Danish hitmakers in Denmark and abroad

Denmark was prominently featured on the worldwide music scene of 2016: Danish artists such as Lukas Graham, Mø and Thomas Troelsen attracted international attention.

Lukas Graham’s ’7 Years’ was a major worldwide hit in 2016. This means that the eminently likable soul-pop ballad tops two lists: the list of the works that generated the highest revenues in Denmark, and the list of the Koda works that generated the highest revenues abroad. This is the first time that Koda presents such lists.

Lukas Graham was already a favourite with Danish audiences when he began attracting international attention, and his ‘7 Years’ was a hit with music lovers worldwide. In 2016 the track went four times platinum in the USA, five times platinum in Australia, and seven times platinum in Sweden.

The song also won itself a prominent position in Danish music history by reaching the top two spot on the US Billboard Hot 100. This was the highest charting achieved since 1961, when Jørgen Ingmann also reached number two with his cover version of ‘Apache’. In Australia  ‘7 Years’ managed to reach number one on the singles chart.

Danish dominance

Lukas Graham is joined by three other Danish acts on Koda’s list of the works that generated the highest revenues in Denmark in 2016. Music consumers obviously continue to want Danish music.

In second place is one of the most popular Danish-language acts in recent years: Rasmus Seebach, performing his melodic pop song ‘Uanset’.

The first foreign act on the Danish top 10 is the American singer Jason Derulo and his toe-tapping ‘Want to Want Me’.

In fifth place we find an excellent example of how Danish songwriters, composers and producers can create big hits in co-operation with international acts: Danish singer Mø contributed to a huge hit,  ‘Lean On’, alongside US artist Major Lazer. This stellar pop alliance followed up their success with yet another hit, ‘Cold Water’, where Justin Bieber joined Mø as guest vocalist.

In sixth place we find Lukas Graham again, this time with ‘Strip No More’. However, that song did not have the same international impact as ‘7 Years’.

A star behind the scenes

’7 years’ quite naturally also tops the top 5 of works performed outside of Denmark. It is followed by ‘I Don't Like It, I Love It’ featuring the American rapper Flo Rida. A disco-infused dance track that is partly the creation of the well-established Danish producer and songwriter Thomas Troelsen.

Operating behind the scenes, he is one of the leading players in Danish pop music, having contributed his services to acts such as Pitbull, Justin Bieber, David Guetta and Meghan Trainor in recent years.

Third on the list is the club hit ‘Calabria’ by Rune RK, which can now reasonably be called a new evergreen. It is followed by the aforementioned ‘Lean On’ by Major Lazer featuring Mø.

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Eternal sunshine

Number five on the list is a track whose timeless charm has made it a true classic: Laid Back’s ‘Sunshine Reggae’ from 1983, which continues to be extensively played throughout the world.

John Guldberg has previously talked to Koda about the creation of the long-lived summer hit ‘Sunshine Reggae’:

“That track really bypassed the corporate checks and balances. The record company focused on tracks such as ‘High Society Girl’, ruining it completely with plenty of eighties embellishments and hit sound. No-one really had faith in ‘Sunshine Reggae’, so our original take survived unscathed. We’ve always done our best work when we’ve been the least self-conscious about it, the least calculating,” said the singer to Koda in 2009.

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