Polar Studios — Stockholm

Polar Studios at Kungsgatan 4 in central Stockholm was built by ABBA in 1978 and served as their primary recording facility for the peak years of their commercial dominance. The studio was state-of-the-art by late-1970s standards — equipped with a Neve mixing console and outfitted with the precision and care that Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus brought to their production work. ABBA recorded Voulez-Vous (1979) and Super Trouper (1980) there, albums that contained some of their most celebrated songs including 'Chiquitita', 'Does Your Mother Know', 'The Winner Takes It All', 'Super Trouper', and 'Happy New Year'.

Led Zeppelin also recorded portions of In Through the Out Door (1979) at Polar Studios — one of the most unexpected cross-genre connections in rock history, ABBA and Led Zeppelin sharing the same Stockholm studio within months of each other. The studio's reputation for technical excellence drew a range of international artists. Its creation reflected ABBA's transition from performers who worked in other people's studios to artists who controlled every aspect of their production environment.

Polar Studios closed in 2004 and the space has since been converted to other uses. The studio's significance is documented in various ABBA heritage materials and in the ABBA Museum on Djurgården island in Stockholm, which opened in 2013 and is one of the most visited music museums in the world. The ABBA Museum includes extensive documentation of the recording process and the Stockholm music environment that produced one of the best-selling musical acts in history.