Incredible Rise: Swedish Composer Goes From Relative Obscurity to Spotify Sensation

Sweden’s most listened to artist on Spotify is a “secret” composer who has released music under hundreds of different names, surpassing Britney Spears and Abba in plays.

Stockholm-based musician Johan Rohr has been identified as the mastermind behind over 650 artists, accumulating 15 billion plays on the streaming platform, making him the most played artist in Sweden.

Under aliases like “Maya Åström”, “Minik Knudsen”, “Mingmei Hsueh”, and “Csizmazia”, Lehr has released more than 2,700 songs on Spotify, including a song titled “Ether”.

His success has placed him in the top 100 most streamed artists globally on Spotify, ahead of music legends like Michael Jackson, Metallica, and Mariah Carey.

Rohr owes much of his success to being featured on over 100 official instrumental playlists curated by Spotify, such as “Peaceful Piano” and “Stress Relief”, which are popular among users for background music.

Spotify celebrated paying a record SEK 90 billion (£6.7 billion) to the music industry last year, supporting new artists to make a living from their music.

Critics argue that the success of anonymous artists like Rohr goes against Spotify’s promise to support small, independent musicians, record companies, and composers.

Rohr, who has worked as a conductor for pop stars, has kept quiet about his earnings from Spotify, but his private company reportedly earned a record 32.7 million kronor (about 240 million yen) in 2022.

Overtone Studios, the record company behind Rohr’s music, acknowledged his use of multiple names and described him as a “pioneer of the mood music genre”.

Niklas Brantberg of Overtone Studios emphasized the importance of artists being able to publish music under different names to reach their full creative potential.