Features
Romania Launches Music Export Office Ahead Of 13th Artmania Festival
Romania is one of the last EU countries to launch its own music export office on July 26 in Sibiu, Romania. Looking at wider Europe, a music export office is one of the most efficient ways of introducing local talent to the wider live music industry.
– Artmania Festival
Gramofone were the first band to showcase at the launch of Romania
Not only do music export offices help local musicians receive funding for tour or recording support, they also partner with (showcase) festivals, to introduce talent from their respective home countries to an international audience of live entertainment professionals.
The bands that played the first ever Romanian music export office showcase on July 26, a day prior to the launch of Artmania Festival and the second edition of the East European Music Conference (EEMC), included pop/rock band Gramofone from Bucharest, progressive Jazz trio JazzyBit, synth-pop band Next Ex, Am Fost la Munte Si Mi-a Placut (“I went to the mountains and I liked it”) and progressive metal outfit White Walls.
Codruta Vulcu, head of the Romanian Music Export Office said: “In a world where values interfere and clutter, culture becomes mediator and a pillar of balance to the community. Culture and education are equal prerequisites for Romania’s development and need to be acknowledged by everyone in the field as priorities.”
She added that this was the reason she decided to launch an East European Music Conference in the first place, to address “major themes that the Romanian and European festival industries have been confronted with in the last few years.”
Vulcu reasoned that festivals represent a field of communication between cultures. “Therefore, we’ve taken a step to support solid cultural policies
and long term initiatives. The second edition of EEMC aims at fostering the relationships between European promoters and event organisers and representatives of the Romanian music industry” she continued.
Talking about the launch of the Romanian Music Export office, Vulcu added: “It is the first project of this kind, with the purpose of facilitating communication between Romanian bands and the decision makers of the European music industry.
“We are grateful to the Sibiu City Hall, the Sibiu local Council, Kaufland Romania, to our institutional, cultural, media and commercial partners which have embraced a project that wishes to be more than a simple form of expression – it wishes to become a long term partnership that encourages quality in education and culture.”
The launch of the Romanian Music Export Office came a day ahead of the 13th edition of Artmania Festival in Sibiu, Romania. On July 27-28, the festival welcomes Mogwai and Steven Wilson as headliners.