Is Denmark killing the tradition of EU playlists?

Euronews

a day ago

The time has come for Brussels to swap out the red and white Polish flags for another set of red and white flags. Poland's presidency of the Council has come to an end – and it's now Denmark's turn at the helm.
Presiding over the Council is a rotating role, passed among member states every six months. The country holding the presidency wields the gavel during negotiations and acts as a mediator in the often heated policy discussions between ministers.
The role, however, doesn't only come with political responsibilities – it's also rich in tradition. One of the more surprising ones is music.
A Spotify playlist, featuring each country's music, has been released by every EU presidency since 2019.
But for those eagerly awaiting to enjoy some Danish hits curated by the brand new presidency, we have some sad news to share... Copenhagen has surprisingly decided to disrupt the tradition.
'There will be no Danish Presidency Spotify playlist,' the presidency told Euronews Culture, declining to explain the reason why.
Has the tradition reached the Finnish line?
The now broken tradition of national playlists originally stems from Finland's presidency in 2019. The playlist, titled 'Songs from Finland,' was handpicked by Helsinki and features around 25 tracks – of course including 'Sandstorm' by Darude.
'We are delighted that the Spotify playlist created during Finland's presidency has gone on to inspire subsequent presidencies,' said a spokesperson at the Finnish EU representation.
'Music is a powerful way to share stories about cultural identity,' they added.
The winner takes it all
One of the most popular playlists, based on download statistics, is the Swedish one from the first half of 2023, which still boasts almost 6000 saves. As a strong music-exporting nation, Sweden, perhaps unsurprisingly, chose to feature songs by ABBA, Avicii and Zara Larsson – and the numbers suggest that it was a success.
'We had it playing in the elevator at the office of the Swedish EU representation for six months, from early morning until the last person went home at night. Eventually, our colleagues found the volume setting and turned it down,' a Swedish spokesperson admitted.
Polished curation
Turning to Instagram, the Poles crowdsourced their playlist curation by asking followers to pick their favorite Polish songs from the 1960s to modern hits.
'We collected around 200 songs from people and then narrowed it down. We wanted a wide array of genres and artists,' explained the Warsaw office of the Polish presidency.
When asked about the risk of the tradition ending and their playlist being the last, they said: 'We hope that the tradition doesn't die. It's not too late. When you're just getting into the presidency, you're overtaken by joy, enthusiasm and work. Once they get through the first weeks, they might come around.'
We love to believe that hope springs eternal but signals we've received suggest otherwise and that there won't be a Danish playlist.
Still, that shouldn't stop anyone from enjoying hits like 'Natteravn' by Rasmus Seebach, Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' or maybe the Grammy nominated '7 Years' by soul-pop duo Lukas Graham.