Acts Hit Eurosonic Deadline

More than 1,500 acts have applied to showcase their talents at January’s Eurosonic-Noorderslag gathering, all hoping to be among those selected for the increasingly impressive European Talent Exchange Programme.

Others faced a September 4 deadline to be in time to catch the attention of the Eurosonic programme commission, which will begin its selection process shortly after.

About 250 acts – roughly one in six of those that apply – will have the chance to impress the bookers of at least 50 of Europe’s leading outdoors.

Project organizer Ruud Berends is still sifting through the figures but the 2007 programme looks to have produced at least 181 shows, shared between 61 acts from 18 countries.

The success graph is on a steady incline: In 2003, the year ETEP was started, it came up with 53 shows for 23 artists from eight countries spread across 23 festivals.

In 2004 it was 84 shows split between 35 artists from 13 countries and the number of participating festivals was up to 36.

Appearing to peak in 2005, when 39 acts shared 89 festival shows, 2006 saw the numbers almost double to 156 shows shared between 48 artists.

The number of countries with a successful act was steady in the mid-teens but the number of festivals getting involved rocketed to 50.

Berends, who believes the 2005 result reflected the fact that the lineup wasn’t as strong as in previous years, reports the 2007 figure for the number of shows has gone up a further 16 percent year-on-year. The act to benefit most – although it’s a close call – is likely to be Sweden’s Loney, dear, which has played 10 ETEP shows over the course of this summer.

It would be no surprise to see a Swedish act do best, as Soundtrack Of Our Lives came out on top in 2004 and Moneybrother in 2005. But Belgian band Goose and the U.K.’s Enter Shikari have made it a tight finish by getting nine and eight shows respectively.

Germany’s Digitalism and the U.K.’s Shitdisco picked up seven shows each, while Peter von Poehl and Peter Bjorn And John – two more Swedish acts – and Norway’s Datarock, the U.K.’s The View and Holland’s zZz each got seven.

Next year’s Eurosonic-Noorderslag takes place at Groningen’s De Oosterpoort and 30 of the city’s best venues January 10-12.