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CHART ANALYSIS: Indies are the border breaking champions

September 6, 2021
Zoe Wees

More than half of the artists in the Music Moves Europe Artist chart this month are either self-released or signed to an indie label.

No less than forty of the 75 artist in this chart are currently not signed to one of the three major labels. Of those majors, Sony Music snapped up the most in this chart with eighteen acts. While Universal Music signed twelve artists, Warner Music has the remaining five on its roster.

When we look at the musical styles, more than half of the non-major signings would be categorised as hip hop. Half of the Sony Music signings are also hip hop artists, while the other two majors sign a mix of styles.

However, if you look at chart points instead of the number of acts, Universal Music is the winner with 49% of the total chart points with only twelve acts in the chart. The Universal result is helped by their current #1, German pop singer Zoe Wees. She overtook the pole position from Spanish dance producer HVME, who according to chart rules dropped out of the chart while amassing more than a billion chart points.

While the Indies have the most acts in this chart, their share of total chart points with 24% is comparable to the percentage of Sony Music with 23% in total for just 18 acts. Most successful Sony signing is Swedish pop singer Victor Leksell at #3, as most of the indie signings are at the bottom of the chart. The remaining 5% is for Warner Music with acts like Irish dance producers Obskür at #14.

The two top newcomers this month are also not signed to a major label. At #33, Swedish rapper A36 enters – not to be confused with Swedish dance producer A7S at #46. The hi song of A36 is called Samma Gamla Vanliga (on Asylum), which translates to “still the same”, is a huge streaming hit in the rest of Scandinavia. And at #35 a new Dutch hip hop artist finds his fame in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium with songs like Dromen (“Dreams”) and Hyperventilatie (“Hyperventilation”) on indie label Cloud 9: Antoon.

As noted in the previous chart column, it’s a great time for music from Romania at the moment: Romanian pop singer Olivia Addams is a big gainer at #41, while Romanian dance-pop outfit Cassette grows to #64. Even a third Romanian act enters the chart at #47: Francis On My Mind. This pop chanteuse puts an 80’s vibe to her music. Her song Swimming Pools (Universal) is becoming increasingly popular in Germany and Hungary.

More pop music comes from Irish singer Cian Ducrot, in at #62 thanks to his song Chewing Gum (Universal), making waves in Poland and the UK. Finally, at #68 we find a new entry by Norwegian pop singer Slopes. It’s the nom the plume for Dan Holtan-Hartwig, who is successful behind the scenes producing for stars like Ava Max and Alan Walker. His solo song Tears (Warner) crosses now to Switzerland.

Menno Visser
Music journalist and radio professional from The Netherlands

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