Bosson developed his abilities as a composer, lyricist, programmer and vocalist while recording at his home apartment studio in Gothenburg, the largest city in the southwest of Sweden. When the time came to commence serious work on his forthcoming US and Capitol Records debut album, One In A, Bosson settled in Los Angeles.

He credits his family for the enormous support they gave him while he was growing up. He spent his childhood in a town 20km south of Gothenburg by the Kattegat Sea. Bosson-lore has it that he got the music bug at age six, performing songs during the Lucia Festival before Christmas for a small, enthusiastic audience. Early fascination with radio-friendly, melody-driven domestic Swedish pop turned into an all-out obsession with modern R&B as a teenager in the early 90s; Boyz II Men, Jodeci and Babyface. For me it's always been about the vocals and the song, Bosson says.

The Hives were such a breath of fresh air when they stepped out of their home town of Fagersta Sweden and onto the global arena. While they clearly knew their musical history, they didn't take themselves too seriously, and in Howlin' Pelle they had themselves one of the generation's great entertainers. And the songs weren't half bad either, as proven by this corker first released at the dawn of the decade.

They debuted at a talent show in hometown Aarhus in 1988 and three years later Michael Learns To Rock released their eponymous debut, which went on to sell a staggering 475.000 copies in Denmark (almost 1 in 10 should have one according to this), not least due to hit single ‘The Actor’. However, it was in Asia they really took a liking to the pop trio, buying enough albums to earn MTLR a shared tenth place on this list.

Not only the biggest Icelandic artist but also one of the most influential of her generation, Björk Guðmundsdóttir has been on the top of the game since the release of her first really successful band The Sugarcubes’ debut, ‘Life’s Too Good’, in 1988. It is, however, as a solo artist millions across the world have come to love – and consequently buy – her music.

 
Monzano is an indiepop quartet based in Oslo, Norway. Subsequent to the release of their first EP in 2005 the band quickly gained recognition for their hooky, spacious and charismatic pop, and the band stepped into the light at the by:Larm festival in 2007. Shortly after, their first full length album, High Horses & One Trick Ponies, was released in.

Monzano is blending guitar-craftsmanship reminiscent of Built to Spill with swirling synthlines and driving rhythms, yet never losing touch with classic songwriting skills. Their lyrical universe, with its poetic flakiness that swerves between sarcastic cynicism and hearts sewn firmly to their shirt sleeves, is also frequently mentioned as one of their strongholds.