| Fresh off the back of an raucous, sold-out UK Tour and the release of their acclaimed album The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons, The Hives have teamed up with Spotify Singles to release a very special version of ‘Hooked On A Feeling’. Listen HERE. 1974 proved to be the start of the long-lived export success for Swedish music, and contrary to popular belief, ABBA’s Waterloo wasn’t the first song to make waves abroad. Instead, on 29 March in 1974, Blue Swede and Björn Skifs’ Hooked on a Feeling ended up being the first single by a Swedish artist to take the top spot on Billboard’s US list. The song has racked up over 660M streams on Spotify to date, and through its feature in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and Reservoir Dogs, it’s still seeing traction around the world. To commemorate the starting point of Swedish export, Spotify have released a new Spotify Singles out of its Stockholm studio. This time, one of the most streamed Swedish rock bands abroad and live sensations The Hives are releasing a cover of ‘Hooked on a Feeling’ – in a version that will surely extend its longevity further. Pelle Almqvist commented: “I think there’s a synergy effect of Swedish music having made it abroad, and you feel like it’s possible. We can’t make it more perfect than the original is, so we went the other way instead: ruined it, but made it sound exciting”. Sweden might be best known for its pop products, but there’s an untold story of how rock music is driving the music export out of the market, made evident by Spotify’s data. In the past 5 years, streams of rock music by Swedish acts have increased 90% globally, with France, Italy, Mexico and Australia being the biggest consumers. Over 40% of the consumption is coming from listeners in the ages between 18-29. | 
