Darude Became the Most Popular in Finland!

Darude has become the most listened to Finnish electronic music artist. Darude's music is listened to on Spotify over 4.5 million times per month, more than any other Finnish EDM artist, and in fact more than any other Finnish artist in general.

The data is revealed in the TOP 30 list of Finnish electronic music artists, which is maintained daily on its website by the largest Finnish collective in the industry, Luxonia: www.luxonia.fi/top30

– We have been updating the Finnish EDM TOP 30 list for a year now. In August 2024, DJ FKU, who makes phonk-style music, was the number one on the list by far. However, his popularity has dropped dramatically from almost ten million monthly listens to just under 4.5 million. In contrast, Darude's popularity has remained stable on both sides of four million and has even increased significantly in recent weeks to the current 4.5 million, says Tomi Lindblom from Luxonia, who is responsible for updating the TOP 30 list.

After Darude and DJ FKU, Skorde, who is DJ FKU's second artist name, is third on the TOP 30 list. Skorde's popularity has also dropped drastically during the year, from over six million to just over two million monthly listens.

The most popular Finnish electronic music artists have quite high listening times compared to other Finns. For example, The Rasmus has 4 million, KAJ 3.4 million, Apocalyptica 3.2 million, Nightwish 2.6 million and Käärijä 2.1 million.

A total of seven Finnish EDM artists have reached the million listening club. In addition to Darude, DJ FKU and Skorde, they are Robbe, Janji, YOTTO and Yes Yes. To enter the Finnish EDM TOP 30 list, approximately 80,000 monthly Spotify listenings are currently required.

– The decline in popularity of DJ FKU and Skorde is explained by the decline in listening to phonk music around the world. On the other hand, Darude has seen a new clear increase in popularity, considering that it has been 25 years since his most popular song, Sandstrom, was released, says Lindblom.

The popularity of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) is otherwise clearly growing again in Finland. Large electronic music events are now being organized more than before. In addition, smaller gigs are held all over Finland almost daily. Finns in particular seem to be inspired by fast-paced techno music, but more melodic house is also popular.

The strong rise of electronic music is also clearly visible in the program of the largest Nordic festival in the field, Weekend. Until a few years ago, Weekend's audience popularity was supported by domestic pop artists, but today the event's program is solely techno, house, trance and other electronic music in its many different forms.

Another good example of the growth in the popularity of domestic electronic music is the Luxonia collective, founded a year ago, which includes a total of 17 artists in the field and three background people from different parts of Finland. The artists of the Luxonia Family have made music for numerous domestic and foreign record labels and have already been seen on the stages of many festivals and events.

Three of Luxonia's artists are in the top ten of the Finnish TOP 30 list (Robbe, DeejaVu and KUOKKA) and three others are in the TOP 30 (Ropsu, Joysic and Triple M).

– Luxonia wants to raise the profile of Finnish electronic dance music and its artists in Finland and abroad. We have also seen the rise of electronic music in concrete terms. Now in August, for example, eight of our artists will perform at Weekend. We have also organized successful outdoor events in the center of Helsinki, and numerous other performances have already been arranged for the autumn, says Lindblom.

www.luxonia.fi/top30

(Darude photo credit: Nana Simelius)