The "Bergen Wave" is mostly a name coined by the mass media, while the artists themselves have expressed distaste for the term and consider it a cliché.
Several artists from the "Bergen Wave" gained international breakthroughs, an uncommon feat for Norwegian music at that time.
Musically, several of the bands shared a low-key melancholic tone, regardless of genre.
[1] Towards the end of the 1990s, Tellé Records and its sub-labels started releasing singles by then-unknown artists such as Röyksopp, Annie, Ralph Myers & The Jack Herren Band, Erot and Kings of Convenience.
The "second wave" of artists were notably represented by Sondre Lerche, Datarock, Magnet, Ane Brun, Casiokids, Matias Tellez and Ungdomskulen.