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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaIsrael-Gaza briefing: World watches nervously to see what Iran does nextPublished46 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsIsrael-Gaza warBy Lyse DoucetChief international correspondentIn the wars within wars of this grievous Gaza crisis, the most explosive of all is the searing official enmity between Israel and Iran.It’s now at its most perilous point.And this region, and many capitals beyond, are watching and waiting with bated breath to see what Iran does next.It’s Tehran’s move after the airstrike on its diplomatic compound in the heart of the Syrian capital, Damascus on 1 April, which killed senior commanders in its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Israel never admits carrying out such attacks, but everyone knows it was its doing. Image source, AFPImage caption, Onlookers check the car in which three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were reportedly killed in an Israeli air strikeAnd since the Israel-Gaza war erupted six months ago, Israel has ramped up its targeting of Iran, not just destroying arms supplies and infrastructure in Syria, but assassinating senior IRGC and Hezbollah commanders. “We will make them regret this crime and other ones like it, by God’s will,” warned Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Iran accuses Israel of killing generals in Syria Iran vows to avenge Syria strike blamed on IsraelHis vow triggered an immediate Israeli retort in an escalating war of words. The two regional powerhouses have been at daggers drawn ever since Iran’s 1979 revolution made hostility towards the “Zionist regime” a core tenet of its doctrine. For many years, Israel has conducted targeted killings, mounted cyber operations, and sounded alarm bells about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions as well as its backing for militias, including Hamas, who threaten Israel’s destruction.”If Iran attacks from its territory – Israel will respond and attack in Iran,” declared Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz in a post on X, formerly Twitter, tagging the Supreme Leader, a most modern of way to communicate for countries with no diplomatic ties.Then the United States – Israel’s staunchest ally and Iran’s most powerful adversary – weighed in, putting Iran on notice that it could also face the wrath of the world’s mightiest army. “We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” US President Joe Biden proclaimed, hinting that US intelligence was indicating an attack “sooner rather than later”.Image source, AFPImage caption, Israeli army troops stand around their tanks in an area along the border with the Gaza Strip”The US could be trying to force Iran to recalculate and reconsider its options right now,” reflects Dr Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the London-based Chatham House think tank.American media, quoting unnamed US sources, have spoken of possible maximalist scenarios involving a major Iranian assault against Israeli targets, with a wave of drones and missiles, including ballistic missiles.”The US may be using this messaging to amp up anticipation, so if Iran can’t deliver it, it shows its weakness, ” says Dr Vakil in a nod to the unsettling uncertainty of this moment.Iran, which has long prided itself on playing a long game, responding to any provocations with “strategic patience”, now faces a choice of all choices. Every option is riddled with risk.Its aging Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has to give a green light to a counterattack which placates its militant IRGC commanders who shape Iran’s foreign policy. He also has to preserve Iran’s perceived prestige as the pivot of the “Axis of resistance” of its armed allies and proxies; they’ve been emboldened and empowered by their limited but still lethal attacks in this Gaza war.But this choice also has to be carefully calibrated to avoid sparking a dangerous escalatory spiral. If it pulls in formidable Israeli and American fighting power into this vortex, it could have catastrophic consequences for the Islamic Republic.Image source, ReutersImage caption, Palestinians hold Eid al-Fitr prayers by the ruins of al-Farouk mosque in Rafah, in the southern Gaza StripThe ailing 84-year-old Supreme Leader assumed his mantle in 1989, one year after the punishing Iran-Iraq war which took the lives of as many as 200,000 Iranians. It still casts a long dark shadow.”Avoiding war is essential to his legacy,” points out Iranian analyst Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. “Whatever the retaliation against Israel, it will be designed to avoid a full-scale war.”But this moment is uncharted territory.The precise missile strikes earlier this month smashed the consulate annex next to Iran’s embassy, and killed several IRGC officers including Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, its top general in the region in the Quds Force, the elite clandestine branch responsible for foreign operations. And it happened on Iran’s diplomatic property, which Iran considers its own soil.Image source, ReutersImage caption, Palestinians hold Eid al-Fitr prayers by the ruins of al-Farouk mosque in RafahFor many years, Israel has waged what it calls the “war between wars” – strikes on arms shipments, installations, and routes in Syria said to be used by Iranian operatives and their allies, including their most prized and powerful proxy, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia. But in recent months it has upped the ante, exploiting opportunities for targeted assassinations during these turbocharged tensions of the Gaza war.Iran’s response, so far, has been to mainly hit back through its proxies. The shadow wars stretch from hostilities along Israel’s northern border with southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, through Iran-affiliated militias in Iraq and Syria which have struck American targets, and Yemen’s Houthi rebels now attacking shipping lanes in the Red Sea.In January, after a suspected Israel airstrike in Syria killed IRGC military advisors, Iran did respond directly. But it chose what were seen as “soft targets” less likely to provoke a major retaliation: ballistic missiles fired into northern Iraq against what was described as a base of Israel’s Mossad spy agency; and missile and drone launches against Baloch separatists operating across its border in neighbouring Pakistan in another show of force to show its readiness to act. Both sparked outrage and, in Pakistan’s case, a retaliatory airstrike from a traditional ally, but tensions soon eased.Image source, AFPImage caption, A woman cries over the grave of a loved one at the start of the Eid al-Fitr festival at a cemetary in Rafah in the southern Gaza StripIn the midst of this current crisis, minds in Iran as well as in Israel are concentrated not just on this risky tit-for-tat, but also on the more fundamental issue of deterrence. Both sides want to send the clearest of signals to the other that such consequential strikes would be costly, and best avoided in future. For Iran, under pressure at home from unprecedented protests spearheaded by women over restrictions on freedom, and financial hardships, preserving the Islamic Republic is paramount. But it also wants to safeguard its growing sway across the region, and the extensive political and military network its built over many decades.Its options range from direct raids on military targets in Israel, more distant operations against its embassies and interests somewhere in the world, or retaliating through its proxies again. A report by the well-connected Amwaj media cited the Occupied Golan Heights in northern Israel – land seized from Syria in the 1967 war – as a “prime target” and less risky choice. Image source, AFPImage caption, Palestinians carry belongings as people fleeing conflict leave their homes in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central GazaIsraeli expert Raz Zimmt, Senior Researcher at the Institute for National Security in Tel Aviv, believes Iran will act forcefully. “The patience of Iranians has run out in the face of setbacks blamed on Israel,” he posted on X. Iran seized a commercial ship with links to Israel early on Saturday morning, but Mr Zimmt said Tehran is unlikely to consider this an “appropriate response”, adding: “It could afford it additional time to reconsider its next course of action.”But there’s no agreement among Iran watchers about what action it will eventually take. And there’s a risk too that what Iran views as a cautious calculated act, could be seen as, or end up as, an incendiary miscalculation.”It does appear that Iran prefers to respond directly,” Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group told the BBC. “I don’t think Iran wants to sacrifice Hezbollah or bring it into the fray. It is the top of its spear, and Iran wants to preserve it.”There is also the option of biding its time, at least for a while, to strike when its least expected rather than in the eye of this storm.”There’s an anticipation that Iran will respond, but doing nothing could be an option,” says Dr Vakil of Chatham House. “There is a choice on the table where Iran doesn’t play into what could be an Israeli provocation.”Image source, AFPImage caption, Children sit in a swing as they celebrate on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in the central Gaza StripPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under immense political pressure at home, has long argued for military action against Israel’s arch-enemy, and is known to have been pulled back from the brink on at least one occasion.Behind the scenes, there’s been an intense flurry of urgent messaging between the US and Iran, conveyed through third-parties including multiple Arab states, to avoid the all-out war nobody wants. Iran sees that, in itself, as burnishing its image as a regional heavyweight which matters.In this wait and watch moment, airlines have stopped flights, embassies have shut, or warned their citizens to leave Israel. The US has deployed its warships to strategic positions to reinforce its protection of American and Israeli troops, and it’s strengthened its air defences to shield its forces deployed in Iraq and Syria.Israel, and countries across this region, are on high alert for something to happen somewhere.Bowen: Obstacles to peace seem larger than ever Is now the time Palestinian politics can start afresh?Was this the week Israel and Hezbollah drew closer to war?Netanyahu is a survivor, but his problems are stacking upBiden treads carefully through Middle East minefieldGaza desperately needs more aid but agencies can’t copeRelated TopicsIsrael-Gaza warIsraelPalestinian territoriesGazaMore on this storyPalestinian man killed after Israeli boy vanishes in West BankPublished7 hours agoIranian troops accused of seizing Israel-linked shipPublished1 hour ago’Don’t’ – Biden warns Iran against attacking IsraelPublished16 hours agoTop StoriesKnifeman rampaged through Sydney mall as shoppers ran for their livesPublished1 hour ago’She is a hero’: Australia PM hails cop who shot attackerPublished1 hour agoWorld watches nervously to see what Iran does nextPublished46 minutes agoFeaturesThe trafficked war babies looking for their long-lost familiesWorld watches nervously to see what Iran does nextUkraine could face defeat in 2024. 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[ad_1] For many years, Israel has waged what it calls the “war between wars” – strikes on arms shipments, installations, and routes in Syria said to be used by Iranian…
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaChristiania: A Copenhagen hippy commune fights back against drug gangsPublished42 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage caption, Local residents are trying to reclaim Pusher StreetBy Adrienne MurrayCopenhagenFor more than 50 years, the hippy neighbourhood of Christiania has been a haven of counter-culture, in the very heart of the Danish capital Copenhagen.Popular with tourists, it is known for its liberal attitude towards cannabis and the infamous drug market, Pusher Street.However, in recent years organised criminals have increasingly taken over, and growing violence has rattled the community. Residents have now had enough. In a bid to reclaim the street from drug dealers, this Saturday they began physically digging it up, armed with spades and crowbars. There were celebratory claps and cheers of “Christiania”, as locals prised up heavy cobblestones and tossed them into wheelbarrows, one by one. “We’ve been breaking up Pusher Street. It’s closing down today. So it’s a kind of a closing party,” said local Pia Jagger, carrying away a big stone.Now this roughly 100-metre stretch of road has a new sign reading: “Pusher Street is closed today.””In the last five or six years I haven’t been here that much because I have kids and I didn’t feel very safe,” said onlooker Sofie Ostergaard. “Today I brought all three of them, and they’re helping.” Standing beside a rainbow-coloured cargo bike, 40-year resident Hulda Mader told the BBC: “It feels like a historic moment. We’re very happy for it.”A spokeswoman for Christiania’s press group, she said: “We are very tired of people saying Pusher Street is Christiania. It is not.”Though it’s illegal in Denmark, cannabis has been sold openly in Christiania for decades.Image caption, A mural has been painted remembering one person who was shot dead in the areaBut many of the original local dealers have been pushed out, as organised gangs have wrested control. In the last three years, there has been a spate of stabbings and fatal shootings. According to Ms Mader, the community reached a turning point about a year-and-a-half ago. “Two people came in,” she said. “They shot one dead and injured four others. That was absolutely where we said this is enough.””We’re going to dig it up. We’re gonna change all the infrastructure. Then we’re gonna start building other stuff.””For us hash is not the problem, it’s the money in it,” Mette Prag, a representative from the Freetown Christiania Foundation, told reporters. “But the last years with all the violence and all the fighting, we cannot have it in our society. That’s why now this chapter must come to an end.”Among those present on Saturday was Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard. “It is a day that is the beginning of the end, of the very, very deep roots that organised crime gangs have established in this neighbourhood in Copenhagen,” he said.”To safeguard that Christiania will continue to be a vibrant, colourful, creative part of Denmark, it needs to be a place without organised criminal gangs.”Tourists are still welcome to visit Christiania, he added, but not for drugs.Image caption, Cobblestones were dug up by locals during the dayOrdinarily this T-shaped strip is the epicentre of Denmark’s cannabis trade, where so-called pushers hawk weed from behind makeshift stacks of beer crates and plywood market stalls, labelled with names like Green Rocket and Blue Dream. Just three days ago, the BBC counted roughly 20 sellers. Until the late 1990s it was informally tolerated, says Kim Moeller, a professor of criminology at Malmo University. But that ended in the 2000s, as the market grew bigger and more visible. He says about five different gangs now operate, and that has brought more disputes. “If you have a conflict between groups in Copenhagen, they can most likely find each other in Pusher Street where they can shoot at each other,” says Deputy Police Inspector Simon Hansen, who oversees the Copenhagen police force’s operation in Christiania.It is often the people manning these shops who get caught up, he says. “They are sometimes kids. Sometimes people who have some kind of disability, and people who can’t get a job.”Police have repeatedly raided Pusher Street but the dealers have kept coming back.”We clear out the shops 100 times a year”, Mr Hansen said. “That sounds like pushing the same rock up a mountain. But we don’t want the shops to evolve to small houses and sheds.”‘Perfect hippie dream’Found within a kilometre of the Danish parliament, Freetown Christiania was established in 1971 when a bunch of anarchists and hippies squatted inside a vacant military base. They set up an independent commune, with its owns rules and flag. There is no leader and decisions are made by consensus at communal meetings. The Danish state eventually accepted Christiania as a radical “social experiment”, later giving it legal status. Local gallery owner Marios Orozco moved here from the USA in 1981, when he was 19. “I had long hair and found Christiania to be the perfect hippie dream,” he told the BBC.”You can imagine a village filled with people that didn’t fit into society. There were bikers, hippies and nudists running around. It was sort of a chaotic piece of heaven.”Today 1,000 residents, including 250 children, live in the graffiti-covered barracks and wooden cottages along Copenhagen’s historic ramparts. With music venues, vegetarian cafes and souvenir shops, it’s also one of the country’s top tourist destinations. Christiania has often been at loggerheads with the authorities, and for a long time it resisted efforts to shut down Pusher Street. But last August residents agreed it must go. In an extraordinary shift, they collaborated for several months with Copenhagen’s Lord Mayor Sophie Haestorp Andersen, Justice Minister Hummelgaard and police over a new plan.”As a city, we cannot live with [the violence], and the local Christianites have not been able to live with it either, but had been afraid to do something radically about it,” said the mayor. “I told them I would back them up. Now we have a plan and we’re taking the first step.”Image caption, Saturday’s celebrations are not the first time Christianites have tried to kick out the gangsIt’s not the first time Christianites have tried to keep the gangs out. Last August Pusher Street was blockaded with shipping containers and concrete blocks. But the dealers soon returned. And Mr Orozco is among those who are sceptical that Saturday’s initiative will work. “If this does eventually succeed and they manage to disperse [the dealers], they won’t be in one area, there’ll be many areas,” he says. The question of the dealers spilling over into the rest of Copenhagen is something that has often been discussed.”We don’t try to let anyone get the idea that this will kill off the illegal drugs market,” said Mr Hummelgaard. “The police themselves, they assess that they will have an easier job combating the illegal drug trade and crimes related to that, if it’s not all concentrated.”More than five decades after its creation, the commune still survives, though its future faces more uncertainty. Besides shuttering Pusher Street, new plans to revitalise the area include a large social housing development. But others fear it will hurt the commune’s identity. “They want to build 300 apartments,” said Mr Orozco. “It’s going to just destroy the vibe of this place.”New arts spaces, playgrounds and shops are among the ideas for what might eventually replace Pusher Street. “We will reboot the workplaces, the culture places,” said Mette Prag. But also on the cards is potentially a new name for the street. Related TopicsCopenhagenDenmarkMore on this storyWill legalising cannabis unleash chaos in Germany?Published5 days agoArtist took money and ran – now it is payback timePublished18 September 2023Top StoriesThousands of Israelis rally to demand hostage dealPublished1 hour agoPM marks six months of Israel-Gaza war as UK sends Navy ship for aidPublished2 hours agoDozens of UK flights cancelled as Storm Kathleen sweeps inPublished3 hours agoFeaturesThe Papers: ‘Gaza famine’ warning and Corrie ‘budgeting row’Six months on, how close is Israel to eliminating Hamas?’A game of Jenga’: Inside the perilous Baltimore bridge clean-upThe world’s eclipse chasers arrive in North AmericaWhere in the UK can you see Monday’s solar eclipse?Boris Johnson, David Cameron, and the row over arming Israel. 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![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsLocal NewsSt Patrick’s Day: The patron saint who ‘liked a drink’Published16 March 2019Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, PAcemakerImage caption, Bedecked in green, the 2018 St Patrick’s Day parade in Belfast was typical of how the day is celebratedBy Ciarán DunbarBBC News NISt Patrick’s Day is celebrated across the world by Irish people, their descendants and anyone else who wants to join in.The day, known in the modern era for huge parades, turning things green and having a drink, has, on occasion, led to excess.However, it seems that a little tipsiness has always been the way to remember the saint. The Book of Armagh, from the 9th Century, said all Irish monasteries and churches were to celebrate Patrick with three days and nights of feasting. St Patrick’s Day: Globe goes greenWilliam and Kate brave snowy St Patrick’s Day paradeThe great Irish folklorist Kevin Dannaher described the St Patrick’s Day of 300 years ago. “In most parts of Ireland the men repaired to the local tavern after church to the drink the ‘pota Pádraig’ or ‘St Patrick’s pot’. Seldom did the drinking stop at one pot.”Though he did write that “drowning the shamrock… by no means implies that it is necessary to get drunk in doing so”. St Patrick ‘liked a drink’ But where did the association between saint and alcohol come from?Stiofán Ó Cadhla is a senior lecturer in folklore and ethnology in University College Cork.He said that folklore indicates that St Patrick himself liked to have a drink.Image source, PAcemakerImage caption, St Patrick’s Day now sees huge parades celebrating Irish culture but that was not always the case”One of the narratives associated with him is about ‘peaca an tomhais’… the ‘sin of mismeasure’ when St Patrick enters a public house and orders his pint.”The publican gives him the drink but he has left the drink shorter than he should, he doesn’t give him his full measure.”Patrick corrects him and tells him: ‘You haven’t realised that this sin of mismeasure is one of the worst sins that you can commit’.”Diarmuid Ó Giolláin, professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA, said St Patrick’s Day has always been marked not only because it was a celebration of the patron saint but also because a dispensation allowed the Lenten fast to be broken – meat to be eaten and alcohol drunk – whilst Christians everywhere else were fasting.Who was St Patrick?Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, he lived in the 5th century AD and is understood to have played a major part in converting the Irish to Christianity.While St Patrick really existed, and some of his writings survive, his value does not really come from historical details but from the inspiration of a man who returned to the country where he had been a child slave, in order to bring the message of Christ.He is traditionally associated with the shamrock plant, which he used to explain the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity.Diarmuid Ó Giolláin explained that drinking on St Patrick’s Day was an important aspect of the religious festival and “a break in the rigours of lent”.Stiofán Ó Cadhla points out that St Patrick’s Days falls close to the Spring Equinox.Image source, Press EyeImage caption, Belfast’s Holyland is home to many students and has seen trouble on St Patrick’s Day in the past”You can expect exuberance at this time of year,” he said. “It is tied up with the time of the year and the return to growth, everyone wanted to have their potatoes planted on St Patrick’s Day.”Drowning the shamrock in St Patrick’s pot, that is to say putting your shamrock in a drink, is one of the most traditional ways of celebrating.”John Carr wrote in the early 19th century… that around this time of the year the country people assemble and get very tipsy, they walk through the streets wearing the shamrock in their hats, whiskey is drank in copious libations, and the merry devotees continue until the greater part of the next day in honour of Sheelagh, St Patrick’s wife,” he said, adding that St Sheelagh is now mostly forgotten today.Beginnings of changeDr Ó Cadhla added that when the Catholic Church regrouped in Ireland in the wake of the potato famine it took the opportunity to clamp down on some traditional practices around the saint.”St Patrick’s Day would have been associated with fair days and large gatherings of people in certain locations and at certain wells. “The church step in… asserting themselves, and trying to wean the people off some of those ideas.This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, NI celebrates St Patrick’s Day in 2018″They don’t succeed 100%.”Traditional belief systems and the Catholic tendencies have come to an accommodation. combining to become a folkloric belief and behaviour, he explained.There were always concerns that some of the behaviour surrounding the festival “did not fit in with the strict idea of St Patrick”, Dr Ó Cadhla said:”There is Saint Patrick of the hagiographers [people who write about the lives of saints] but of course there is Saint Patrick beloved of Irish people, who is like one of themselves. “Of course, St Patrick understands and loves the Irish people and is one of them in this celebration.”The paradesDr Ó Cadhla said that the great public parades connected with the patron saint are a relatively recent thing, in Ireland at least.”I think people of a certain age will recall how poorly patronised those parades were and how people really didn’t tend to take them that seriously.”Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke Of Cambridge attend the annual Irish Guards St Patrick’s Day ParadeHe suggested that the parades may have a military origin and that British Army bands would have come out and paraded in the 19th Century.The British Army’s Royal Irish Regiment celebrates St Patrick’s Day to this day, as do the Irish Defence Forces. ‘American razzmatazz’However, he stressed that the “formal, militaristic” nature of today’s parades are greatly influenced by Irish America. Prof Ó Giolláin agreed – he said changes in Irish society and globalisation have led to huge change in how St Patrick’s Day is celebrated in Ireland. “I think the model has been the American St Patrick’s Day celebrations, the American razzmatazz.”Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Chicago River is turned green for the 2018 St Patrick’s Day in Chicago, United StatesHe sees the day as having moved away from the concept of a national day, away from church and state patronage, to representing a global dimension of Irishness.”It has been taken as an opportunity to tourism but also to promote Ireland as a country which is more diverse and more open to the world,” he said.”The change reflects changes in Irish society.” More on this storyGlobe goes green for St PatrickPublished17 March 2018Top Stories’He will come back’ – Israeli hostage families cling to hope, and demand a dealPublished15 hours agoLive. 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![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityBusinessMarket DataEconomyYour MoneyCompaniesTechnology of BusinessCEO SecretsArtificial IntelligenceCan Sweden keep its edge in the music industry?Published1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Abba can take some credit for Stockholm’s bustling music tech sceneBy Maddy SavageBBC News, StockholmFrom Abba to Spotify, Avicii to Soundcloud, Stockholm has spawned both some of the world’s most successful musicians and music tech companies.With seven wins, Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest more than any other nation and Malmö will host this year’s competition.That legacy is evident moments after stepping off the underground at Stockholm’s central station.Sergels torg, the capital’s main square paved in black and white triangles, is home to the Avicii Experience, an interactive museum celebrating the late Tim Bergling. He grew up here and became one of the world’s bestselling DJs under his artist name Avicii.On the fifteenth floor sits Per Sundin, chief executive of Pophouse Entertainment which runs the museum. The company is focussed on creating the “next generation” of high-tech entertainment experiences, with a portfolio that also includes the Abba Voyage stage show in London, performed by avatar versions of Sweden’s biggest supergroup.It is developing plans for a new show in 2027 involving digital versions of the US rock band Kiss, after testing the technology at the band’s final real-life gig last year.”What’s the similarity between Kiss and Abba?,” asks Mr Sundin rhetorically from his private office with floor-to-ceiling windows. “They really have super fans, both artists, and they have a wide catalogue, and they have global presence all over the world.”Despite selling more than two million tickets for Abba Voyage since May 2022, he says Pophouse Entertainment still hasn’t broken even on its investments, which include the technology (created in collaboration with US filmmaker George Lucas’s visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic), and the event’s bespoke east London arena.Image source, Maddy SavageImage caption, Per Sundin’s firm is using virtual tech to keep bands performingBut Mr Sundin – a former Universal Music executive – says he has faith in the concept, and hopes it can be adapted for a handful of other big-name legacy artists in future. “This is for those who can’t tour anymore, can’t really make themselves as good [as they were]… or [want to] do different kinds of things with their music legacy,” says Mr Sundin. Pophouse’s innovations follow a string of other music tech success stories emerging from Stockholm, a capital with a population of just 10 million.Daniel Ek’s Spotify launched here in 2008, while Soundcloud was founded a year earlier by two students from Stockholm School of Economics, Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, who later relocated the business to Berlin.Other companies who’ve made a global impact include Soundtrack Your Brand, which provides a subscription service enabling businesses to play commercial music without licensing issues, and Epidemic Sound, a platform for rights-free music for content creators, recently valued at 12.5bn kronor (£950m; $1.2bn), according to Swedish business news site Dagens Industri. “We all know there must be something in the water,” laughs Sarah Herlin, co-founder of Stockholm Music City, an organisation that encourages collaboration between the capital’s music and tech sectors, and provides support to start-ups.Image source, Maddy SavageImage caption, Sarah Herlin says there is a culture of collaboration among Swedish start-upsOn a more serious note, she argues that there are several key ingredients in Stockholm’s recipe for music tech success.These include Sweden’s historically strong music scene, with artists like Roxette, The Cardigans and legendary pop producer/songwriter Max Martin cementing the reputation set by Abba, and giving credibility to Swedish tech companies with a music-related focus.Plus, the country has long had a tech-savvy population, with many of today’s entrepreneurs growing up in the 1990s when there were tax cuts on home hardware in Sweden, followed by an early adoption of broadband.The business culture in Sweden, which tends to promote collaboration over competition has also created a supportive ecosystem, argues Herlin.”If you realise someone else is doing the same thing, you contact each other and see how can we do this together,” she says. “That often means that they all succeed instead of nobody succeeding.”More technology of businessWhen wind turbine blades get old what’s next?Could product passports revolutionise the way we shop?Why firms are racing to produce green ammoniaWhy some cyber-attacks hit harder than othersThe brewing secrets behind tastier no-alcohol beerOne recent example is Elk, a company that provides a remote, collaborative recording platform for artists, which was founded after two local businesses figured out they were developing similar software tools.Ms Herlin has just finished a meeting at The Node, a physical recording studio hub which opened last year on the same square as the Avicii museum, and includes some of the late DJ’s equipment. “Where you have producers, you will have music tech start-ups, and you will have investors coming to check it out,” she says.Late on a Monday afternoon the neon-pink lit cafe area is largely empty, save for several nonchalant staff. But Ms Herlin says the space is creating a global buzz. “We’ve noticed already people pop up here from New York and from London to check it out.”Seedtable, a platform that tracks the fastest growing companies in Europe lists 69 music and and audio start-ups to watch and work for in 2024, with 13 of them based in Stockholm, more than any other city in relation to population size.Image source, Maddy SavageImage caption, Ankit Desai is looking for “diamonds in the rough”A few blocks away from The Node, one of them, Snafu Records, is based at a shared office space with a parquet floor and a cocktail bar.Described by its co-founder and chief executive Ankit Desai as “the first AI enabled music label in the world”, the start-up has developed an algorithm which trawls the internet to pinpoint new artists it believes can make an impact.”We try to find those diamonds in the rough… those undervalued artists and give them a platform to shine,” says Mr Desai. Since launching in 2019, the company has signed more than 150 artists. Snafu Records takes a 50% cut of all its artists earnings, although Desai says most traditional labels take up to 80%.The start-up’s investors include Agnetha Fältskog (Agnetha from Abba), Finnish gaming entrepreneur Mikko Kodisoja, and Pophouse Entertainment, and it raised $7m (£5.5m) in its second funding round in late 2023. But Mr Desai admits that raising capital was “a lot harder” than when the label first launched in 2019, and the company is yet to turn a profit. Business Daily: Stockholm: The capital of music tech?Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm’s music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters.”People tend to move towards more safe investments in more difficult times, and music tech companies in general aren’t producing profits, not even Spotify.”Indeed, Spotify – the world’s biggest subscription audio streaming site – reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs. But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up.Some music tech entrepreneurs argue the speed at which AI tools are growing globally is also putting pressure on Stockholm’s well-oiled music tech ecosystem.Image source, Maddy SavageImage caption, Emelie Olsson says raising money is harder for start-ups than before”One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,” says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). “It’s really a race, I would say, with a lot of companies doing a lot of cool things at the same time.”Corite has also struggled to turn a profit, and is pinning its hopes on a new tool for artists and other content creators which is launching later this year. “We are about to raise money again and we are definitely humble,” says Ms Olsson. “I think, companies have a bit more to prove a bit earlier than they had before.”Related TopicsTechnology of BusinessTop StoriesRayner wants to see Abbott back as Labour MPPublished8 hours agoPM under pressure over ‘new £5m’ from donor accused of racismPublished5 hours agoWhat Russians are being told about Putin’s re-electionPublished1 hour agoFeaturesFear and chaos await Haitian migrants forced back over borderShould Abbott have been able to speak at PMQs?How a head teacher saved his pupils from a knifemanCancer patients stopped from leaving Gaza for treatmentSteve Rosenberg on Russia’s stage-managed electionPost Office victim’s child: ‘Scandal left me mute’What is the new extremism definition and who could be listed?Critics say Morning Show star is magnetic on stageReality TV star Vicky Pattison: Why I’d donate my frozen eggs. 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