Noorderslag Plans The Italian Job

There was a time when a focus on the Italian market would have included legendary, occasionally apocryphal tales involving gangsters and communists.

Although the presentation the country’s Arezzo Wave Festival Festival will make at next year’s Eurosonic-Noorderslag weekend still includes a panel on “the ins and outs of doing business with Italy,” it will probably focus on a less excitable, more organised business.

Arezzo’s “Italian Job” also has showcases from emerging national acts, which will be spread among the 230 or so bands playing across 30 stages to a couple of thousand music industry pros.

The January 11-13 weekend in Groningen, described by NME as “the place to second guess who’ll be the big European bands of the year,” has earned that reputation via a European Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP) that’s proved to be a showcase for a host of talent including Franz Ferdinand, The Kooks, Editors, The Go! Team, Ralph Myerz & The Jack Harron Band, Wir Sind Helden, Puppetmastaz, Moneybrother, The Beatsteaks, Donots, T. Raumschmiere, Anouk, Under Byen, and Within Temptation.

Apart from the two-day seminar, Eurosonic-Noorderslag also hosts meetings from major European business organisations such as the Yourope festivals, International Music Managers’ Forum, European Broadcasting Union, and the agents from Network Europe.

– John Gammon