Sony Music Publishing Scandinavia has acquired the catalog of Sound Pollution Songs AB, a Stockholm independent publisher of around 5,000 musical works that includes songs by Swedish power metal band Sabaton. The deal was announced on June 24, 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed.
What changes hands
Sony takes ownership of the existing publishing catalog of roughly 5,000 works. The two companies also signed a long-term administration agreement, so Sony will handle the future works that Sound Pollution Songs publishes. Sound Pollution was founded and is owned by Johan Hargeby, and it specializes in hard rock, punk and metal. The wider Sound Pollution group includes the metal label Black Lodge Records, the Wild Kingdom label, a record store in Stockholm's Gamla Stan open since the early 1990s, and a distribution business across Scandinavia.
The catalog
- Sabaton: the power metal band from Falun has released 11 studio albums and has more than 3 million monthly Spotify listeners.
- Heroes: Sabaton's 2014 album, which reached No. 1 on the Swedish albums chart.
- Twilight Force, Wormwood, Bonafide, Elaine, Foredoom and Rexoria: other artists represented in the catalog.
Why it matters
The acquisition shows that majors are also buying niche, genre-specific repertoire, not only mainstream pop. Metal is known for loyal fan bases and steady long-term consumption, which gives this type of catalog predictable income. Sony Music Publishing has been expanding in the Nordics: in October 2025 it took a significant stake in Finland's Elements Music, with about 10,000 compositions, and in May 2026 it agreed to acquire Blackstone's Recognition Music Group, a catalog of more than 45,000 songs.
For independent publishers, the combination used here is worth studying: a sale of the existing catalog plus an administration deal for future works. It gives the seller liquidity today while keeping the company active as a creative business, and it gives the buyer a pipeline of new repertoire alongside the back catalog.