35 Years Of Breaking Borders In Europe: A Chat With ESNS Head Of Program Robert Meijerink

The world has changed,” said Robert Meijerink, “and, looking at the music sector, I think it’s fair to say that there are challenges attached to this change: pressure on people, on organizations, on businesses. It’s something we need to not only understand, but embrace, and try to find a way to deal with the pressure together.”

What better place to do so than at Eurosonic Noorderslag in Groningen, Netherlands? For more than 35 years, ESNS has been facilitating industry dialogue during the day and performances by some of Europe’s most promising new artists at night. Meijerink, the event’s long-standing head of program and booker, said, “Music conferences are a place where people meet, network, do business, or a combination of all three. All while discovering new artists. People travel to music conferences to collaborate and come up with solutions. There are so many challenges, not on the horizon, but right now, today.”

He likens the musical ecosystem to a biological ecosystem, in which all parts support each other in a symbiotic relationship. However, Meijerink said, hardly anybody could properly define what this musical ecosystem looked like.

This could change in the coming years. The Federation of Music Conferences, launched at this year’s ESNS in January, is involved in a European Union initiative dubbed “Music Moves Europe: Strengthening the dialogue on music,” which aims at fostering a better understanding of this business amongst politicians. “It is a huge task,” said Meijerink, “but also a beautiful opportunity because it will hopefully create more understanding of what the music sector is about for the people in Brussels, the parliaments, the decision-makers, who potentially only see major festivals like Glastonbury, Sziget and Primavera and major tours like Taylor Swift doing six stadiums in a row. There’s so much money involved, but where does the money go?”

The music business wasn’t a homogenous industry, he continued, as big corporate players were dealing with an utterly different reality than the grassroots sector. Yet, both were intrinsically linked to each other. Almost all artists who can sell out the world’s arenas and stadiums today began honing their craft performing in clubs, pubs, dingy basements and other music venues, running on nothing but passion. Showcase events like ESNS highlight this year after year. It seems it would be in the corporate players’ best interest to invest in what is essentially this industry’s research and development department.

“It’s a give and take,” said Meijerink.

“It’s not about profit and nonprofit; it is about a collaborative effort. Eurosonic, as a conference, a festival, a platform, is very much focused on bringing together the big and small players. It is about interaction, exchange and doing business, which is about music, and therefore about artists.” These ingredients, said Meijerink, are “the holy grail” of ESNS.

Investing in the grassroots sector has gained importance in the post-pandemic economy. “Production and staff costs have risen big time. And if you look at it from a European perspective, most people I’m in touch with do experience the same,” Meijerink explained.

To offset some of the costs while ensuring a high production value for the performing artists, his team decided to reduce the number of venues in 2024. The majority of buildings used during ESNS, apart from Vera, the Grand Theatre and Stadsschouwburg, are not regular music venues. They are turned into one for ESNS only. “Which is great,” Meijerink said, but also meant “a big effort for everyone participating to make this happen. That translates to costs. Some venues cost about €20,000 a day, excluding security, PA, lights. So, we reduced the number of venues and also booked almost 40 artists less because of this change. We want all artists to play in well-equipped venues. We are known to deliver upon a certain standard, so people cannot blame us if their showcase goes bad.”

The reduced scope may turn out to be an upside: It used to be impossible for visitors to catch everything that sounded interesting on the ESNS program, be it panels or concerts. Less venues and artists will lead to less FOMO.

The core of ESNS hasn’t changed and is still all about facilitating the exchange of European talent across the continent. 2024 will mark the 20th anniversary of ESNS Exchange, which began life as the European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP) in 2003 in close cooperation with Yourope and the members of EBU, European Broadcasting Union. The model is simple: festival bookers check out the performances in Groningen and book artists they love on the spot for the upcoming festival season. According to the most up-to-date ESNS Exchange stats, the program has so far helped 2,158 acts from 36 countries to play 5,333 shows at 190 partner festivals in 44 countries. It is, quite frankly, one of the greatest programs for young musicians in the world.

Another milestone is the 20th anniversary of the Music Moves Europe Awards, the European prize for new talent, formerly known as the European Border Breakers Award. Past winners include Adele, Dolores O’Riordan, MØ, Tiziano Ferro, Lykke Li, Katie Melua, Damien Rice, Mumford and Sons and Dua Lipa. This year’s shortlist features 15 artists from 15 countries, and an international jury will select five finalists to win an award, as well as one artist to win the grand jury prize. On top of that, fans get to vote for the public choice award winner online.

“We will only have future headliners if we give the stage to young artists,” Meijerink concluded. And while there is currently no definition of the musical ecosystem, he is sure it will contain grassroots venues and boutique festivals “who give the stage to other voices, new artists, not necessarily headliners. There are beautiful festivals in Europe that don’t work with headliners at all, and if they have a headliner, it can be an artist who only sells 1,000 tickets at a venue in Amsterdam. It very much depends on your profile, but the majority of festivals do underline that it’s crucial to give the stage not only to local newcomers but from all over the world. The audience is not just interested in Taylor Swift or Bruce Springsteen. They are also interested in discovering new acts. There is a new generation like there have always been generations in the past who are hungry for new music. And that’s why it should be the duty of every creative, every booker, every promoter to continue to invest in new talent.”