The New Nordic Hub

Along with others such as Tallinn Music Week organiser Helen Sildna and Vegard Waske, international director for Norway’s By:Larm, their vision seemed to be one in which the region’s developing promoters could work together for the benefit of Nordic talent. It’s doubtful if they envisaged the main Scandinavian chunk of the market dominated by huge corporate players from America and now Germany.

The U.S. side is Live Nation, which has offices in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Estonia. Juha Kyyrö from Helsinki-based Fullsteam, a frequent M&M panelist who also helps with the showcase programming, is the latest recruit to the German side, the CTS Eventim-backed FKP Scorpio.

Although M&M is one of Europe’s more robust showcase conferences, and PR chief Taija Holm expects the upcoming gathering (Oct. 16-19) will at least equal last year’s 700 or so delegates, it also benefits from the spotlight the ever-changing market brings to the region.

On the opening day there are panels focusing on “the German-speaking market area in Europe,” which can now to some extent be taken to include Finland. Apart from having Kyyrö on board to head its Nordic operation, Scorpio has also bought in to Provinssirock, one of the country’s major festivals since 1979.

The German speakers at M&M include Folkert Koopmans and Stephan Thanscheidt from FKP Scorpio, Detlef Schwarte, Bjoern Pfarr and Uli Mücke from the country’s Reeperbahn showcase conference, and Martin Rabitz from Trinity Music.