How Abba got into the money, money, money Arriving on Thursday, the most commercially stuccessful oo :u rouDof all W'hen I told a colleague, before all the last week's pub- licity, that I was going to write an article about Abba, he said: "Who I ?" Many people still ask the same question about this Swedish pop-group who are, after only about three years of European activity, probably one of the most com- mercially successful groups there have ever been. It may seem contradictory to say that a group whose name many people do not imme- diately recognize, is selling 1'ecords faster than any group since the Beatles. But since wmnling the Eurovision Son- Contest in Brighton in 1974, Abba has sold more than 30 million single records, and about 14 million LPs. At a crude guess that means that total sales of records alone has involved a turnover something in the order of ?60m. Abba's appeal is worldwide. Virtually the only countries they do not sell records in are in South-East Asia. They would sell more records behind the iron curtain if limits were not placed on sales allowed. Their music is as popular with grandparents as with grand- children. At any one time, there is a good chance that Abba has several records in tle top 10 in different couII- tries at the same time. Last year in Britain they were the es:-selling gr'oup, and at the beginning of this year their LP's occupied the number one and number tlYo position in the album charts. Their popularity, appeal and overnight success are impos- sible to explain. In the world of pop music they are some- thing which has never really happened before. Even the group themselves -cannot explain their success. They are a unique combination of fac-' tors which is making millions for the group, for record com- panies throughout the world, and for the Swedish Govern- ment. There are many fantastic stories surrounding the com- mercial success of Abba, in. cluding one which suggests that next to Volvo, the group is Sweden's biggest export.... Whatever the myths, the fact is that the four members of Abba have an extraordinary degree of control over every single commercial aspect of their success. The two men, Benly and Bjorn, write almost all the music. They, together with the two women, Anna and Frida, and Mr Stig Anderson, their manager, completely own the recording company and music publishing company, Polar Records and Polar Music. From their Stockholm base the five play a major part in controlling worldwide sales and promotions, only leaving Sweden for the kind of short and hectic four-day visit they paid to London last November to help sales of their new LP "Arrival ", and new single, "Money, Mohey, Money ". In each country a lease tape deal is negotiated with a record company. This involves the record company paying a hefty sum of money for the right to sell Abba records. For every record sold. Abba get a share. Abba also make video tape films of themselves to be Played with records on televiL sion. This is one of the main ways th,ey promote themselves and their records. The highly. professional films are supplied free to television programmes like Top of the Pops or its equivalent in other countries. Live performance on stage has never been a part of the group's projection. However on Thursday, Abba begins its first concert tour in Britain. They vill play in major cities, and already tickets for the Albert Hall concert are almost impossible to obtain. One of the nmost important aspects of Abba's control is the ownership of the publishing side. A publishing company usually takes something in the order of 25 per cent of royal- ties. On top of this. thie" alho get paid between f-2 and ?3 every time an Abba record is played on radio or in a dis- cotheque. They also take about 30p for every LP sold for pub- lishing rights. Thus Abba benefit f;rom almost every single aspect of the making, production and selling of the music. No other super group like this have had such control. With 30 million singles (average Western sale price 70p, say) and 13 million LPs (average sale price, say ?3) more thaal ?n60n has been involved in the physical retail sale of records in the last two and a half years. An informed guess by somebody in the record business is that at least ?70m has been involved al- t}gether so far. Of course out of this must be taken various taxes on rec:ords, costs and so on. The four members of the group are paid salaries by the company, and are involved in the expan- sion of interests and invest- ment of assets. Each pay tax at the r ate of 85 per cent in their native Sweden, .nd although all are undoubtedly millionaires, do not appear to be excessively materialistic. Benny confesses to a taste in Maserati cars, Bjorn for BMWs. All four live in pleasant but relatively modest houses in Stockholm and, in the summer, on a nearby island. Abba's musical and commer- cial success is puzzling when one compares them to that other of ifiost successful groups, the Beatles. By the time the Beatles had been going for two and a half years after their first hit, they seemed far better known, their public personalities were bet. ter known, and even if you ha:ed them, you knew about them. There is no new cult, fashion or haircut associatpd with Abba's music. Unlike the Bea- -tles, they do not symbolize a change in values or attitudes,. their music is in no wav con- troversial. Abba's music in fact seems to be most things to most people. They have curiously escaped the derision of -1e "progressive" section of the pop world, which can be notoriously bitchy about com- mercially successful music. Bjorn and Benn, while admitting the importance of the skilful production and mar- keting, say the key to their success must be their music, w hich is tuneful, catchy and foot-tapping. The songs are always sung in English. Most are written duiring tne retreat to the summer island. Benny and Biorn reject about 90 per cent of what they write, Benny at the piano, Biorn at guitar. All they know about the, remaining 10 per cent which comes out on record, is that it is music they.really like. Each member of the group, which was formed in Sweden in 1971, was successful in his or her own right before they came together and broke out of Sweden in 1974: They all live and work most of their lives together. Benny lives with Frida, and Bjorn is married to Anna. Unlike many less suc- cessful pop-groups, they are quiet and down-to-earth. They seem to apply the extra- ordinary control they have of their commercial success to their private lives-as well. Abba has not yet been a big -success.-in America. If, and when Athey are, the group is almost crortaiii to outsell the Beatles. As it is at the moment they have probably made more money than the Beatles did in their first three years. My own opinion, and I sus- pect many-would agree, is that whereas the Beatles were not the commercial machine that Abba is, their music was far superior. Not even the worst management could have pre- vented the Beatles' music, whereas it has taken extra- ordinarily skilful marketing and promotion to put Abba's music in the position it now is. Robert Parker How Abba got into the money, money, money