Michael Learns to Rock (also known as MLTR) is a Danish pop/soft rock band that performs songs in English. Formed in 1988, the band has sold over 11 million records worldwide, mainly in Asia, and in addition, another 6 million or more paid downloads for their single "Take Me To Your Heart" which was awarded "most downloaded single of the year 2006". The band has recorded eight studio albums as well as a number of live and greatest hits albums. The band's eighth studio album, Scandinavia, was released in 2012.
MLTR has won many awards and has earned Gold and Platinum status for records in many countries, as well as the Gold Preis Award from RSH, Germany and "The Best Performing Act of the Year" at the SEA Grammy Awards in Singapore. The band has attributed its success in Asia to a clean-living image and to singing in English as a second language.
During the peak of its popularity in the mid-1990s, MLTR was described by critics as being "as good (if not better) a band as any current big name group out of America or the UK."
According to the band's record label releases, the sound is "the perfect balance of a Scandinavian glow and the international pop song that has been instrumental in forming the compelling sound of the band", though the lead singer and songwriter, Jascha Richter, disagrees with this, maintaining that the music defies geographical categorization.
The first single from Scandinavia, "Renovate My Life", was released on iTunes on June 9, 2012, going on air in Denmark from 11 June. The album release began on 11 June 2012, with the release of a music video for "Any Way You Want It" on YouTube, as well as the digital release of the album in India. The music video features different places of Kathmandu valley and the capital city of Nepal, where the band performed a concert in November 2011. The physical CD of Scandinavia was first released on 30 June 2012, in India by Virgin Records, by Warner Music during July in Southeast Asia, and by Sony Music on 3 September 2012 in Denmark.