Will Wikipedia end the disregarding of Swedish artist?

On: September 27, 2010
About Chris Hoogeveen
Chris had always a great imagination. He made up stories since he was very little. When he mastered the art of writing he found out that the pen is a very powerful weapon. Not just for stabbing annoying people. After Highschool Chris applied for the School of Media. He got in, but he choose a much safer path (career wise). For one year he studied Management, Economie & Recht. Very soon he knew it wasn't his best move. Next year he applied again for the School of Media. And even the second time he got in. It must be faith. Or just massive talent. Journalism was the way to go. In the third year he specialized in media productions and made a short promotional movie for FC Zwolle. After that he did an internship at Scriptstudio Endemol and worked for a short period at Omroep Zwolle. He also got an offer to ghost write a book, but he declined once he found out he would lose all of his rights. That was the moment when he decided to write the story for himself. Once he finished his education at the School of Media he applied for the Schrijversvakschool (Writers School). Once again he got in. Yes, it must and can only be because of his talent. During his first year he realized that he was the youngest of all students. He was just a little boy in the eyes of the others. It was time for a change, it was time for the University of Amsterdam. Hard work got him through the Pre-master. This year it is time for some serious business. Chris just sharpened his pencil. So, watch out..... for some serious blogging.

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Swedish singers are often disregarded. They won’t make it out side the Swedish borders. What happened there? Did publicity fall short? Didn’t MTV pick it up? Or is there some other reason why Swedish musicians mostly don’t appear on the radar? If you talk about Eskobar most people won’t even know what you’re talking about. Wikipedia will ask: did you mean Escobar? They all think you’re talking about Pablo Escobar, the famous drug dealer. Only a few times someone does know where you are talking about. Eskobar is a Swedish Indie/Pop band. They are especially known for their original free-flowing sound and there hit single Someone New, a duet with Heather Nova.

Eskobar, Eric Saade, Anna Ternheim, Linda Sundblad. They have all one thing in common, besides being Swedish musicians. None of them will appear on the Dutch wiki radar. They are all empty pages, waiting to be filled with information. Actually, as of this week Linda Sundblad does have her own Wikipedia page. She features now on the Dutch version of the most famous encyclopedia. But I wonder. Why are these artists so unpopular? It is not that Swedish people can’t make music. On the contrary, they often do a better job than most other European musicians.

Linda started her career when she was in High School. In 1996 she dropped out and joined the pop/rock band Lambretta. Nine singles and three albums later she left the band in 2005. Her first solo album Oh My God was a massive success in Sweden. Her debut single even reached number one in the charts. Her second solo album was released early this year and spun two hits. Linda is also known for her collaborationwith Kleerup. He is mostly known from his work with Robyn, one of Sweden’s great exceptions.

Although she has a long musical history and had several hits, Linda’s music never achieved major success outside her country. Even on Last.fm relatively few people know her songs. With only 9500 listens she falls almost completely off the radar. Jeroen van der Boom, and even Wolter Kroes have more listeners on Last.Fm. How is that possible? It can’t be that Sweden has fewer inhabitants then the Netherlands. Robynhad major success in the Netherlands. Is it about promotion? I don’t know. Social network sites like Last.fm and Wikipedia can have great influences on an artist’s success. But it can’t be all about the Wiki.

Maybe her new Wiki page will gain her some success. People can now collaborate together; they can update and upgrade the webpage. And if many people adjust the page she will grow bigger eventually. It is all about the attention. And maybe Eskobar and all the other will have there own Dutch Wikipedia page in the near future. Hopefully they won’t be as disregarded as they are now.

Development
Within twenty-four hours after the publication of this Wikipedia page already five changes have been made. The most significant one is the picture of Linda Sundblad. Bides the photo, the lay-out has also been slightly changed. With the help of a couple other contributors the pages is already growing. Among the editors is Druyts.t. One of his main goals on Wikipedia is to update pages created by others. At the moment his is working on some Wiki pages about Tibet.

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