Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
Lukas Graham is a band fronted by Lukas Graham Forchhammer. They formed in 2011 and became one of the biggest Danish acts, with two quadruple platinum albums and six no.1s. In 2012, I picked out their heart-wrenching single Better Than Yourself as an international hit with UK crossover potential. It never charted outside of their home country, but in 2015, the equally emotive 7 Years finally put them on the map. After becoming a hit across Europe, including topping the Danish and Swedish charts, Spotify users in the UK and US are now discovering the track. It reached no.2 in both countries’ Spotify Viral Charts, only below Adele. This is a great example of how streaming platforms can introduce an artist to audiences that were once out of reach, without an official launch in these countries. It’s no longer up to the UK or US branches of major labels to decide which international hits they promote locally, because the internet enables a special song like 7 Years to cross over whether the label plans it or not. A label can push their chosen priority acts all they want, but when a song gets a life of its own and becomes an organic hit, it’s unstoppable. I hope Warner will take note of 7 Years’ obvious resonance with UK music fans and give it a big push here this year. Bonus track: Their collaboration Happy Home with Hedegaard is also very good.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHCob76kigA]
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