Europe Heads To Eurosonic

Whatever else it achieves, Eurosonic-Noorderslag must have set some sort of record for the amount of publicity it’s generated.

It may not be that everyone in the European live music business attends the annual gathering, but there can be little doubt that everyone in the European live business knows it’s happening Jan. 11.

Apart from the regular press releases from event organiser Buma Cultuur, and the duplicates that come from the PR companies that also work on it, there’s a barrage of emails from the acts taking part in the showcase festival, the various music organisations that attend, and every European country that has a music export office.

Last year the three-day conference, which covers a range of music business topics but largely focuses on festivals, saw its highest attendance yet by attracting 3,000 delegates.

There were 187 journalists and other assorted media people, including reps from 24 European radio stations.
More than 200 acts played across the three dozen or so stages at De Oosterpoort, where the conference is staged, and the other venues dotted around the heart of the university city.

Buoyed by $3 million support from the European Union to tide it over for the next three years, the current Eurosonic-Noorderslag is likely to be the biggest live music business gathering Europe has ever staged.

For the third year in succession, it will stage the European Festival Awards, while also hosting the European Border Breakers Awards.

Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), the other international conference and festival organised by Buma Cultuur, a nonprofit organization that supports and promotes Dutch music, has just announced that it will expand to five days.
This year’s dates are Oct. 17-21.