So far we have broken popular music in Sweden into two main categories:
Lyric based pop: a music based more on lyrical content, has a softer sound, much more similar to folk music, has few instruments playing at the same time, and consists of lyrics in the Swedish language. Examples can be found on this link.
Pop/Pop Rock: a music based on a from of rock and roll, can range from soft rock to heavy metal, instrumentation is the usual rock band (including a synthsizer), has a lot of English songs which explains why they have such an appeal in the USA.Examples can be found on this link.
In order to understand the present you must understand the past and Swedish folk music is the foundation for all the pop music in Sweden today. Swedish folk music is either entirely in Swedish or an instrumental, it has classical/ochestra-like instrumentation (woodwinds, brass, percussion, etc.), it is much like Scottish or Celtic music, and is very orchestrated. Click here for some examples.
There is one other blend of music that is popular in Sweden and is known to spread through out the world... that is heavy metal and emo-core. If you're ready for insanity click on....
BLINDSIDE
Selfmindead
Moonshine
a Swedish heavy metal band