together we will continue to make it easier for creative people to work together in all our Northern European countries and beyond.
Klas Bergling and Anki Liden, the late DJ’s parents, are able to devote more time to the Tim Bergling Foundation, which they started to help people and groups in the areas of mental illness and suicide prevention.
Klas Bergling: “Pophouse presented a concrete concept and plan for the long-term maintenance and development of Tim’s musical heritage.
“Through this deal, we are also securing the long-term financing of the Tim Bergling Foundation. This allows the foundation to deliver on its promise to support important issues such as the mental health and well-being of young people.
“We spend all our time collaborating with the Tim Bergling Foundation.
“The foundation has only been around for a few years and there is still a lot to do.”
Pophouse Entertainment is known for making music and entertainment companies that build brands, like the new show ABBA Voyage in London, which received critical acclaim.
Pophouse CEO Per Sundin signed Avicii to Universal Sweden in 2010. At that time he was CEO of Pophouse.
Sundin said, “Not only was Tim one of the best DJs in the world, but he was also a very creative genius who always did things his own way, mixing genres, breaking rules and making music history.”
“I have followed him throughout his life and it is an honor and a pleasure for me and the entire Pophouse team, along with the Bergling family, to take care of his music and introduce it to new generations of listeners around the world .”
Avicii first came to prominence in 2011 when his song “Levels” was nominated for a Grammy. In 2012 he collaborated with David Guetta on the song “Sunshine”, which was also nominated for a Grammy.
He rose to even greater prominence when his 2013 megahit Wake Me Up was released as part of his debut studio album True. In 2015 he released his second album Stories.
During his career he has worked with many big names in music including Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Nile Rodgers, Adam Lambert and Rita Ora. He also produced music for artists such as Madonna, Coldplay, David Guetta and Tiesto.
Tim, the artist’s third and final album, was released after his death in 2019. The money from it went to the Tim Bergling Foundation.
This came after Pophouse bought the master recordings and publishing rights to Swedish House Mafia’s back catalogue, forming a joint venture with the group’s members to build their brand and spread it around the world.
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