Music Listening in Finland 2024: Finland has two million music fans, of whom 50,000 are superfans
The superfan phenomenon has become a topic of discussion in the music industry globally. According to IFPI Finland’s and Teosto’s Music Listening in Finland 2024 survey, more than 50,000 people in Finland can be considered superfans. More than one thousand 13–75-year-olds responded to the survey in Norstat’s consumer panel in August 2024.
Approximately two million Finns (43%) have a particular favourite artist. The range of favourite artists is huge. The favourite artists that are mentioned most often in the Music Listening in Finland 2024 survey include Haloo Helsinki, Costi, Behm, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Rammstein, Kaija Koo and Juha Tapio.
The difference between superfans and hardcore fans is that superfans often belong to a community or digital service that follows the artist and is subject to a charge and have purchased special gig tickets sold to fans. On the other hand, hardcore fans who are on the threshold of being a superfan are more likely than others to have bought their favourite artist’s fan merchandise, physical recordings and music content, to belong to their favourite artist’s free social media fan community and to chat about the artist online with other fans.
In Finland, there are more than 50,000 people that can be considered superfans of music artists and almost half a million hardcore fans on the threshold of being a superfan. Although superfans are mainly teenagers and young adults, there are hardcore fans in all age groups.
“Superfans show exceptional dedication and passion for an artist or a band. They may travel long distances to see their favourite artist perform, collect a wide range of fan merchandise and actively participate in fan communities on social media,” says Kari Tervonen, Roadmap Director at Omnicom Media Group.
Understanding superfans can be important for record companies and the music industry as a whole when there is a need to respond to silent signals and, especially, to grow the music business.
“Superfans also play a key role in communities that emerge around artists. They are very committed to their favourite artists, so it’s worthwhile taking good care of them. There are now more diverse opportunities for this than ever before,” says Tommi Kyyrä, Deputy Director of IFPI Finland.
The levels of being a fan of an artist in Finland. Music Listening in Finland 2024 survey.
Finnish-language pop still remains the favourite genre among Finns
Finns’ favourite music genres. Music Listening in Finland 2024 survey.
In the 2023 survey, Finnish-language pop overtook traditional rock and metal/hard rock, which had held the pole position in Finns’ music preferences for several years. In this year’s survey, Finnish-language pop is still clearly the most popular music genre among Finns. However, there is a wide range of different music genres and a slight rise is seen only in hip hop/rap.
“Pop’s dominance as the most popular music genre in Finland remains clear. For the age groups, the rap-pop-rock-schlager age progression from young to old is clear: the youngest age groups like hip hop and rap, the middle-aged like rock and the oldest like schlager. Although pop is popular among all age groups, it is slightly focused on younger age groups,” Kari Tervonen analyses.
Of the more marginal music genres, eight per cent of Finns are interested in classical and contemporary music, and about 62 per cent say they occasionally enjoy listening to this music genre . However, more detailed questions about the music listened to reveal the general audience’s relatively weak connectedness with classical music. A total of 28 per cent of Finns can name a contemporary music composer that they have recently listened to. When asked about their classical or contemporary music favourites, many people mention entertainers from completely different genres.
“The listeners of classical and contemporary music are mainly 66–75-year-olds, women and people living in Helsinki or elsewhere in the Uusimaa region. A preference for listening to contemporary music correlates with interest in jazz and traditional folk music and, to some extent, also with listening to soul and Latin music,” Tervonen says.
In the most listened-to music in summer 2024, Finnish names dominate the top, both in songs with the most radio play and the most streamed songs on Spotify. The latest Finnish music was also highlighted when 13–75-year-olds were asked to name their favourite song this summer.
The most commonly mentioned summer hits in the survey were Portion Boys’s and Kake Randelin’s Juhannusyö (composition by Igor Nikolaev, Mikael Forsby, lyrics by Turkka Mali, Lasse Kuoppala, Raimo Paavola, Mikael Forsby), Mirella’s and Lauri Haav’s Luotathan (composition & lyrics by Lauri Haavisto, Aaro Virkkala, Senni-Maaria Rantanen, Aleksanteri Hulkko, Mirella Roininen) and Mirella’s Timanttei (composition & lyrics by Ilon Adlercreutz, Kim Mannila, Emma Johansson, Mirella Roininen).
Teosto’s and IFPI Finland’s Music Listening in Finland 2024 survey provided information about changes in Finns’ music listening habits over the longer term for the 11th time. The lead researcher was Kari Tervonen, Omnicom Media Group’s Roadmap Director, supported by Johanna Laitinen from Teosto and Tommi Kyyrä from IFPI Finland. The results of the survey were presented at the Music x Media event for professionals in Tampere on 4 October 2024.