ETEP Gets The XX Factor

London-based three-piece The xx is heading a packed field trying to get the most festival shows from this year’s European Talent Exchange Programme, although current indicators suggest that there won’t be so many slots available this year.

ETEP organiser Ruud Berends tells Pollstar it’s too early to look at the numbers as some festival haven’t made their choice, but the results are usually declared late July and it’s hard to see them matching the record-breaking totals achieved last year.

In 2009, 71 acts shared a total of 200 European festival shows during the course of the summer, with the UK’s White Lies doing best by securing 15 shows.

So far this year’s ETEP has created 150 shows, although once again it’s the British acts setting the pace. Apart from The xx with 11 shows, Charlie Winston, Ellie Goulding, and Marina & The Diamonds have seven each. Band Of Skulls has six shows and Stornoway has four.

The non-UK acts doing well include Iceland’s FM Belfast, which is in second with nine shows.

Jamaica, which is from France, has five shows, while Belgium’s Isbells, Germany’s Schlachthofbronx, Norway’s Serena Maneesh, and Switzerland’s Sophie Hunger each have four.