An introduction ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag) is a non-profit organisation Our mission that stimulates the circulation of European music across the European continent and beyond. The organisation is entirely focused on getting results for artists and takes the supporting ESNS is the European music platform. It is the role it can have in the development of artists’ international only event in the world that focuses solely on careers at heart. European music. Why? Historically, European pop music has experienced great With a total of 40,288 visitors at the festival, 4,092 visitors at the conference, difficulties in international promotion and distribution. and 352 different acts, 2018 was a year full of highlights.Once again, ESNS Anglo-American repertoire has been the main focus of stayed true to their mission to promote the circulation of European music. professional distribution and promotion for years in spite of During the evening programme, 352 acts from Europe, of which 22 from European music’s great diversity and quality. In short, the focus country Denmark, presented themselves to the audience. During European music has lagged behind. Because of the slim the day, international professionals from 42 different countries took part in possibilities and opportunities offered to European artists, the ESNS Conference. only a few have been able break through international boun- daries. Time for a change! The goal of ESNS therefore is to help these artists break through on the international live music market. ESNS wishes to generate more attention for European music, its diversity and quality, and aims to bring the artists who make this music in front of international audiences. ESNS strives towards building international careers for emerging acts, unlocking their potential and getting them to spread their music. Talent should be heard and deserves to be offered a stage to do so. “EUROSONIC IS TRULY THE BEST WAY TO START THE YEAR FOR ANY MUSIC FAN… GRONINGEN IS WINTER FESTIVAL UTOPIA.” Cai Trefor, Gigwise Awards Eurosonic Noorderslag is about discove- The activities ring new music and stimulating talent development. Therefore, the awards are 16-19 JANUARY 2019 an important part of ESNS. They reward talent and provide more publicity around (new) artists. Music Moves Europe Talent Awards: With the Music Moves Europe Talent Awards, an award night on Wednesday night, we have established an unique collaboration with 9 partners from the European music sector, including Reeperbahn. It is the successor of the EBBA (European Border Breakers Awards) and highlights European artists who are successful beyond their own borders. The awards are presented by ESNS and Reeperbahn Festival, in cooperation with Yourope, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), IMPALA, International Music Managers Forum (IMMF), Liveurope, Live DMA, European Music Exporters Exchange (EMEE) and Digital Music Europe (DME). The nominees were presented at the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg in September. The twelve winners of the prize will be announced in November and the Music Moves Europe Talent Awards will be handed over during a grand award ceremony at ESNS on Wednesday January 16, 2019. The Popprijs: is awarded to a Dutch band or artists who has been a major influence to the Dutch pop music scene. The Popprijs is an initiative of BV Pop and is presented by Buma Cultuur. Other prizes that get awarded at Eurosonic Noorderslag are the European Festival Awards, the Eurosonic Eurosonic Air Noorderslag Conference Buma Music Meets Tech Award, ETEP This is thé showcasefestival for European Eurosonic Air is the freely accessible During this yearly pop music festival The conference is the place where natio- the IJzeren Podiumdieren and the Eurosonic Noorderslag also organizes music. The goal of Eurosonic is to promote outdoor stage on the Grote Markt in ESNS introduces the promising Dutch nal and international music professionals Pop Media Prijs. the European Talent Exchange Program the careers of promising and talented Groningen. Here all Groningers, with artists. There are only limited tickets can meet each other and broaden their together with over 100 European festivals bands and artists. The artists present or without a ticket, can enjoy the more available, but luckily Noorderslag is easy network. It’s the place where people get and European public broadcasters. Within themselves in a small setting in the city famous Dutch acts. During Eurosonic accessible via tv, radio and internet. informed about the latest updates on ETEP, talented and promising European centre of Groningen. Many international Air you get the ability to see the per- During Noorderslag the Popprijs is awar- music, media, innovation, stages, etc. acts are presented and programmed for festival visitors, music producers, A&R formances from the VIP-deck, which ded to a person or artist who has been a Recurring topics are European Produc- the line-up of European festivals. managers and record label suits travel is covered in. On Friday we watch the big influence in the Dutch pop music over tion & Innovation Conference (EPIC), to Groningen exclusively for Eurosonic. performances from the networking event the last year. Buma Music Meets Tech (BMMT), the Additional activities: Every year the event focuses on one at the City Hall. artist programme and the pop policy. • Hit the North particular country. 2019 is the first year to • Pop Stipendium have two focus countries, namely: Czech • Innofest Republic and Slovakia. • Popgala Noord Highlights 2018 In 2018 the European Music Platform stayed true to its ethos of stimulating the circulation of European music by showcasing 352 European acts, among which 22 acts from this year’s focus country Denmark. During the day 4,092 international professionals from 42 countries participated in the ESNS conference in order to network and discuss all the latest developments in the European music industry. European Border Breaker Awards Conference Eurosonic Noorderslag kicked off on Wednesday evening with During the ESNS conference the present state of the European the European Border Breakers Awards. The award ceremony music industry was covered from several perspectives. EPIC was hosted by Jools Holland and celebrated 10 European acts handled relevant topics such as safety, sustainability, voluntee- who broke borders with their music over the past year. The ring, event technology and production innovations. Buma Mu- Head of Unit Creative Europe Barbara Gessler handed out the sic meets Tech dealt with topics such as blockchain, streaming Public Choice Award to the Bulgarian singer Kristian Kostov. services, bots and start-ups in tech. Additionally, diversity On the same day ESNS announced the incorporation of and women’s position in the music industry was highlighted in streaming data in the airplay-based European Border Breakers panels about the Keychange and Take A Stand projects. Charts. This weekly set of charts will monitor new European artists who are receiving airplay outside of their country of origin even more accurately than before. Awards Next to the European Border Breakers Awards the European Festival Awards and the A Greener Festival Awards were also Festivals and European Talent handed out during ESNS. Amongst the winners at the Exchange Programme (ETEP) European Festival Awards were Roskilde Festival, Sziget, In 52 venues in the city of Groningen 352 promising acts pre- MENT Ljubljana, ATC Live agent Alex Bruford and Lollapalooza sented themselves to an audience of music professionals and Berlin festival director Fruzsina Szép. The A Greener Festival other music lovers. At the conference the ETEP festivals pre- Awards applauded some of the best green initiatives which sented their first selection of acts to be booked for their upco- were presented by Das Fest, Roskilde Festival, Ilosaarirock, ming events. The acts with the most mentions were: IAMDDB Metal Days, Welcome to the Village and Liberation Festival (gb), Zeal & Ardor (ch), Meute (de), Superorganism (gb), Jacob Utrecht. Banks (gb), Tamino (be), Agar Agar (fr) and Altin Gun (nl). Media With a record amount (479) of journalists present in 2018, the me- dia attention was bigger than ever. As a result of the collaboration with the European Broadcasting Union, 37 European public broad- casters were present during ESNS 2018. The festival was reported by public broadcasters from 12 different countries, responsible for 30 live broadcasts and a total of 41 hours of reports. Mentions of ESNS on television and radio in the Netherlands: 1211 Total reach: 314,98 million Online Unique website visitors: 187,350 Facebook likes: 32,381 Facebook total reach: 843,053 Instagram followers: 6,742 Twitter followers: 17,882 Opening rate mails: 25,3% “MID-JANUARY MIGHT BE AN EYE-WATERINGLY EARLY TIME TO BEGIN THE YEAR’S FESTIVALS, BUT IN TERMS OF LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS, EUROSONIC SHOWS THAT 2018 SHOULD BE JUST FINE.” DIY magazine The audience ESNS is visited by a broad audience. The conference was joined by almost 4100 professionals from the European music industry. Visitors are from 42 countries and the entire event counts 350 different European acts. In total, the event consists of over 40.000 visitors. In 2018, almost 500 journalists were present at ESNS. Whether you are interested in reaching the professionals or the festival visitor, ESNS will connect your brand to the right audience. By connecting your brand to music and artists you will not only be able to reach, but also to touch your audience. In a