How Sweden Has Re-Engineered the World's Music

The Nordic nation is the music business's stealthiest success story

Linn Jans has seen the future. Seated in a lecture hall at Sweden's brand-new Academy of Music and Business (AMB), the 16-year-old listened raptly as Jonah Nilsson sat at the piano, tossed back his bangs and broke into a song--part Stevie Wonder, part Michael Jackson--that sent chills down her spine. Jans had never heard of Nilsson until a few days before he appeared at her school, but as she learned what was in store for the 26-year-old performer's band--a contract with one of Sweden's most important producers, a record deal with Universal, a U.S. tour and all the fame and fortune...

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