In the 1940s, conservative Swedes set up a universal public system of classical music education in order to "protect" the country's youth from the "corrupting" influences of foreign popular music.
(Which, considering the era, meant that they considered Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw the subversive, long-haired punks of the day. Heh!)
By the '80s, this had changed, and Sweden's musical curriculum had expanded to include rock and pop...and by the 1990s, Swedes were able to take advantage of both their musical education & their music-related social networks to conquer the pop world.
Very ironic result. Fascinating stuff.
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