Vegvísir Nokkrar hugleiðingar um tónleikaferðalög 5

Hvernig á að skrifa rider ...... 6 Hvernig á að tala við bókara ...... 6 Hvernig á að plana leiðina sem þú hyggst ferðast ...... 7 Þegar út er komið ...... 7

Markaðir 9

Bandaríkin 10

(United States of America) ...... 10 Introduction to the Market ...... 10 Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution ...... 11 Performance Rights ...... 12 Management ...... 13 Live ...... 13 Media, PR & Promo ...... 16 PR Agencies ...... 18 Visa and Work Permissions ...... 19 Taxation ...... 21

Brasilia (Brazil) 22

Live ...... 30 Media, PR & Promo ...... 33 Visa, Insurance and Tax ...... 35

Bretland (United Kingdom) 36 Performance Rights ...... 38 Management ...... 38 Live ...... 39 Taxation ...... 45

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - ␀1 Danmörk (Denmark) 46 Introduction to the Market ...... 46 Labels, Distribution and Licensing ...... 47 Performance Rights ...... 48 Management ...... 49 Live ...... 49 Media, PR and Promotion ...... 51 PR Companies ...... 52 Networking Arenas ...... 52 Taxation ...... 52

Finnland (Finland) 54 Introduction to the Market ...... 54 Record Labels, Licensing and Distribution ...... 55 Publishing ...... 56 Performance Rights ...... 56 Management ...... 56 Live ...... 57 Media, PR and Promotion ...... 59 Taxation ...... 60

Frakkland (France) 63 Introduction to the Market ...... 63 Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution ...... 63 Performance Rights ...... 65 Management ...... 66 Live ...... 66 Booking Agencies ...... 67 Networking Arenas ...... 67 Media, PR & Promo ...... 67 PR and Promotion ...... 69

Ísland (Iceland) 70

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - ␀2 Introduction to the Market ...... 70 Record Labels, Licensing and Distribution ...... 70 Publishing and Performance Rights ...... 71 Management ...... 71 Venues ...... 71 Festivals ...... 71 Media, PR and Promotion ...... 73 PR Agencies ...... 73 Taxation ...... 73

Japan 76 Record Labels, Licensing and Distribution ...... 77 Publishing ...... 78 Promoters ...... 80 Venue & Booking ...... 80 Management and PR ...... 80 Media, print and online ...... 81 Industry Networking Events ...... 83

Noregur (Norway) 84 Introduction to the Market ...... 84 Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution ...... 84 Songwriting camps ...... 85 Performance Rights ...... 86 Management ...... 86 Live ...... 86 Media, PR & Promo ...... 88 PR agencies ...... 90 Networking Arenas ...... 90 Taxation ...... 91

Svíþjóð (Sweden) 93

Introduction to the Market ...... 93

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - ␀3 Record Labels, Distribution & Licensing ...... 94 Performance Rights ...... 96 Management ...... 97 Live ...... 97 Media, PR & Promo ...... 98 Networking Arenas ...... 99 Taxation ...... 99

Pólland (Poland) 101 Introduction to the Market ...... 101 Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution ...... 102 Publishing ...... 102 Performance Rights ...... 102 Management ...... 102 Live ...... 103 Media, PR & Promo ...... 104 PR agencies ...... 105 Industry Networking Arenas ...... 105 Taxation ...... 106 Current politics ...... 106

Þýskaland (Germany) 108 Introduction to the Market ...... 108 Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution ...... 108 Management ...... 110 Live ...... 111 Industry Networking Arenas ...... 115 Taxation ...... 116

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - ␀4 Nokkrar hugleiðingar um tónleikaferðalög

Þessar hugleiðingar eru skrifaðar með minni túra í huga sem eru skipulagðir af hljómsveitunum sjálfum, aðallega út frá reynslu fremur en fræðilegum gögnum. Þessi grein notast stöku sinnum við slettur þegar kemur að hugtökum. Ekkert í þessari upptalningu ætti að koma tónlistarmönnum á óvart. Hins vegar ætti þessi grein að virka sem ágætis “tékklisti” til að fara yfir á meðan tónleikaferðalagið er skipulagt.

Hvað þarf að gera áður en þú ferð út:

● Túrar gagnast lítið ef hljómsveitin er ekki nú þegar með fylgi erlendis. Vertu viss um að hljómsveitinni þinni muni gagnast að leggja í slíkt ferðalag. Túrar eiga að stækka það fylgi sem þú hefur nú þegar. Annars gæti endað í að það mæti bara 20 manns á tónleikana. Fyrsta skrefið er að meta hvort að það séu nógu góðar aðstæður til að skipuleggja tónleikaferðalag. Skoðaðu samfélagsmiðlana þína og tölfræði fyrir tónlistina þína á streymisveitum og reyndu að sjá hvaðan mestu hlustanirnar og heimsóknirnar koma. Þýskaland og Bretland eru venjulega arðbærir markaðir fyrir íslenska tónlist og eflaust sniðugt að skoða aðstæður þar. Áður en þú íhugar tónleikaferðalag skiptir öllu máli að hljómsveitin sé búin að skapa sér nafn utan landsteinanna. Gefðu út plötu og dreifðu henni vel og skoðaðu hvaðan athyglin kemur. Reyndu síðan að skipuleggja ferðalagið um þau svæði sem virka arðbærust.

● Stærsti og mikilvægasti hluti af skipulagningu tónleikaferðalaga er að skrifa tölvupósta og vera í stöðugum samskiptum við alla aðila. Láttu vita af öllum mögulegum breytingum og vertu með símanúmer hjá öllum sem þú þarft að ná í. Forðast samskiptaleysi eins og heitan eldinn.

● Að túra frá Íslandi er öðruvísi en að túra innan Bandaríkjanna eða Evrópu. Þú munt alltaf þurfa að byrja ferðina á flugi. Athugaðu með að láta prenta boli og annan varning erlendis og sækja þegar þú lendir til að spara pláss og yfirvigt.

● Skipulegðu eins mikið og þú getur eins langt fram í tímann og hægt er. Þú býrð bara til óþarfa stress með því að leysa hluti á síðustu stundu.

● Ekki pakka of mikið af fötum. Þau taka furðu mikið pláss og þú munt venjast því að vera skítug/ur á fyrstu vikunni. Reyndu að taka sem minnst með þér. Sparaðu plássið fyrir varning. Gakktu hins vegar úr skugga um að þú komist í sturtu á tónleikastaðnum eða þar sem þú ert að gista.

● Búðu til möppu með öllum dagsetningum, stöðum, tölvupóstföngum, símanúmerum, ferðatímum/flugtímum, korti, osfrv. Þú munt þakka fyrir að hafa þetta í farangrinum. Ein blaðsíða fyrir hverja tónleika. Staðlað skjal þar sem þú geymir allar mikilvægar upplýsingar fyrir hvert kvöld. Símanúmer, tölvupóstar, ferðatímar/flugtímar, kort af nágrenninu osfrv. Gerðu nokkur eintök svo allir geti verið á sömu blaðsíðu.

● Vertu með fjárhagsáætlun. Gerðu ráð fyrir tekjum og kostnaði fyrir hvert kvöld og notaðu hluta af gróðanum í mat og tilheyrandi. Ef þú vilt sækja um styrki fyrir flugkostnaði og fleiru þarftu líka að hafa fjárhagsáætlun við hendina.

● Munu bókarar sjá um kynningu á sínum forsendum eða þarft þú að sjá um allt slíkt? Eins og alltaf, spyrja fyrirfram. Leggðu vinnu í að auglýsa tónleikana þína. Hafðu samband við PR fólk innan þíns geira, auglýstu á Facebook, spjallborðum og sendu út fréttatilkynningar.

● Backline? Þarft þú að ferðast með slíkt? Ef ekki skaltu vera viss um að allt sem þú þarft sé á stöðunum sem þú ert að ferðast á.

● Búðu til rider og stageplot með öllum hljóðkröfum og græjum.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - ␀5 Hvernig á að skrifa rider

Rider er nokkurs konar samningur milli hljómsveitarinnar og bókara. Þar þurfa allar þarfir hljómsveitarinnar fyrir umrædda tónleika að koma fram. Vel skrifaður rider getur líka stytt sándtékk til muna. Þetta skjal sendir þú á bókarana og hljóðmenn eins langt fram í tímann og hægt er.

● Ekki gera ráð fyrir neinu, teldu upp bókstaflega allt sem þú þarft. Það hljómar kannski rökrétt að allir tónleikastaðir eigi nokkur gítarbox, en sú er ekki alltaf raunin.

● Byrjaðu á að lista allar græjur sem hljómsveitin notar. Líka fetla. Þetta er lítið mál ef þú ert rokkband með tvo gítara, bassa og trommur, en verður mikilvægara eftir því sem þú ferð lengra út fyrir þá uppsetningu.

● Teldu upp hversu mörg DI-box þið þurfið. Hljómborð, skrýtin akústísk hljóðfæri og stundum jafnvel bassar fara oft frekar beint í kerfið frekar en í gegnum magnara. Spurðu fyrirfram ef þú ert ekki viss.

● Settu upp einfalt stage plot sem hægt er að senda á bókara og tónleikastaði. Þetta sýnir hvaða hljóðfæri þið notið, hvar hver vill standa á sviðinu og hvað þið viljið í mónítor. Á internetinu má finna margar síður þar sem teikna má upp stage plot á einfaldann hátt.

● Ásamt stageplottinu þá hjálpar að skrifa lista af hljóðfærunum og hvað þau þurfa. Þarftu sérstaka hljóðnema? Er trommarinn með pad og taktmæli? Teldu það upp.

● Biðja um greiðslu fyrir fram: Ef þú ferð fram á pening, gistingu, mat eða far eitthvert þarf það að koma skýrt fram á ridernum.

● Matur skiptir máli. Vertu viss um að bókararnir geti útvegað mat baksviðs þar sem það er ekki alltaf tími til að fara út að borða fyrir sándtékk. Láttu einnig vita af sérþörfum og/eða matarofnæmi. Matarofnæmi, grænmetisfæði, o.þ.h. þarf líka að fara á riderinn. Það er venjulega ekki mál að koma til móts við slíkar þarfir, en til þess þarf að vita af því fyrirfram.

Hvernig á að tala við bókara

1. Vertu kurteis og alltaf viss um að það sé auðvelt að ná í þig. Samskiptaleysi gerir svona verkefni mun erfiðari.

2. Spyrðu um hvernig sala á varningi fer fram, sumir staðir eru með starfsfólk sem tekur prósentu fyrir að selja varning fyrir þig. Þegar hugtakið “varningur” er notað í þessu samhengi er iðulega átt við útgáfur hljómsveitarinnar, geisladiska eða vínyl, en einnig hljómsveitaboli, derhúfur og fleira. Ekki vera feimin/n við að bjóða upp á eitthvað öðruvísi. Það er líklegara að þú munir ná að koma út í hagnaði með sölu á varning fremur en aðgangseyri.

3. Aldrei gleyma að þakka fyrir þig þegar vel gengur. Það kemur oft á óvart hversu langt það nær. Túrar eru líka til þess að “networka”. Haltu sambandi við fólkið sem fílar tónlistina þína og sýndu þeim vinsemd. Það gæti vel verið að þú sért að fara að hitta þau aftur.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - ␀6 Hvernig á að plana leiðina sem þú hyggst ferðast

1. Fyrst af öllu: Ætlar þú að fljúga eða keyra milli tónleika? Það getur verið dýrt að fljúga og bókararnir þyrftu sennilega að leggja út fyrir því. Það gerir líka erfiðara að ferðast með varning, en sparar ótrúlega mikinn tíma. Ef þú keyrir milli staða er mikilvægara að plana leiðina þannig að það sé raunhæf fjarlægð milli staða. Að keyra lengur en 6 klukkustundir á dag getur tekið á. Þessa kosti þarf að vega og meta.

2. Ef keyrandi: Ertu með bílstjóra og bíl? Bílaleigur eru oftast valkosturinn sem er nýttur. Reyndu að hafa amk 2 sem treysta sér í að skiptast á að keyra. Það auðveldar allt ferlið að vera með GPS tæki.

3. Ef fljúgandi: Vertu alltaf skýr með hvenær þú þarft far upp á flugvöll. Taktu fram í ridernum þínum ef þú vilt vera sótt/ur upp á flugvöll og þurfir far til baka. Oft er gert ráð fyrir þessu, en það er mjög leiðinlegt að lenda í stressinu sem fylgir því að komast ekki upp á flugvöll fyrir næstu tónleika.

4. Ef fljúgandi: Fáðu yfirvigt fyrir varning og hljóðfæri. Bakpoki með fötum kemst oftast fyrir í handfarangri. Gítartaska og kassi af bolum gæti hins vegar ekki gert það. Fáðu þyngd og mögulegan aukakostnað á hreint fyrirfram.

5. Nota Google Maps eða eitthvað sambærilegt til að fá nokkurn veginn á hreint hversu langan tíma hver ferð tekur, gerðu ráð fyrir töfum. Reyndu að forðast að ferðast í meira en 6 tíma á dag.

Þegar út er komið 1. Mættu tímanlega. Alltaf.

2. Frídagar kosta helling. Reyndu að vera með eina tónleika á dag. Fyrir lengri túra skiptir þó miklu máli að fá einhverja hvíld.

3. Drekktu nóg af vatni. Gosdrykkir fara illa i mann til lengri tíma og bjórinn veldur vökvaskorti. Flestir staðir sem þú munt ferðast til eru heitari og rakari en Ísland.

4. Eru lítil útgáfufyrirtæki með sölubása á staðnum? Það gæti vel verið að þau vilji kaupa/skipta eitthvað af varning við þig. Að skipta plötum og öðrum varning er mjög algengt innan pönksins og þungarokksins. Þá sérstaklega innan “DIY” geirans.

5. Partí eru skemmtileg. Að vera þunnur á tónleikum er leiðinlegt. Farðu varlega og þekktu mörkin.

6. Hafðu græjur og snúrur merktar og pakkaðu þeim strax eftir tónleikana. Það er mjög auðvelt að týna dýrum snúrum/fetlum/osfrv þegar maður er alltaf á ferðinni. Hvítt límband og tússpenni kemur þar að góðu gagni. Krotaðu nafn og símanúmer þar sem þú getur. Hafðu samband við staðina sem þú ert búin/n að spila á ef eitthvað týnist. Krullaðu upp á snúrurnar þínar og hafðu þær allar á sama stað. Skipulegðu hvernig þú pakkar í töskurnar þínar og gerðu það alltaf beint eftir tónleikana.

7. Rótaðu beint inní sal og byrjaðu sándtékk eins fljótt og hægt er.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - ␀7 Hvernig skal sándtékka

1. Sándtékk taka mislangan tíma, fáðu á hreint hversu langan tíma þú hefur áður en þú mætir. Venjulega má gera ráð fyrir klukkutíma eða svo.

2. Reyndu samt að taka sem minnstan tíma án þess að stressa þig.

3. Ef þú ert með fjölbreytta hljóðfæraskipan vertu þá búin/n að ákveða hvað þú þarft að sándtékka fyrirfram.

4. Ekki taka heil lög, taktu frekar hluta úr 1-2 lögum sem reyna mest á dýnamíkina á svæðinu (td. brot úr háværasta laginu þínu og því síðan því lágstemmdasta). Það er betra að vera búinn að ákveða umrædda parta fyrirfram. Best er að byrja að vinna í monitor sándinu með því að taka búta úr lögum.

5. Rými hljóma öðruvísi þegar þau fyllast af fólki. Ekki láta það koma þér að óvörum.

6. Bentu hljóðmanninum á að hækka í því sem þig vantar að heyra í mónitor frekar en að hækka í magnaranum á sviðinu. Það er auðveldara að fá skýran hljómburð ef að það er ekki of hávært uppi á sviði.

7. Ef þú ert á tónleikahátíð muntu örugglega ekki fá meira en tíu mínútna línutékk, það er oft meira en nóg, hljóðmennirnir hafa nú þegar verið að vinna með hljóðið í allan dag áður en þú mættir.

8. Ef þú ert gítarleikari á útisviði: Hækkaðu miðjuna í sándinu þínu, það er auðvelt fyrir bassann að drekkja dýpri tíðnunum og mjög auðvelt fyrir symbala að drekkja hærri tíðnum.

9. Treystu hljóðmönnunum þó það hljómi pínu skrýtið uppi á sviði. Þeir vita (nánast alltaf) hvað þeir eru að gera.

Listar sem þessi eru auðvitað ekki tæmandi og alltaf eitthvað sem gleymist. Ferlið að skipuleggja tónleikaferðalag er að stórum hluta að sjá til þess að hlutir gangi og leysa vandamál sem koma upp á leiðinni. Ef ferlinu er tekið með ró er hægt að leysa ótrúlegustu hluti.

Góða ferð!

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - ␀8 Markaðir

Þessi Vegvísir eru nokkurskonar handbók um helstu tónlistarmarkaði heims auk Norðurlandanna. Hér fyrir neðan má nálgast upplýsingar um lykil fjölmiðla, fagaðila og tónlistarhátíðir á þessum mörkuðum. Vegvísirinn var unnin af NOMEX í samstarfi við allar útflutningsskrifstofur Norðurlandanna.

Upplýsingarnar eru á ensku og eru uppfærðar reglulega. Hver kafli skiptist í land og svo í eftirfarandi flokka (þar sem á við):

● Introduction to the Market

● Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution

● Publishing

● Performance Rights

● Management

● Live

● Networking Arenas

● Media, PR & Promo

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - ␀9 Bandaríkin

(United States of America)

Introduction to the Market Population: 317,098,309

GDP per capita: $49,965

In terms of consumption and production, North America remains the world’s largest music market. However, with the shift to digital media and online communications, the opportunities for international artists and industry professionals to take export-ready entertainment to US audiences have greatly increased.

The US recording market remains in a period of transition. According to IFPI figures, overall recorded sales grew by 2.1% in 2014 – with a decline in physical and digital track/album units being partially offset by consumer uptake for streaming services. Around 50% of North Americans are using paid and unpaid streaming services, while digital accounts for 71% of the recorded music market.

Along with the introduction of Spotify in 2011 and the rise of other subscription and advertiser supported streaming services – such as Apple Music, Pandora, Soundcloud, Google Play Music and Amazon Music – international artists are finding new audiences in the US without necessarily leaving their home territories. In 2014, subscription income grew by 33.5% and ad-supported streaming by 21.4%. However, download revenue dropped by 7.2% /but still accounts for 55% of the US digital market.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 10␀ Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution

Befitting its status as market leader, the US is home to headquarters of the three major record labels – based around the East Coast/West Coast axis of New York and Los Angeles, with all acting as umbrella to a host of individual and iconic imprints.

Universal Music and Sony Music dominate the market share of the domestic market (accounting for more than 50% of sales), however the independent sector remains healthy and responsible collectively for 34.6% of all recorded sales. The trade body for the independent sector is A2IM.

Key US independent record labels include:

● ANTI– ● Polyvinyl Records ● ATO Records ● Saddle Creek ● Century Media Records ● Secretly Canadian ● DFA RECORDS ● Stones Throw ● Drag City ● Sub Pop Records ● Dualtone ● Concord Jazz (Jazz) ● Epitaph ● Heads Up International (Jazz) ● Fat Possum ● Mack Avenue Records (Jazz) ● Glassnote Records ● Knitting Factory Records (Jazz/ ● Jagjaguwar Contemporary/World) ● Merge Records ● Rounder Records (Roots/Folk) ● Nettwerk Music Group ● Ultra Music (EDM) ● Nuclear Blast

Distribution in the US is dominated by the major record labels, who own or have part-ownership in the biggest players. For instance, RED is controlled by Sony (who also part-control The Orchard/IODA), ADA is part of Warner Music Group and Universal Music owns Caroline and has part-ownership of INgrooves.

Other independently-owned distributors and digital aggregators include:

● CD Baby ● BFM Digital ● ONErpm ● Redeye Distribution ● ReverbNation ● TuneCore ● Virtual Label

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 11␀ Publishing

The US publishing industry dominates the world- with New York and Los Angeles (alongside Nashville) as its epicentre and the collecting societies ASCAP and BMI each reporting revenues of over $900 million in 2012.

The sector is represented by two main trade bodies:

● National Music Publishers’ Association ● Music Publishers Association of the United States

Major Music Publishers

● Universal Music Publishing ● Sony/ATV Music Publishing ● Warner/Chappell Music

Independent Publishers

There is a diverse and growing independent publishing sector, including:

● Downtown Music Publishing ● Kobalt ● Peer Music ● Primary Wave Music ● Songs Music Publishing ● Spirit Music Group

Performance Rights The US sustains three collecting societies for the performance royalties of composers, authors and publishers. The largest of these are the performer-owned ASCAP – which represents more than 460,000 rights holders – and the broadcaster-owned BMI. The third and smallest society – SESAC – was initially established to support underrepresented European stage authors and composers.

All mechanical rights are issued by The Harry Fox Agency.

The other key collective rights management organisation is SoundExchange – founded in 2003 to collect royalties on behalf of record labels and artists for non-interactive digital transmissions (including satellite and internet radio).

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 12␀ Management

The US is home to a significant number of music managers who are represented by their trade organisation the MMF-US.

Key US management businesses include:

● Crush Music ● Deckstar ● Foundations Artist Management ● MCT Management ● Primary Wave Management ● Q Prime ● Red Light Management

Live

By virtue of its sheer size the US live music market is notoriously difficult (and expensive) for international performers to crack. However, it remains the world’s most important destination for gigs and festivals and, beyond the main centres of New York and Los Angeles, practically every State is host to a number of key arenas and venues destinations. To paraphrase Frank Sinatra: “…if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”

As with the rest of the world, the decade-long downturn in US recorded music was matched by an upturn in live ticket sales, which tripled from $1.5bn in 1999 to $4.6bn in 2009. It remains a turbulent sector, but according to Boxscore data US attendances were up 23% in 2012[1].

As with the UK, the US live sector is dominated by the behemoths of Live Nation and AEG, although ultimately it remains a hugely diverse market that supports thousands of individual venues and promoters.

Booking Agents

US booking agents booking agents focusing on the domestic market: ● High Road Touring ● Paradigm Talent Agency ● Inland Empire Touring, Inc. ● United Talent Agency ● Flower Booking ● William Morris Agency ● Panache Booking

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 13␀ Festivals

From April to October countless music festivals can be attended throughout the country. Below is a selection of the most popular.

Pop and rock: Jazz:

● ACL Music Festival ● Berks Jazz Fest ● Bonnaroo ● Blue Note Jazz Festival ● Bumbershoot ● Capital Jazz Fest ● Coachella ● Fillmore Jazz Festival 2014 ● Culture Collide Festival ● Monterey Jazz Festival ● Electric Zoo ● New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival ● The Governors Ball ● Newport Jazz Festival ● Lollapalooza ● New York City Jazz Festival ● Outside Lands ● Pitchfork Music Festival Contemporary and classical: ● Sasquatch! Festival ● Big Ears Festival ● SXSW ● Lincoln Center Festival ● Treasure Island Music Festival ● New York Chamber Music Festival ● Ultra Music Festival ● Ojai Music Festival ● Voodoo Experience ● Performa ● Spoleto Festival

Orchestras and Opera

All US cities host symphony orchestras of varying sizes and degrees of popularity, as well as opera houses (most notably the San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera).

A more detailed list of orchestras can be found at League of American Orchestras.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 14␀ Industry Networking Arenas

Indie-week – A2IM (New York)

Held annually in June and organised by trade body A2IM, Indie-Week features panels and talks from senior independent music business executives from around the globe.

Culture Collide Festival (Los Angeles)

Hosted by FILTER magazine, Culture Collide takes place in early October and involves a two-day festival of left-field music combined with a Creative Summit that brings together influential speakers from the global music, entertainment and lifestyle industries.

MUSEXPO (Los Angeles)

Taking place in late April, MUSEXPO is an annual and intimate conference with a strong reputation for bringing together key decision makers from the international music, media and technology industries.

New Music Seminar (New York)

Taking place in early June, NMS is a conference and festival held annually in New York City. The event’s stated mission is to grow a sustainable and better music business that allows the creative cream to rise to the top.

SXSW (Austin)

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Music and Media Conference is now a globally recognised event – acting as the world’s biggest showcase for music, as well as offering six days of conference panels, talks, speeches and networking.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 15␀ Media, PR & Promo

As with the rest of the world, the American mass media remains in a state of flux as viewers and listeners migrate online. TV broadcasting is dominated by three commercial networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) although cable (such as HBO) and new online services (such as Netflix) are competing for viewers’ attention in addition to the likes of YouTube.

Radio

There are three main types of radio stations in the US that new artists can look to for airplay: commercial, college/community, and online/digital. Commercial radio stations have been consolidating over the years and are the most difficult for unknown artists to receive airplay from. ● Premiere Radio Networks ● WQXR (classical/contemporary) ● Westwood One Radio Networks ● KJazz (jazz) ● KUSC (classical/contemporary) ● WBGO (jazz) ● WETA (classical/contemporary) ● WWOZ (jazz) ● WGBH (classical/jazz)

College/community stations including NPR (National Public Radio) are the most open to playing new, unsigned, international types of music. ● KCRW ● WFMU ● KEXP ● WSOU(Metal) ● NPR : National Public Radio ● WFUV ● Radio K

Online/digital radio stations such as SiriusXM Radio remain as challenging for new artists as commercial operators. However they do host a larger number of speciality programmes, for instance: ● Aaron Axelsen / Soundcheck « Live 105 ● Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 ● All Songs Considered : NPR ● Virgin Mobile Feed ● American Top 40 With Ryan Seacrest ● Jazz After Hours (jazz) ● Morning Becomes Eclectic

Online

Over the past ten years there has been a flowering of influential blogs and sites dedicated to all forms of music. Below are examples of top level music-specific sites that focus on album reviews, festival reports, artist interviews and live reviews:

● Pitchfork

● FILTER Magazine

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 16␀ ● The FADER

● Rolling Stone

● VICE

Print

Most major weekly & daily newspapers encompass album reviews, festival reports and, to some extent, artist features. While a few newspapers – like the New York Times – will be read nationally, most are regionally or locally based. ● Chicago Sun-Times ● The New York Times

● Los Angeles Times ● USA TODAY

● Metro (daily paper featured in NYC, ● Voice Media Group (Village Voice, LA Boston, Philadelphia) Weekly and more)

● New York Post ● Washington Post

The number of US-based print music magazines has been in decline over recent years. Today there are a handful of genre specific outlets available weekly, monthly & quarterly – although most are also available online. ● Alternative Press (punk/emo) ● Jazz Times (jazz) ● DownBeat Magazine (jazz) ● Opera News (classical) ● The FADER (Alt, urban) ● Revolver (metal, hardcore) ● Fanfare Magazine (classical/ ● Rolling Stone (most genres) contemporary) ● Vibe (Urban) ● FILTER Magazine (Alt, indie) ● XLR8R (Electronic) ● Jazziz (jazz)

Music Business Media

Most major newspapers will cover the machinations of the music business, but Billboard remains the US industry’s trade bible. The title has undergone several rebrandings over recent years, but remains the most influential title. It is also available as an online subscription.

● www.billboard.com

● www.billboard.com/biz

Other specialist trade media covering music and technology include:

● Digital Music News ● Hypebot

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 17␀ PR Agencies

Although it is reasonably straightforward to target specific journalists or titles, given the scale and diversity of US media it can often make sense to hire a PR or marketing expertise. Agencies that have worked with Nordic artists include:

● Big Hassle ● Girlie Action ● The MuseBox ● Sneak Attack Media ● The Syndicate ● Tell All Your Friends PR ● Terrorbird ● Cornerstone Agency

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 18␀ Visa and Work Permissions

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP)

The Visa Waiver Program gives you permission to stay in the US for 90 days without a visa. All Nordic countries are included in the VWP and, as a rule, citizens from these countries are almost always accepted after application. The VWP is the most common way for travellers to enter the US.

Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA)

ESTA is the online application process you go through when applying for the VWP. An approved ESTA is valid for two years or until the applicant’s passport expires, whichever comes first. If the applicant undergoes any significant change of personal details (eg change of citizenship, change of gender, etc) then they have to re-apply. Otherwise, as long as the ESTA is valid it can be used for multiple visits.

The application fee for the ESTA form is $14.

B-1 and B-2 Visa

These visas are non-immigrant visas for individuals who want to enter the US for business (B-1) or pleasure (B-2). B-1 or B-2 visas are a practical alternatives if an ESTA application is denied. The application form is filled out online via the US Embassy website, and is followed up by an interview. If your application is approved, you will receive a visa within a week.

Playing and Promoting Music in the US

Once you’ve travelled to the US, either with an ESTA or a B-1/B-2 visa, you are automatically travelling with a B-1/B-2 visa status. As a musician with this visa status, you’re allowed to:

• Record music • Promote your music (but not sell it) • Perform for no compensation in front of an audience that hasn’t paid an admittance fee With B-1/B-2 visa status, as a musician you cannot: • Get paid for performing or recording • Perform in front of a paying audience

Getting Paid For Performing and the P and O visas

To perform in front of a paying audience and/or to be allowed to receive payment for performing, a P-visa or an O-visa is required. These kinds of visas are specifically designed for artists and entertainers coming to perform in the US. If you’re only performing a showcase for free, there shouldn’t, in principle, be any reasons why wouldn’t be allowed access to the US. However, SXSW is the only event that usually doesn’t cause any problems.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 19␀ You can apply for the P or O visa at your US embassy. In order to do that, you need an employment authorization, which your employer in the US can apply for at US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The employment authorization process needs to be supported by a petitioner in the US – for instance, a record label or an agent, but technically any person based in the US can do it. This puts the employment authorization process fully in the hands of your US petitioner. The agreements and sponsorship deals vary, but usually they require the sponsor to set up an employment agreement with the employer(s) in the US and put together a petition for employment authorization. The petitioner must also provide recommendations and proof that the artist is “outstanding”, according to the requirements.

Once your petition is approved – i.e. the liability of your reasons for traveling to the US is approved – and you receive the employment authorization (called I-797), you can apply for the P-1 visa at the embassy. The embassy, in turn, will check whether there could be any reason for you not to be allowed entering the US.

It’s important to remember that whether or not you’ll be allowed to enter the US is ultimately decided by the officer at the US border (e.g. at the airport). If he or she has any reason to doubt your story or intentions, you might not be allowed access. Therefore, make sure that everything is in order, and bring all the extra proof you can.

Also take into account which embassy is best for applying for a visa. You can apply for a visa at any embassy in the world, but they all have different processes.

The JFK airport in New York is known as one of the best points-of-entry for musicians, since the staff has shown to have a high understanding and knowledge of the music industry.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 20␀ Taxation

When expanding your business to the US market you are unlikely to succeed without a local partner. Consequently, it is strongly recommended that any local collaborations include a lawyer or similar expert who can be consulted in taxation matters.

Due to the differences in practice between individual States, it is not easy to offer a brief presentation of the US tax system; and even US music businesses employ professional accountants and lawyers to keep track of their financial matters.

Similarly, instead of importing music-related goods, such as records and merchandise, it is recommended to manufacture them locally for the US market.

General Sales Tax (GST)

The US does not use value-added taxes (VAT) like the EU, but GST – general sales tax. The biggest difference between VAT and GST is that the latter is paid on a retail level only. Companies still pay the tax when purchasing from retail providers (unless the purchased goods are for reselling), but they are not entitled to deductions on the tax they pay themselves.

GST rates vary between different States. For instance, the default sales tax rate in New York is 7%, while in California it is 7.5%. The highest rates are not more than around 10% – while Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon do not collect GST at all.

More information on the subject can be found here.

Income tax

Artists and performers coming to perform in the US are eligible to pay tax on all income that they have earned in the country. This is processed through a withhold-and-return system. All businesses (eg promoters) who pay a fee to the performer withhold 30% of the net fee, irrespective of the tax-rate with which the performer’s income will be taxed. As a rule, this means more money is withheld for tax purposes than the artist is eligible to pay. In order for the artist to receive their full fee, he or she needs to file a tax return form to the American authorities.

The actual tax rate depends on several factors. For instance, if an artist runs a business, he/she might be taxed as an individual, depending on how the payment benefits the artist.

A thorough guide to foreign artist taxation in the US, including links to forms, can be found on here.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 21␀ Brasilia (Brazil)

Introduction to the Country

GDP: $1.799 trillion

Population: 204,451,000

Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world with around 200 million people spread over 26 states and one federal district – the capital Brasília. There are 15 cities with a population over one million – with the largest being São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte.

The three aforementioned cities are the capitals of the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. Together with the State of Espirito Santo, they form the region of Southeast Brazil. Southeast Brazil is the richest region in the country, both demographically and economically – even though the region accounts for only 10% of Brazil’s total area.

Brazil is the only country in Latin America where the spoken language is Portuguese. This has led to a strong sense of self-awareness, and since the country also is by far the largest in the region, there’s a cultural richness and variety in Brazil that continues to amaze most people – including the Brazilians themselves.

Since the early 2000’s the country has seen drastic economic growth and a huge group of people – some say up to 40 million – has entered the middle class. This has amplified the consumption of goods and technology significantly and also had an effect on the music market, especially in digital.

The Brazilian currency is called Real (BRL) and has a history of changing significantly in value towards the Dollar and Euro. One Euro is currently worth 4 Reals (October 2015) and that is the lowest in over 10 years. Usually the value ratio is around 2,5 – 3,5 Real to one Euro.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 22␀ Music Market

The Brazilian recorded music market grew 2% from 2013 to 2014, a huge 22% from 2012 to 2013 and 5% from 2011 to 2012. These figures include total recorded music sales – physical and digital. 2014 saw digital growth of 30.5% and a decline in physical of 15.5%. In 2014 physical sales fell drastically for the third year in a row.

The overall increase can be directly linked to a growth indownloads and streaming, which increased by a whopping 83% in 2011 to 2012 alone. 28% of consumers use mobile phones as their preferred music players.

Deezer launched in Brazil in 2013, with Napster and Spotify following in mid-2014. Streaming is comparatively cheap,with Spotify Premium costing 15BRL (app. 5€) in Brazil against 10€ in Europe. The availability of digital streaming platforms has resulted in a drastic increase of subscriptions and streaming consumption where the alternative before consisted mainly of YouTube and illegal downloads.

The 2013 music sales were divided into 44% CD, 28% digital and 28% DVD/Blu-Ray – with a total value ofBRL 392 million – or €150 million. 60% of saleswere domestic music, 27% international music, 10% religious music, and 3% classical music.

Nine out of ten of the best selling albums in Brazil in 2013 were released by domestic artists. Number one was the Catholic singer Father Marcelo Rossi in a strong race with Roberto “The King” Carlos – Brazil’s number one crooner. They were followed by popular pop artists like Anitta and Luan Santtana. One Direction, the only international act, came in the 10th place.

Genres:

MPB – Popular Brazilian Music

Popular Brazilian Music covers pop music in Portuguese with a lot of influences that follow national and international trends. Driven by song and composition contests on radio and TV in the past, the MPB genre is now spearheaded by renown Brazilian stars like Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. The genre allows covering hit songs as a way of entering the market.

Rock

Domestic rock music has always been a significant part of Brazil’s music landscape. From the Iê Iê Iê(taken from ”she loves you, yeah yeah yeah”) genre in the 1960’s through the psych and Tropicália and ”rural rock” styles that developed throughout the 1970’s.

Regional styles

The country has many local music styles associated with the states and regions. Most well known are probably samba, axé and forró. The popular Brazilian version of country music – sertanejo – has mutated into up-tempo dance music and gathered a huge young mainstream audience.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 23␀ Jazz

There is a big market for Jazz music in Brazil, including popular cross-over genres, especially bossa nova, choro and funk.

DJ’s and electronic music

During the last ten years, Brazil has seen an explosion in DJ driven music culture, with many clubs, festivals and local DJ stars. D-Edge, Green Valley and Warung are the key Brazilian clubs for house and techno. There are also a number of Ibiza franchise clubs such as Pacha. The most popular DJsmainly come from South and Southeast Brazil.

The centres of the big and competitive EDM market are Sao Paulo and Santa Catarina.

The major clubs are located in these cities, hosting events that pull big European and American headliners with local support.

Geography and Important Cities

When looking at Brazil as a market, it is important to be aware of the country’s considerable size. Historically, the media industry has been located in Rio and São Paulo and the music industry has been centred around Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Bahia and Recife.

Much of Brazil’s culture focusses on Rio and São Paulo and most major events and international music festivals are taking place in these cities. There are some exceptions, such as the WOMEX music business festival Porto Musical which takes place in Recife in the northeast.

Due to its geographical scale, it can be quite difficult for artists to make money on venue tours in Brazil outside the economic centres. Therefore, it is recommended to base a first trip around the Southeast of Brazil. From there it is natural to expand your contact network to where there is genuine interest and promising economic growth.

São Paulo

São Paulo, or “Sampa”,is a dynamic and vibrant city unlike any other in South America. Big digital companies – e.g. Airbnb and Spotify – usually choose to launch here.

São Paulo is also the largest music city in Brazil and the focal point for many genres, including hip hop, jazz, rock, electronic music, as well as several native Brazilian styles. It holds a myriad of venues, labels, studios and festivals. Companies such as Red Bull and Heineken chose the city for launching music driven advertising campaigns.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 24␀ Rio de Janeiro

Rio used to be the headquarters of the Brazilian music industry, but is now host to the country’s TV and film industry – with São Paulo coming in a close second. The prediction is that São Paulo will probably be the main city in both the music and film sector within a decade.

Since 2010, the younger generations in Rio have pushed the musical development of the city. Rio used to be known as nostalgic and ”classic Brazil”, but is now a lot more progressive with many new venues, upcoming bands, music curators and events.

Belo Horizonte

The capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, has seen tremendous growth in recent years. In terms of music, Belo Horizonte is known for its indie scene and as the Brazilian centre for rock and metal. Great Brazilian artists like Milton Nascimento, Jota Quest and Sepultura all have their roots in Belo Horizonte.

The city is home to both Belo Horizonte Jazz Festival and Eletronika Festival, which is the longest running festival of electronic music in Brazil. Belo Horizonte also has a vibrant city centre and nightlife.

Business Culture

The Brazilian music industry is centred around the roles of the people involved, much more so than in the Nordics. Specialised professionals usually focus on one or two specific functions.

When arranging a live tour to Brazil, there can be several partners, producers and promoters involved. To maintain a good working climate it is advisable to clearly define who is responsible for what. Brazilian venues and festivals usually have a large number of staff members who can handle different parts of the production.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 25␀ There are many major concerts and events that depend on private sponsors – typically breweries, food brands, telecom and fashion companies. For instance, when Sonar entered the Brazilian market in 2012, the event was presented by Doritos.

When conducting business in Brazil you have to take into account the great cultural and bureaucratic differences. Before entering the market, it is advisable to have a realistic set of goals and a local interest in your product. It is also strongly recommended to have a local representative who speaks English, knows the market and is aware of the ”red tape” you are bound to encounter along the way.

Brazilians are polite and so it’s advisable to be clear about the seriousness of your Brazilian partner’s intentions. As a foreigner it’s important to communicate clearly and to be aware of potential language barriers.

Personal relations are essential – one-on-one time is very valuable. Social events, small ”Nordic gifts”and a physical presence will all help build relations. Travelling overseas is very attractive to Brazilians, so exchanges, demo festivals and hosting meetings in your own country can make small miracles happen.

The first contact can usually be initiated in English, but when moving on to practical production and contracts, Portuguese will most likely dominate. Therefore it’s good to have a local fixer who can take care of certain parts of the work – especially Brazilian legislation and paperwork issues which can create sudden, time-consuming tasks.

Business communication are common via phone rather than through e-mail. Skype meetings are also a good way of communicating. Always confirm your meetings two or three times (most importantly the day before the meeting). Brazilians are social people and conversations start with small talk about life, business, pleasures and family.

You should be careful to shoot off quick emails – especially when it comes to corrections or exploring the practical aspects of production. Insisting on simple solutions can be seen as rude and ignorant. Rather try to be curious and ask your counterpart for help to understand contracts and practical details. Brazilians have a tradition of specialisation and like to be thorough and detailed in their work. Take your time and talk things through to solve important issues.

You can explain how things are done in Europe, as an example, but you should expect to ultimately work “the Brazilian way”. Sudden change of plans, funding freezes and delays are normal for many cultural producers so being patient is often the best way to handle business proceedings.

Brazilians have their own way of solving things and they will often save foreigners and artists the details because they are ”complicated”.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 26␀ Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution

There are over 300 active records labels in Brazil. The multinationals and a few of the largest national record companies are organised within ABPD – Brazilian Association of Record Producers, while most of the independent labels – over 100 – are organised within ABMI – Brazilian Association of Independent Music.

ABPD is affiliated with IFPI and provide the weekly ”official charts” in Brazil. Almost all radio stations use a pay-per-play system and negotiate directly with labels, agents or distribution companies. ABPD members and major labels include:

● Music Brokers ● MK Music ● Paulinas ● Record Produções e Gravações (Line Records and New Music) ● Som Livre ● Sony BMG ● Universal Music ● Warner Music

Vinyl sales are growing in Brazil like in the rest of the world. Because of the high import taxes on consumer goods and a notoriously slow postal customs service, the market is centred around the label Brazilian Records. There is currently one vinyl record factory in Brazil, called Polysom.

Many reprints of classic Brazilian albums have seen the light of day in recent years and big indie artists continue to put out music on vinyl.

Most of the established indie labels branch out in order to be able to stay in the business. An example is São Paulo’s YB Music that started as a recording studio. The label now handles 360 artists, management and production, high end studio recording and rental, TV and film plugging and publishing. In addition to recording and production, many labels also gain revenue from privately and publicly funded cultural projects and public cultural programs. ABMI members and other selected indie labels: ● Biscoito Fino ● MCD ● Cid ● MD Music ● DeckDisc ● Plus Talent ● iMusica ● YB Music

Physical Distribution

Tratore is a distribution and digital company that is serving a great deal of the independent labels as well as micro labels and artists directly. The major labels maintain their own distribution (as well as using the services of the one-stop Canal 3).

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 27␀ Some newer companies are crossing over into embracing digital partnerships, licensing, distribution and different events. E.g. Casa do Show does production of corporate shows and events, musical casting. Other companies are Fábrica de Rádio (inhouse radio and playlisting) and Kappamakki Digital (production, distribution and licensing of digital music content, online business and strategies, royalty payments).

Digital Distribution

The digital distribution of music is booming. Brazilian company iMusica was among the first to provide downloads to consumers, websites and telcossince the 2000’s. However, until the global streaming services entered the market in 2013 most consumption has been through YouTube and (illegal) downloads. Deezer started in 2013 in Brazil and Napster and Spotify followed in 2014. These services are providing growth in the Brazilian music business and will most likely continue to do so during the coming years.

With a growing focus on digital, the recorded music market has really opened up. Services like Apple’s iTunesStore and Brazilian Imusica are available for Latin American distribution. Also, the major streaming companies are now firmly established in Brazil.

Sony is spearheading the digital platforms with co-branding campaigns, strategic partnerships and a heavy presence on social media. Sony has focused on digital music business since the mid-2000’s and have managed social media campaigns for Coca Cola, Nestlé, Skol Beer, Gol Airlines and Telecom Italia.

Among key players are Borandá, iMusica, MCD, Rob Digital, Indie Records, ST2 and Rio basedDeckdisc and Som Livre. Som Livre has strong ties to the TV industry and also releases big TV- advertised compilation recordings.

Publishing

Publishing companies are organised in UBEM – Brazilian Union of Music Publishers and ADDAF – Defend Organization of Authoring Rights.

Over a hundred companies deal with publishing and the big international companies are also represented: Warner Chappell, Universal, and Sony ATV.

On the UBEM site you can find lists of companies with whom the organisation maintains blanket agreements for ringtones, streaming, TV syncs and downloads.

Performance Rights

The Brazilian performing rights system reflects the size of the country. The member organisations for musicians, composers, arrangers, music writers and authors are: ABRAMUS, AMAR, SBACEM, SICAM, SOCINPRO, UBC, ABRAC, ANACIM, ASSIM and SADEMBRA.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 28␀ These nine organisations make up the members of ECAD – the Central Office of Collection and Distribution. ECAD is a private company that represents all the author rights organisations in Brazil in collection of live performance rights and phonograms. ECAD handles both authoring and neighbouring rights and takes 17% for collection costs and administration and pays the respective organisations. In turn, they distribute the income to their members. The member organisations deduct 7.5% for administration.

On an international level, public performance rights generated from Brazilian-owned works are received through reciprocal agreements with foreign societies signed with some of the ten Brazilian associations. UBC works with the Nordic music rights organisations to collect and pay to the Nordic composers and rights holders.

In the event sector, some organisations may require that the ECAD coverage is the responsibility of the artist. Since a contract will often only be valid if all requirements are met, it is important to include the ECAD in the concert production budget so it will not be deducted from the fee.

For municipal, state and federal venues and festivals the performances can be exempt of ECAD ”for the general benefit of the public” and artists can be asked to sign a rights release form in order to finalise the contract. This is also normal procedure for Brazilian artists.

Management

The Portuguese word used for manager in Brazil is produtor (producer), which quite accurately describes the role of the manager. It is very common for the management to handle several areas, like management, booking, and sponsor contracts . A Brazilian manager usually manages one or several bands and may frequently be a family member, a husband, wife or old friend. Members of successful bands may also become managers for upcoming artists.

It is unusual to find management offices or agencies representing several big artists at the same time.and they will often have lawyers and project managers looking into public co-funding, which subsidises the concert market and make prices accessible for lower and middle class Brazilians. Managers also handle sponsorships and personal planning and coordination.

Lawyers are employed a lot in the management business. They know the legislation regarding rights and contracts and they’re capable of understanding public and private funding rules and the cultural money pools (editais).

Management can also be handled by records labels through 360 deals. It is unusual for Brazilians to take on management for foreign artists, but very common for booking agents to try to make an exclusive deal for Brazil. It is extremely important to assess the agents’ actual impact and to make an exit clause in the contract with minimum requirements with regards to number of shows and show fees.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 29␀ Management Companies

● Time4Fun (SP). One of the biggest show promoters and owner of ticket sales platform Tickets4Fun.

● Barra Vento (SP). Typical big player with Brazilian mainstream artists.

● DJCOM (Curitiba). One of the big electronic music agencies. Handles Brazilian and international artists.

● D-EDGE Agency (SP). Based around the legendary club, the Agency makes tours with own and international DJ stars.

● Balaclava (SP) is a national label that makes tours all over Brazil primarily for indie rock bands – also foreign ones.

● Queremos (RJ). A successful crowdfunding show promoter.

Live

Advertising and Event Agencies

Events are a huge business in Brazil. Family gatherings, kids birthdays, and weddings are all significant celebrations. Advertising agencies are often the funders for music festivals and big public events. The agencies typically employ curators and artistic directors for liaising with artists and performers.

Curators

Festival and venue bookers are described as “curators” (or “artistic directors”). A curator usually has one or more assistants handling the practical side of things. Therefore it is rare to find a classic venue booker – one person who single-handedly acts as a programmer and booker, writing contracts and carrying out PR tasks.

The curator’s role is highly appreciated as is usually well paid and often includes travelling and media exposure. Therefore many curators speak good English. They often have an educational background in art, media or communication. Curators are treated with respect and their advice and guidance should be taken seriously as they often know what works – both in relation to the audience and the sponsors that pay for the concert.

Curators have a large network and are generally very devoted to their work. They are out-going and usually make first contact. Generally the higher the position they have – the harder they are to reach. For an artist it is desirable to have some one-on-one time with a curator showing interest and to put them thoroughly into the artist’s story, achievements and options for a live set-up. This can create new opportunities and access to curator’s network.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 30␀ Bookers and Agencies

It’s rare to see a foreign band getting signed to a Brazilian booking agency and start touring regularly in Brazil – it is typically gigs at larger venues or festivals that can fund a tour. However, booking agencies are widely used in electronic music (techno, house, trance), Brazilian country music and pop.

Within jazz, rock and other genres, agencies can be used, but booking can also be handled by curators, personal managers or an informal network of venues.

● Agência Alavanca, Live, São Paulo ● Art Plan, Live, Rio ● Agencia Produtora, São Paulo ● Plus Talent, DJ, São Paulo ● Balaclava, Live, São Paulo ● Construtora, Live, Goiânia

Festivals

Festivals are a growing business in Brazil and can offer a great exposure platform.

During the last 2-3 years a surge in DIY-culture has resulted in the growth of small events and festivals all over the country. However, accessible culture continues to be mainly funded by private sponsors or public funds as opposed to ticket sales. Very few festivals are driven by ticket sales and the sale of food and beverages. Ticket prices normally suita wide range of people and are often set low compared to European standards.

Festivals will most often be prepared to handle the work visa applications for foreign artists. Brazilian festivals include:

● Coquetel Molotov (Recife) ● Rock in Rio (Rio de Janeiro) ● Lollapalooza Brazil ● Virada Cultural (São Paulo) ● Multiplicidade (Rio de Janeiro) ● Dias Nórdicos (international festival with Nordic music) ● Novas Frequencias (Rio de Janeiro, experimental, electronic and indie music) ● Elektronika (Belo Horisonte) ● Savassi Jazz Festival (Belo Horisonte)

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 31␀ Venues and Clubs

Venues are privately owned and usually receive very little state financial support. The main visitor groups tend to be young people and students who do not earn much money. Therefore Brazilian acts will often be offered to play for free, on the door, or with a modest fee that may go to paying the production of the concert. Venues are often run by music enthusiasts who really enjoy the music, so playing clubs is a good entry point and a way of getting to know the local scene better.

● Santo Scenarium, Live Jazz, Rio ● Jazz nos Fundos, Live Jazz, São Paulo ● Barra Music, Live, Rio ● The Week, DJ, São Paulo ● Fosfobox, DJ, Rio ● Tapas Clube, DJ, São Paulo ● La Paz, DJ, Rio ● Neu Club, DJ club, São Paulo ● Teatro Rival, Live, Rio ● Audio, Live, São Paulo ● Circo Voador, Live, Rio ● D-Edge, DJ club, São Paulo ● Fundição Progresso, Live, Rio ● Autentica, Live, Belo Horizonte ● Studio RJ, Live, Rio ● Café com Letras, Live + DJ, Belo ● Beco, Live, São Paulo Horizonte ● Casa do Nucleo, Live, São Paulo ● Deputamadre, DJ, Belo Horizonte ● Cultural Institutions (Public and Private)

The public and private cultural institutions are big players in the live music market. Many of them offer good conditions for concerts and cultural experiences – albeit sometimes the settings may be a bit “dry”. There is also a long tradition of arranging concerts with international artists. In São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro it is not unusual to play at these venues for fees that match the ones in the Nordics. Even the institutions work with curators – either freelance or in-house.

Sometime the venues or cultural networks require inscription in a pool of concerts (edital) – this ensures all the professional and artistic requirements are met before the curators choose the program. These “edital” pools are open for short periods and applicants depend on Brazilianpartners. The pools often provide access to several gigs and offer a good starting point forperforming extra shows in other cities. Places like SESC São Paulo, CCCP in São Paulo and Oi Futuro in Rio are good places to play, as the shows usually sell out and the exposure is good.

● SESC cultural centres, Live, São Paulo ● SESI cultural centres, Live, São Paulo ● Caixa cultural centres, Live, Belo Horizonte ● Banco do Brasil cultural centres, Belo Horizonte ● Oi Futuro cultural centres, Belo Horizonte

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 32␀ Business advice regarding live tour booking

It’s important to determine who is responsible for what when booking shows. It may happen that public cultural institutions do not ask for a contract. That’s usually because they will settle all the required paperwork with the local production partner. In any case, the artist should always insist on a contract or at least an itinerary that lists important agreements and facts around each concert.

Media, PR & Promo

PR Agencies

A PR agency or agent is a very important when aiming to build awareness around your presence in Brazil. Many PR agents work alone, while some are partners in a collective. There are also several bigger PR companies that specialise in arts and music. The market is very diverse and there are many ways of reaching potential audiences.

The price is to be negotiated depending on the market conditions and current work load. It is very important that you find an agent or agency that understands English. A smaller tour package may cost something between 1000 and 2000 BRL. At that price, the artist is expected to brainstorm and motivate the press agency as much as possible. Brazilian PR agencies include:

● Namídia (São Paolo) ● Perfexx (São Paolo, Rio de Janeiro) ● Miki Malka (São Paolo) ● In Press (São Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília) ● Binômio (Rio de Janeiro)

Media

Nationwide newspapers

● O Dia – Rio de Janeiro daily ● O Correio Brazilense – influential daily ● O Globo – Globo-owned Rio de Janeiro daily ● Folha de Sao Paulo – daily ● O Estado de Sao Paulo – daily

Dedicated Music Press: ● Rolling Stone ● Roadie Crew (metal) ● Billboard Brasil ● Guitar Player ● Veja ● Modern Drummer ● Rock Brigade (metal) ● Sucesso Biggest news providers online:

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 33␀ ● Agencia Brasil– state-owned ● Agencia Globo – private ● Agencia Estado – private, Sao Paulo- ● UOL – popular portal based ● G1 – news website, operated by Globo

Rede Globo is Brazil’s most important media monopoly, with 32 affiliates. The network garners an estimated 70% of advertising and about 35% of the audience in its prime-time slots. Every night it broadcasts three novellas (soap operas) to an estimated 50 million viewers, out of a possible audience of 85 million viewers.

The Globo group also controls 33 newspapers, 52 AM radios, 76 FMs, 27 magazines, 17 channels and 9 pay-TV operators, as well as the Som Livre record company and music publisher.

Sistema Brasileiro de Televisao (SBT) founder Silvio Santos is a rags-to-riches media mogul who started out on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Building his business from street hawking to a network of retail stores that sold lottery prizes via an instalment plan, Santos has captured second place in the market by importing shows from the US and Mexico.

Television:

● TV Record – commercial network ● TV Band – commercial network ● TV Cultura – public, educational and cultural programmes ● NBR – operated by state-run Radiobras ● Rede TV – commercial network

Networking Arenas

Events in Brazil

● Expo Music – The annual equipment fair in São Paulo. ● SIM São Paulo – Annual industry and showcase festival in São Paulo. ● Music fair for World music – Backed by Womex ● Rio Music Conference – Brazil’s main electronic/DJ industry even

International Events

The following are all international conferences attended by the Brazilian music industry. ● Branche Festival (Buenos Aires) ● Winter Music Conference (Miami) ● Midem (Cannes) ● Coachella ● Amsterdam Dance Event (Amsterdam) ● SXSW

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 34␀ Visa, Insurance and Tax

Visas

Brazil has for many years operated a reciprocal policy on visas, where they match each country’s policy toward Brazil. This means that Scandinavians usually have a 3-month tourist visa and do not have to apply in advance.

It is easy to enter the country as a tourist, researcher or for business meetings. However, you need a work visa if you’re expected to be paid for labour in Brazil. To avoid complications, you should clarify the nationalities of all members of the crew you’re travelling with – and Americans in particular succumb to very strict visa rules.

Musicians receiving salaries in Brazil from Brazilian companies or institutions are required to have a working visa. The visa type is called VITEM III and is intended for artists and athletes. The application requires either an invitation from the Brazilian partner (venue, booking agency, festival…) or a Brazilian lawyer filing a contract approval together with your Brazilian tour production company. Either way it is a complicated process and should always be handled by the person or company responsible for the booking.

When dealing directly with a venue or festival, you should make it 100% clear that they are obligated to meet the application process and the costs. You may be asked to pay for avisa upfront at the embassy (45€ in 2015) but then have the fees refunded upon arrival.

The application usually takes a minimum of two months to process and everyone in the crew must have a passport, (valid for 6 months after returning and with four empty pages), clean criminal record in English and a passport picture.

Once all the paperwork is approved, it may take up to 15 business days for the passport to be released with the visa. Be aware of that the embassies are very busy in the late spring and November/ December.

There are no restrictions on the number of permits per year, or on security checks or interviews in connection with the application.

Insurance

Worldwide Insure and World Nomads provide insurance for working trips at fair prices.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 35␀ Bretland (United Kingdom)

Introduction to the Market

Population: 62.74 million

GDP per capita: $38.309

With a long tradition of producing globally recognised artists and songwriters, the UK is currently one of the leading markets for recorded music in the world and offers many opportunities for Nordic exporters.

Many of the European headquarters of international record labels and music businesses are based in the UK, with over 90% of these situated in London.

The UK music industry is key component of the country’s creative economy, and contributes significantly to its culture, society and economic productivity. Umbrella body UK Music estimates that the UK is the third largest net exporters of musical repertoire in the world and sustains more than 130.000 jobs.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 36␀ Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution

The record industry in the United Kingdom consists of hundreds of independent companies alongside the three major labels – Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music. The only UK major label (EMI) was acquired by Universal in 2012.

The independent sector, however, still includes many iconic names – the most dominant being Ministry Of Sound and The Beggars Group, which houses under its umbrella 4AD, Matador, Rough Trade and XL Recordings.

Trade body the Association of Independent Music (AIM) lists more than 800 independent label members. Some of the key ones include: ● Cooking Vinyl ● LEX Records

● Communion ● Mute

● Domino ● Moshi Moshi

● Bella Union ● Ninja Tune

● Fat Cat ● One Little Indian

● Fire Records ● Transgressive

● Heavenly Recordings ● Warp

● Hyperdub ● Wichita

● Infectious Records

Distribution

The UK still retains a number of independent distributors, digital aggregators and label services specialists, including: ● Absolute Music ● PIAS ● AWAL ● Plastichead ● Believe Digital ● Proper Music Distribution ● BMG Rights Management ● Republic of Music ● The State 51 Conspiracy ● RSK Entertainment ● Cargo Distribution ● Shellshock ● Discovery Records ● The Orchard ● Kobalt Label Services

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 37␀ Publishing

In addition to the three multinational publishers Universal Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music and Sony/ATV there are more than 250 independent music publishers in the UK. The key ones include: ● Bucks ● Mute Song ● Imagem ● Notting Hill ● Kobalt ● Peer Music ● BMG Chrysalis

Performance Rights

For composition rights, each Nordic performing rights society has bilateral agreements in place with UK collecting society PRS for Music – which incorporates both PRS (the Performing Rights Society) and MCPS (Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society).

For public performance rights, the music licensing company PPL is mandated to license the public broadcast of recorded music (for instance, on TV and radio). Royalties are then distributed to its performer and record company members.

Again, reciprocal agreements are in place between PPL and Nordic performance rights organisations and royalties should be automatically transferred to a memberds domestic society.

However, it is advised that you consult both PRS for Music and PPL if you know that your compositions or recordings are being played by British broadcasters or if you regularly perform in the UK.

Management

The UK is home to significant numbers of domestic and international music managers who are represented by their trade organisation the MMF. Key UK management businesses include:

● ATC ● Everybody’s ● Crown Talent & Media Group ● Machine Management ● ie:music ● Big Life ● Ignition Management ● Air MTM ● Wildlife Entertainment ● Raw Power Management ● Hall Or Nothing

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 38␀ Live

The live market in Europe is largely dominated by UK players. UK-based agents have great influence and all major European booking companies have their headquarters in London.

In terms of the live sector itself, the UK hosts hundreds of festivals each year and has a diverse national network of venues from stadiums and arenas through to pubs, bars and universities.

Travelling around the UK is relatively easy. The transport infrastructure is well developed and distances between the major cities are short.

However, to tour the UK is not always glamorous. The fees are frequently low and a new band must often repeatedly play the so-called “toilet circuit” (a network of small venues) in order to build a fanbase.

One key event to note is London’s Ja Ja Ja club night – a NOMEX initiative that provides a regular showcase (10 times a year) for Nordic artists to perform to UK audiences and industry: www.jajajamusic.com

Promoters and Festivals

US promoters Live Nation and AEG both have their headquarters in London and dominate much of the UK.

Live Nation owns or operates several festivals such as Download and Wireless as well as owning a stake in Festival Republic – the promoter for Reading, Leeds, Latitude and Norway’s Hove Festival. The company also owns a majority share in the Academy Music Group which operates 14 venues, including Brixton Academy and Shepherds Bush Empire. Live Nation manage a number of other venues, including the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, the Motorpoint Arena Sheffield, and Southampton Guildhall.

AEG owns, among others, the O2 Arena in London and the Hammersmith Apollo.

Other key promoters include:

● KiliLive (Sonisphere),

● SJM Concerts (V Festival)

● Metropolis Music

● MAMA Group (The Great Escape, Lovebox, Global Gathering, Wilderness, Kentish Town Forum, The Jazz Cafe, The Camden Assembly).

These national promoters will book shows in small venues like The Lexington(home of the Ja Ja Ja club night) all the way up to Wembley Stadium. They will also collaborate with many of the major festivals.

Beyond these national players, there are two major regional promoters worth noting: DHP which owns six venues around Nottingham and promotes a number of festivals; and DF Concerts in Glasgow, which runs the famous King Tuts Wah Wah Hut and T In The Park festival.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 39␀ The UK also has a healthy independent festival scene – including the likes of Bestival, Green Man, End Of The Road, Evolution, Secret Garden Party and WOMAD. These independently-run events have their own trade association – the Association of Independent Festivals (AIM)

Other key independent promoters include:

All Tomorrows Parties (ATP)

Eat Your Own Ears (EYOE)

Serious

Bird On The Wire.

There is also a large outdoor event that takes place at the end of June, called the Glastonbury Festival.

Booking Agencies

The UK hosts a number of booking agencies, often specialising in a number of genres and with great influence on touring in the rest of Europe. It is not uncommon for a British agent to request a contract that applies to the whole of Europe.

Key booking agencies include: ● CAA ● William Morris Agency ● CODA ● X Ray Touring ● Earth Agency ● Free Trade ● ITB ● United Talent Agency ● Primary Talent

Backline rental ● Blacklight Tours ● Matt Snowball ● Terminal ● FX Rentals

Media, PR & Promo

The UK media has long been considered a global trendsetter, and includes a wide variety of music titles, specialist publications and lifestyle magazines. The majority of broadsheet and tabloid newspapers also cover music extensively. Securing coverage in the UK media can prove a solid foundation for an artist and become a catalyst for further international attention.

Print ● NME (weekly) ● Uncut (monthly) ● Mojo (monthly) ● Classic Rock (monthly)

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 40␀ ● Kerrang! (weekly) ● Metal Hammer (monthly) ● BBC Music Magazine (monthly) ● Q (monthly) ● DJ Magazine (monthly) ● Clash (monthly) ● Mixmag (monthly) ● Jazzwise (monthly)

The UK has 11 national daily newspapers. These are published Monday through Saturday with a sister edition published on Sundays. All have embraced digital platforms and offer a diverse range of music content. Broadsheets like The Guardian, The Times and The Independent all weigh heavily in terms of coverage, while tabloids like The Sun, Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail focus mostly on celebrity news and major pop stars.

Weekend supplements, such as The Guardian’s Guide and the Sunday Times Culture are highly coveted by music PRs. Evening Standard and Metro attract millions of readers in London, and the likes of the Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, Birmingham Mail and The Northern Echo are all vital to their individual regions.

Online

All of the UK specialist music titles and newspapers have strong online coverage.

Additionally, a growing number of online music magazines and blogs have emerged over the past decade. For instance: ● Drowned in Sound ● Thrash Hits ● The Line of Best Fit ● Noisey ● The Quietus ● SBTV ● Popjustice ● RWD ● Resident Advisor ● Sinfini ● All About Jazz

Music Business Media

The UK also has a number of specialist music business magazines and titles.

Music Week is the UK’s main music business magazine. Also widely read are Complete Music Update (CMU) and Record of the Day. The former offers a free daily newsletter of music-related news stories, while the latter is subscription-only and acts more like a cuttings service – circulating all key music- related news (with links) at 9am each morning. RotD also sends out a PDF magazine each Thursday evening, with editorial, interviews and a collation of the week’s news.

All three titles would be considered essential.

There are also a handful of specialist live music and technology titles, including:

Live UK (monthly print magazine dedicated to the UK)

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 41␀ Audience (sister title to Live UK, dedicated to the international live music sector)

Access All Areas (free online magazine for the events and live music industry)

Music Ally (well-respected digital music title – subscribers receive a daily news bulletin each morning collating key stories, as well as weekly PDFs with in-depth interviews and analysis)

Music Tank

Public Radio

Given the extensive reach and diversity of the BBC, the broadcasting company remains key to success in the UK market. Major and independent record labels still compete ferociously for playlistings and spot plays on key specialist shows.

It is also a sector in the midst of considerable innovation – with stations fast-developing their digital platforms, and offering listeners the opportunity to consume on-demand. The most obvious example here is the BBC’s iPlayer, which makes all BBC radio broadcasts available to stream for 7 days after transmission.

In many respects, such changes have offset consolidation in the sector, which, for commercial radio especially, has resulted in generic playlists and fewer opportunities for artists outside of the mainstream. That said, there are still many specialist stations, DJs and shows dedicated to championing niche and non-mainstream music.

Key BBC stations include:

BBC Radio 1: the UK1

BBC Radio 2: aimed at a more adult audience, Radio 2 is the most listened-to station in the UK. As with Radio 1, outside of the daytime playlist the station offers a diversity of specialist shows and music- related documentaries.

BBC Radio 3: dominated by classical music and opera, but also featuring jazz, world music, drama, culture and the wider arts.

BBC 6 Music: a digital-only station with a playlist aimed at fans of non-mainstream and alternative music. Threatened with closure in 2010, the station now attracts record numbers of listeners and broadcasts a diverse range of specialist shows.

BBC 1Xtra: a digital-only station dedicated to new black music – its playlist encompasses hip hop, RnB, reggae and other urban genres. Specialist evening shows are presented by respected DJs including Benji B, Semtex and MistaJam.

Asian Network: a digital-only station focused on Asian news, music and sport.

BBC LOCAL: in addition to its national and digital output, the BBC broadcasts regionally via almost 60 local stations covering all parts of the UK. All BBC LOCAL stations will include music programming.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 42␀ Commercial Radio

The commercial radio sector is dominated by five main operators: Global Radio, 95.8 Capital FM, Real and Smooth, Bauer Radio and UTV Radio.

Between them, these control hundreds of individual stations, including:

Capital FM: mainstream pop station.

Classic FM: mainstream classical music station, covering a wide range of composers.

Absolute Radio : national pop and rock station, covering classic hits from the 60s to today – also features regular live music sessions.

XFM: alternative/indie stations broadcast separately from Scotland, Manchester and London. Features both daytime and evening playlists, and a commitment to new music from DJs like John Kennedy and Eddie Temple Morris

KISS FM: former pirate station, now owned by Bauer and specialising in dance, hip hop and RnB. The station features a genre specialist DJs in the evening.

Jazz FM: mainstream jazz and blues station for London

Kerrang! : rock radio station broadcast digitally throughout the UK – includes specialist metal, punk and alternative DJs in the evenings.

Amazing Radio: an online and digital station dedicated entirely to broadcasting new music – includes a show fronted by Bella Union’s Simon Raymonde, a long-time champion of Nordic music

It is common for UK music businesses to hire the services of specialist companies to assist them in securing press coverage, radio plays and TV spots. Larger record labels will often employ an ‘in-house’ PR team, although many still use the services of PR or promo specialists on key projects.

There is no shortage of PR agencies operating in the UK. Many are 1-2 person operations, or run by ex-record label employees and most will focus on specific genres.

Most agencies specialise in either press or promotion. A PR remit might include online, national and regional press, or a combination of all three. Promo companies generally specialise in either online, radio or TV – although, with changes in music consumption, these boundaries continue to blur.

PR companies

● Prescription PR ● In House PR ● Toast PR ● Murray Charmers ● LD Communications ● Inside/Out ● MBC PR ● Dog Day Press ● Dawbell ● Freeman PR ● Create Spark ● Purple PR

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 43␀ ● Partisan PR ● Childhood PR ● Everything Counts PR ● Real Life PR

Radio and TV Pluggers

● Alan James PR ● Plugged In PR ● Listen Up PR ● Rocket ● Chapple Davis ● Radar Plugging Ltd ● Cool Badge ● Your Army ● JBPR ● Hart Media ● The Power Group

Industry Networking Arenas

● Showcase Scotland/Celtic Connections (folk) ● The Great Escape (rock/pop) ● Xpo North (Scotland) ● Liverpool Sound City (Rock/pop) ● Norwich Sound and Vision (Rock/pop) ● Belfast Music Week (Northern Ireland) ● EFG London Jazz Festival ● Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival ● AIM Music Connected

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 44␀ Taxation

Value-added Tax (VAT)

The standard VAT-rate in the UK is 20%. Admission fees to cultural events are exempt from VAT, and there is a 0% VAT-rate on records.

When invoicing for goods and services across national borders, the same rules apply for the UK as the rest of the EU. B2B trade between businesses eligible to pay VAT is generally tax-free. In B2B-trade it is the responsibility of the buyer to pay the VAT according to the buying country’s laws. However, the buyer is allowed to apply for a refund when submitting their taxes, which makes the transaction practically tax-free. When selling to consumers, tax is collected by the country of the provider.

More information can be found on the UK tax authorities’ website, here.

Income tax

As a non-resident performer coming to the UK to perform, you are eligible to pay tax on your income. How much you pay depends on the way your payment is received.

The first £10.600,00 income per year earned in the UK is tax free.

It is the responsibility of the promoter to withhold, report and pay your tax on any income you earn. The tax-rate for performers is typically around 20%. Some promoters have a middle-man-arrangement, where only one player in the payment chain takes the responsibility for paying the taxes.

Read more about tax rates here and payments to foreign artists here, on the UK tax authorities website.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 45␀ Danmörk (Denmark)

Introduction to the Market

Population: 5 700 000

GDP per capita: $52,822

The Kingdom of Denmark comprises of the mainland country as well as the sovereign constitute countries of the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the North Atlantic. Denmark has a very strong domestic music market with a publicly supported live sector (with many successful festivals such as Roskilde), significant digital penetration (including a high uptake of streaming services) and a high level of music education.

Danish acts who have broken internationally include Mew, Volbeat, D.A.D. and The Raveonettes.

State support of the live market allows homegrown artists to develop internally before they head out to the international markets – makingDenmark – and Copenhagen especially – one of Scandinavia’s most important hubs for electronic and alternative pop music. Lately, despite the country’s relatively small size, the structure of the industry has started to look more and more like the British or German industries.

38% of the Danish industry’s total revenues (DKK 2.625m) derives from recorded music. Streaming income currently accounts for around 25% of that total – with 11% from physical sales and 8% fromdownloads (the total also include royalties from radio and TV licensing). (Source: Rambøll: Dansk Musikomsætning). So it is very clear that Denmark is a streaming nation.

At DKK 3.901m, total revenues from the live music sector are somewhat bigger – with approximately42% apportioned to ticket sales.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 46␀ Labels, Distribution and Licensing

Denmark follows the trend among the other Nordic countries when it comes to recorded music. From 2013 to 2014, the revenue from CD sales and downloads decreased dramatically by 27.6% and 36.1% respectively; whereas streaming revenues increased by 50.5%. Consequently, the digital share of recorded revenues have continued to grow steadily – pushing the overall net worth of the Danish music industry upwards.

According to 2014 IFPI data, streaming services account for a 74.3% rise (a rise of 134% since 2010) of the entire recorded music market (streaming, downloads and physical formats) – and 2014 seems to have been the year when Danes switched to streaming services en masse. In that period, vinyl saw a tiny upswing – increasing from 1.3% to 1.7% of the market.

Out of the total revenue for recorded music sales in Denmark, 42.7% derives from Danish acts – a decrease compared to previous years (it was 48.5% in 2013). One reason for this might be a lack of big releases from Danish acts during 2014. Typically, the international share of the market is around 50%.

Record Labels

The three international major labels Universal, Sony and Warner Music all have offices in Copenhagen.

Bigger Danish indie labels and distributors include:

Pop rock and metal ● A:larm Music ● Escho ● Playground ● Iceberg Records ● Target ● Indisciplinarian ● No 3 ● OWNRS Label ● Discowax ● Thambourhinoceros ● Mermaid ● The Being Music ● Copenhagen Records ● Tigerspring ● Bad Afro Records ● Crunchy Frog

Jazz

● Barefoot Records ● ILK music ● Cowbell Music

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 47␀ Distribution

● Playground ● Rillbar ● Machinedrops Productions ● Target Here you can find an extensive list of most Danish record labels, big and small.

Publishing

Out of the big international publishers, Warner/Chappell is represented in Copenhagen. Sony ATV and Universal Music Publishing both have their respective Nordic offices in Stockholm, Sweden.

In addition to the majors, there are several native independent publishers with good connections to the Danish entertainment and film industry. Some of the bigger domestic indie labels also have their own publishing departments.

The publisher’s role is increasingly shifting towards becoming somewhat of manager for songwriters, rather than “just” a publisher.

Publishers ● Warner/Chappell Music Denmark ● Musicall ● Apollo Live Aps ● No C!gar ● The Bank ● Nordic Music Society ApS ● Co:Star Music Publishing ● T. G. Publishing ApS ● Crunchy Tunes ● Tigerspring Publishing ● Iceberg Publishing ● Turner Music International ● Lifted Publishing ApS

Performance Rights

Collection of royalties and performance rights to songwriters go through Koda, the Danish performance rights organisation. Koda is well connected to other collection societies in the music industry and particularly those from the other Nordic territories.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 48␀ Management

Despite Denmark’s relatively small size, the country has a number of notable independent management companies – some of which are combined with a label or booking agency. It is quite common even for smaller Danish bands to have a manager.

Danish management companies include: ● Heartbeat Music ● Casino Records ● The Bank ● Prime Collective ● Skandinavian ● Thambourinoceros ● Shine Music ● PDH Music ● 3rd Tsunami ● PFM Music ● Merger ● Smash! Bang! Pow!

Live

The Danish live market is publicly supported by the government. As a result, there is a network of regional venues with audience development responsibilities that allow smaller acts to play professional shows. Additionally, there is an industry-wide agreement on artists fees.

Due to Denmark’s relatively small size, touring is quite accessible with short distances between towns. However, since large parts of the country consist of islands separated by water, fees must be paid to cross some of the bigger bridges.

The country also hosts many popular festivals, the biggest of which include Smukfest in Skanderborg, NorthSide Festival in Århus, Copenhell Festival in Copenhagen and Roskilde Festival in Roskilde, 30 min. by train from Copenhagen.

Venues

Copenhagen ● KB18 ● Pumpehuset ● Koncerthuset (DR) ● Bremen Teater ● Loppen ● BETA ● Rust ● Amager Bio ● VEGA ● Copenhagen Jazzhouse ● Spillestedet Stengade ● Tivoli ● Global Copenhagen Århus ● Huset KBH ● RADAR

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 49␀ ● Train ● Klaverfabrikken ● Voxhall ● Posten ● Slagelse Musikhus Others ● Studenterhus Odense ● STARS ● Studenterhuset Aalborg ● Fermaten ● Templet ● Gimle ● Godset

Festivals ● Roskilde ● Alive Festival ● Northside ● Tønder Festival ● Tinderbox ● Samsø Festival ● Grimfest ● Nibe Festival ● Copenhell ● Jelling Musikfestival ● Danmarks Smukkeste Festival ● Gutter Island Garagerock Festival ● Wonderfestiwall

Booking Agencies

Live Nation is represented in Copenhagen and only books international bands. The biggest native promoters and bookers are Skandinavian and Beatbox booking – although Skandinavian occasionally books international acts. ICO Concerts is one of the biggest promoters in the Nordic region and is responsible for many shows by international artists in and around Scandinavia.

Danish booking agencies include: ● 3rd Tsunami ● Gearbox Agency ● Merger ● ICO Concerts ● Heartbeat Music ● Live Nation ● Beatbox Booking ● PDH Music ● Bobkat Agency ● Skandinavian ● Copenhagen Music ● Smash! Bang! Pow!

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 50␀ Media, PR and Promotion

Print and Online

The main print magazine for music is Gaffa, which is published in all three Scandinavian countries (translated by language). Another important Danish magazine is Soundvenue. Both are widely read by music consumers and are seen as the main publications for Danish and international music as well as the music industry. All print magazines have online editions.

Relevant music, culture and lifestyle outlets include:

● Gaffa ● Soundvenue ● Noisey/Vice ● iByen by Politiken (Copenhagen only)

Major newspapers also cover culture and music, especially festivals. The biggest national newspapers are:

● Politiken ● Berlingske Tidende ● Extra-Bladet (tabloid) ● Dagbladet Information ● Jyllands-Posten

There are a couple of Danish music blogs, but they generally have a very small impact on the market. Most big international blogs are well-known and read.

Blogs

● Regnsky

Radio

The most popular radio station for new music is P3, which is owned and run by public broadcasting company DR (Danmarks Radio). Another relevant radio station is P6 Beat, which is also public but smaller, and focuses on contemporary, alternative and niche genres.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 51␀ PR Companies

The media field in Denmark is relatively small and it is not unusual for PR work to be undertaken in- house. However, there are several promo-agencies to choose from should you be in need of external PR services:

● Volume

● BobKat Agency PR

● Smash! Bang! Pow!

● Prime Collective

● Shine Music

Networking Arenas

Spot festival – April/May

The most important networking and showcase event in Denmark is Spot festival in Århus. Spot festival has been arranged every year since 1995, currently around April and May. The three-day festival attracts most of the Danish industry and several international delegates from the Nordic countries and the rest of Europe, especially Germany. Rock, pop and electronic music are all well represented, but there are no official restrictions.

When Copenhell Freezes Over – January

As a part of the run-up to Copenhell Festival, a showcase called When Copenhell Freezes Over is arranged in January for rock and metal music. The first festival was arranged in 2015 and showcased mostly Danish artists.

Spot on Denmark

Music Export Denmark and the Danish Rock Council (ROSA) arrange Spot on Denmark showcases and meet and greet events several times a year all over Europe, usually at bigger industry events. These events might serve as a good platform for meeting Danish industry professionals.

Taxation

Value-added Tax

As Denmark is a member of the European Union, B2B-trade between businesses eligible to pay VAT is generally tax free inside of the EU. With B2B-trade, it is the responsibility of the buyer to pay VAT

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 52␀ according to the buying country’s laws. However, the buyer is allowed to apply for a refund when submitting their taxes, which makes the transaction practically tax-free. When selling to consumers, tax is collected by the country of the provider.

The standard and only VAT-rate for Denmark is 25%. Invoicing a promoter for a music performance is VAT-free, although entrance tickets and records are not.

Selling copyrights is subject to VAT.

If your business is domiciled outside of the EU it is possible to apply for a refund on the VAT when purchasing goods in Denmark. More information here.

If your income from sales within Denmark is less than DKK 50,000 during any 12 month period then you do not need to register for VAT. However, if you exceed that sum you should register for VAT at skat.dk. You can find more information here.

It is recommended that you check best practices with your local tax authorities and your accountant.

Income tax

If you are an EU or EEA citizen and stay in Denmark for six months or more then you are eligible to pay tax. The tax system for individuals on payroll is quite complex and includes a labour market contribution and municipal taxes, as well as health and social security contributions.

It is very likely that a performing artist will be regarded as a receiver of a fee by the tax authorities rather than as an individual on payroll – especially if the payments or the work/performance does nottake place consistently for the same employer. When you are being paid a fee, the same rules apply as for Danish VAT – if it exceeds DKK 50,000 during any twelve-month period you should contact Skat.

It is recommended that you check best practices with your local tax authorities and your accountant.

*See below for sources and additional information.1

1 Income taxes abroad - Denmark - Europa EU." 5 Jul. 2018, https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/ taxes/income-taxes-abroad/denmark/index_en.htm. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 53␀ Finnland (Finland)

Introduction to the Market

Population 5,471,753

GDP per capita 37 351 €

Finland is well known for its music culture – especially in the metal and classical genres, both of which have seen significant international success. However, indie music, jazz and contemporary folk music are thriving.

The country’s music industry is concentrated around Helsinki, Finland’s capital, which has around one million inhabitants. Other important cities are Tampere, Oulu and Turku.

The Finnish music business has been growing steadily for the past three years – and especially in the live market, which now accounts for almost 50% of industry revenues.

Finnish innovation technology, including mobile phones, games and apps, is a large and important part of the Finnish economy. Their impact can also be seen in Finnish music business.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 54␀ Record Labels, Licensing and Distribution

In 2014, overall sales of recorded music accounted to 46.4 million euros. 51% of recorded sales were on digital formats – while homegrown repertoire represented 67 % of sales.

However, there is also evidence of a sharp change in music consumption. In 2014, recorded sales decreased by 34%, whereas streaming increased by 28%. Vinyl sales increased by 14% (IFPI Finland, Music Finland).

Recorded market shares are dominated by international majors – with Warner Music Finland (32.5 %), Universal Music (30.6 %) and Sony Music (27.7) %. However, the independent sector is strong and well-renowned. Independent labels are represented by IndieCo ry, (www.indieco.fi) a Finnish independent record producers association, whose purpose is to develop Finnish indie labels’ working environment and support cultural diversity.

Record Labels

Pop, rock, indie, metal: Jazz, world and folk ● Universal Music ● Eclipse Music ● Sony Music ● Fredriksson Music ● Warner Music Finland ● TUM Records ● Sound of Finland ● Rockadillo Records ● KHY Suomen Musiikki Oy ● Seita Music ● Solina Records ● Siba Records ● Soliti ● Spinefarm Records Contemporary & Classical ● Fullsteam ● Ondine ● Fried Music ● Alba Records ● Svart Records ● Fuga ● Finlandia Classics ● Pilfink ● Siba Records

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 55␀ Publishing

The Finnish Music Publishers Association (Musiikkikustantajat ry) was founded in 1976 as an um-brella organisation for representing the interests of Finnish music publishers. The association has 37 publisher members. Publishers Sheet music publishers ● Warner Chappell ● Fennica Gehrman ● Elements Music ● Sulasol ● Kaiku Entertainment ● Blosari Edition ● Fried Publishing ● Edition TIlli ● Universal Music ● Uusinta Publishing Company ● STM Music ● Modus Musiikki

Performance Rights

Teosto is the copyright organisation for composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers. NCB – Nordic Copyright Bureau is responsible for the administration of mechanical rights. In 2014 Teo-sto paid 52.3 million Euros to rights holders.

GRAMEX, Copyright Society of Performing Artists and Phonogram Producers in Finland, adminis-ters and promotes the performance rights of artists, musicians and record labels. GRAMEX paid out 18,5 million Euros in 2014.

Management Pop, rock, indie and metal Jazz, world and folk

● Fullsteam Management ● We Jazz ● Till Dawn They Count Management LTD ● Sublime Agency ● Result Entertainment ● Creatika Agency ● Grey Beard Concerts & Management ● Vapaat Äänet ● Blue Buddha Management ● Rockadillo Production ● Sam Agency ● Minnamurra Music Management & Agency ● Heartagram Ltd Comusic Productions ● Annamaija Music Company ● Kieku Music Management (Kaiku Studios) ● Art Prevolution ● Funky Amigos

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 56␀ Classical & Contemporary ● Festium ● Fazer Artists’ Management ● Allegro Artists Management

Live

From a financial perspective, the live market is the most important part of the Finnish music industry. Large events, festivals, clubs and concerts gather big audiences. The club season spans from September to May, whereas festivals dominate the summer months of June, July and August.

The live music industry is growing and the overall amount of people attending festivals grew by 9% from 2013 to 2014.

Some of the major venues and festivals are listed below.

Venues

Helsinki: ● Dynamo ● Tavastia ● Klubi ● Kuudes Linja ● Bar Kuka ● Ääniwalli ● Jyväskylä: ● The Circus ● Lutakko ● Nosturi ● Oulu: ● Korjaamo ● 45 Special ● Virgin Oil Co. ● Club Kaiku Concert Houses: ● Koko Jazz Club ● Musiikkitalo, Helsinki ● Finlandia-Talo, Helsinki Tampere: ● Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki ● Klubi & Pakkahuone ● Sibelius-talo, Lahti ● YO-talo ● Tampere-talo, Tampere ● Telakka ● Korundi, Rovaniemi ● Turku:

Booking Agencies ● Live Nation ● Sam Agency ● Fullsteam (FKP Scorpio) ● Warner Music Live ● GAEA Booking & Records ● Sony Live

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 57␀ ● Fried Live ● Sublime Music Agency ● Rockadillo Production Oy ● Festium Oy

Festivals

A significant number of festivals take place around the country during the summer (June-August). Some of the major and most popular ones include: Pop, rock, indie, metal: ● The World Village Festival, Helsinki

● Ruisrock, Turku ● Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, Kaustinen ● Flow Festival, Helsinki ● Sommelo, Kuhmo ● Provinssi, Seinäjoki ● Ilosaarirock, Joensuu Classical, Contemporary and Opera: ● Weekend Festival, Helsinki ● Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Kuhmo ● Tuska Open Air, Helsinki ● Savonlinna Opera Festival, Savonlinna ● Summer Up, Lahti ● Helsinki Festival, Helsinki ● H2Ö, Turku Jazz:

World and Folk: ● Pori Jazz, Pori ● Seinäjoki Tango Festival, Seinäjoki ● Jazz Finland Festival, Helsinki ● Tampere Jazz Happening, Tampere

Networking Events

The most important networking event for the music industry is Music & Media Finland, an annual conference that takes place each October in Tampere. The event gathers 600 Finnish professionals and 100 international professionals. The Lost In Music showcase festival is held as a part of Music & Media Finland.

Mars is another networking event, which is held in Seinäjoki in February.

EARS is a series of events dedicated to introducing the latest trends and developments between Europe and Asia.

Orchestras

15 symphony orchestras and 15 smaller orchestras are active across the country – from Helsinki to the European Union’s northernmost orchestra in Rovaniemi. The likes of Avanti! and the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra are well known also beyond the Finnish borders.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 58␀ ● Radion sinfoniaorkesteri ● Keski-Pohjanmaan Kamariorkesteri ● Helsingin kaupunginorkesteri ● Lapin kamariorkesteri ● Tampere Filharmonia ● UMO Jazz Orchestra ● Turun filharmoninen orkesteri ● Avanti! ● Lahden kaupunginorkesteri – Sinfonia ● Helsingin Barokkiorkesteri Lahti ● Suomalainen barokkiorkesteri ● Oulu Sinfonia

Opera

Helsinki’s Finnish National Opera is the main venue for Finnish opera. In addition, there are several small opera associations and two important opera festivals, the Savonlinna Opera Festival and the festival of West Coast Kokkola Opera.

Media, PR and Promotion

Digital media is largely dominated by national broadcasting company YLE, with 99% of the Finnish population using their services. Programming is delivered in both Finnish and Swedish.

Television

YLE hosts several public TV channels. The largest commercial channels outside of YLE’s networks are MTV3, Nelonen and SubTV. Both public and commercial channels host several music-related shows, although their focus lies heavily on domestic artists.

Radio

Yle: Radio Suomi, Yle Radio 1, YleX, among others. YleX is the main youth channel and usually introduces new music.

Yle X3M and Yle Vega are Swedish speaking stations, that play a significant amount of music sung in Swedish.

Commercial stations: Radio Nova, SuomiPOP, Iskelmä, Radio Rock, NRJ.

Independent and local stations: Basso, Classic, Radio Helsinki

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 59␀ Print The most important newspapers are: Tabloids: ● Helsingin Sanomat ● Ilta-Sanomat ● Aamulehti ● Iltalehti ● Keskisuomalainen ● Turun Sanomat Music magazines: ● Hufvudstadsbladet (in Swedish) ● Rumba ● Soundi ● Rondo ● Inferno

Online

● Rumba – also print ● Inferno – also print ● Soundi – also print ● Rosvot.fi – blog portal, consists of 19 music blogs with different focus ● Nyt.fi – weekend magazine by national newspaper Helsinging Sanomat

PR agencies

● Hei Hei Media ● Soliti Promotion ● ProPromotion ● Clarksdale Communications

Taxation

Value-added tax (VAT)

Finland is a member of the EU and the same international VAT legislation is applied as in the other EU countries.

The standard VAT rate is 24%. This rate also applies to record sales.

Music performance fees are VAT free. It is also VAT free for agencies to sell performances to promoters or other agencies.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 60␀ The transferring of copyrighted artistic material (like recordings) between parties is also VAT free, as well as payments for use of copyrighted material to the copyright holder. However, if such payments are made to an organisation representing the copyright holder, they will be eligible for VAT (10%).

Importing goods and services

There are separate rules for fixed establishments in Finland and foreign businesses. If you stay less than six months in Finland your business is considered as ‘foreign’.

Foreigners who conduct business through a fixed establishment in Finland are VAT liable in Finland and entered in the VAT register, just as a Finnish business would be.

When the seller is a foreign business with no fixed establishment in Finland and has not applied for VAT registration in Finland, it is the Finnish buyers of goods and services who are liable to pay and report the VAT (reverse charge). The threshold for VAT liability is €8,500 – although this is not applicable to foreigners with no fixed establishment in Finland.

Reverse charge procedures for VAT are not applicable in the following situations. Instead, the foreign seller always has to register for VAT in Finland if:

1. The buyer is a foreigner (i.e. not from Finland) with no fixed establishment and no VAT registration in Finland.

2. The buyer is a private individual.

3. Sales of goods from another EU member state are taking place to private individuals in Finland.

4. The services being sold involve entrance permission granted to a business to attend cultural events, fair or exhibitions or other similar activities; as well as services related directly to the entrance, provided the event is carried out in Finland.

5. The services being sold involve: consumer services related to cultural events, fairs and exhibitions, or other similar activities, as well as organisation of these events; provided the activity is carried out in Finland.

If a foreign business has no tax domicile and no fixed establishment in any EU country, then they need to have a representative approved by Finnish Tax Administration to qualify for VAT liability. The representative should be domiciled in Finland and prepared to take care of the administrative obligations regarding VAT on behalf of the foreign business.

Income tax for foreign artists

Any artist who is paid to perform in Finland is eligible for income tax. The tax rate is 15% and is charged regardless whether the payment is made as a salary or as another kind of payment. Even if the payment is made to a foreign agency the tax is still charged.

The 15% income tax for foreign artists is not deductible. However, it is possible to apply for tax-free refunds from an employer for verified costs for travelling and accommodation.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 61␀ If you have only been performing and already paid the artist income tax then you do not need to file your taxes in Finland. In this case you are entitled to a certificate by your employer, showing that you have paid your taxes. The certificate can be useful when you want to avoid double taxation when returning to your home country.

It is recommended that you check best practices with your accountant.

Useful and practical tax information about taxation of Nordic citizens in all Nordic languages can be found on Nordisk eTax

*See below for sources and additional information in English, Finnish and Swedish. 2

2"Artister och sportutövare från utlandet - Verohallinto." 29 Apr. 2015, http://www.vero.fi/sv/ privatpersoner/skattekort-och-skattedeklaration/fran_utlandet_till_finland/arbeta_i_finland/ artister_och_sportutovare_fran_utlande/

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 62␀ Frakkland (France)

Introduction to the Market Population: 65,3M

GDP per capita: $36,453

France is the world’s fifth largest market in the world for recorded music. After small growth in 2013, the market decreased by 5.3% (to €570M) in 2014. This was solely due to a 11.5% drop in the physical market, which now stands for a market share of 57%. Digital grew by 6% (23.4% market share) and performance rights revenue by 2% (19.6% market share) (SNEP, 2015).

Although the overall value of the French recorded music market has decreased since 2008, digital keeps growing steadily. In 2014, streaming accounted for 55% of online music revenues and downloads for 40% (SNEP, 2015).

Deezer and Spotify are the most popular streaming services, but the French market offers several other options as well, of which many are bundled together with phone operators.

Unemployment and economic uncertainty continue to make an impact on France’s live sector. France operates a statutory minimum fee for public concerts at € 75 profit per. performer.

Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution Although its headquarters are over the Atlantic, France is home to Vivendi, parent company of Universal Music Group – the world’s largest record company.

Physical sales still account for a large share of the recorded market (57%). 74% of all music sold in 2014 on a physical format was sung in French (SNEP, 2015).

With a strong digital infrastructure, online music services are well established and an early tie-in between Deezer and Orange was key in establishing streaming services.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 63␀ Major Labels

● Universal Music France ● Sony Music France ● Warner Music France

Indie Labels

Pop, rock, metal, electronica: ● We are Unique Records ● Naïve ● Season of Mist ● Because Music ● Ya basta! ● Beggars Music France ● Sound Pelligrino ● Kitsunè ● Ekler’o’shock ● Warp France ● Disque Primeur ● Ed Banger ● 13bis music ● Record Makers ● ● Cinq7 Classical and contemporary: ● PIAS Cooperative Music France ● ECM ● 3ème bureau ● Harmonia Mundi ● Infine ● L’Empreinte Digitale ● Ici d’ailleurs ● Outhere Music France ● Fargo

Distributors

Here’s a selection of the most relevant distributors:

● PIAS ● Warner ● Modulor ● Believe Digital ● Wagram ● Idol ● La Baleine ● The Orchard ● Differ-ant

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 64␀ Licensing

Here’s a selection of the most relevant companies focusing on sync:

● Alter K ● BETC Music ● AIM production ● Schmooze ● Universal Music Vision ● 13bis

Publishing

● Universal Music Publishing Classical and Contemporary ● Warner Chappell Music France ● Editions Alphonse Leduc ● Sony Publishing ● Editions Henry Lemoine ● Alter K ● Gérard Billaudot Editeur ● Because editions ● Le Chant du Monde ● Budde Music France ● Symétrie ● Naïve editions

Performance Rights

For composition rights, each Nordic performing rights society has bilateral agreements in place with the French collection society SACEM.

Other rights societies include:

● SACD ● SCPP ● SPPF ● SDRM

Rights societies for performers include:

● Adami

● Spedidam

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 65␀ Management

Below is a selection of influential French managements:

● Unicum

● IMG Artists

● So Pink!

For an extensive list of managements in France, visit Bureau Export’s websites and get access their professional section.

Live

Promoters and Festivals

French festival calendar – an overview of the most important festivals: http:// www.routedesfestivals.com/liste-des-festivals-pour-france-1.html

Pop, rock, metal and electronica: ● Les femmes s’en mêlent ● Les vieilles charrues ● Les Eurockeennes de Belfort Jazz: ● Transmusicales de Rennes ● Jazz a la Villette ● Bars en trans ● Jazz a Vienne ● Les Inrocks festival ● Paris Jazz festival ● Hellfest ● Archeo Jazz ● Solidays ● Enghien Jazz Festival ● Mainsquare festival ● Palais en Jazz ● Rock en Seine ● Nuits Sonores Traditional and world music: ● Pitchfork Festival Paris ● Festival Interceltique de Lorient ● TGV Generiq festival ● Festival of Folklore in Paris ● Villette sonique ● Worldwide festival Classical and contemporary: ● La route de rock ● Manifeste ● We love green ● Biennale Musiques en scène ● Garorock ● Présences ● Le rock dans tous ses états ● Les Musiques de Marseille

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 66␀ ● Manca ● Festival Radio France & Montpellier ● Présences-Electronique ● Musique Action ● Festival d’Automne à Paris ● Les Détours de Babel

Booking Agencies ● Uni-T ● Super! ● Alias Production ● Furax ● Arachnee Productions ● Radical Production ● Auguri productions ● Caramba Spectacles ● Azimuth ● Loud Booking ● Corida ● La lune Rousse ● Gerard Drouot Productions

Networking Arenas

There are several networking arenas in France, including Midem, which is one of Europe’s biggest international music conferences.

● Midem ● Printemps de Bourges ● MAMA ● Transmusicales de Rennes ● Babel Med

Media, PR & Promo The French media landscape is composed of large public broadcasters, regional players, private companies and small idealistic players. With the wide range that this sector represents, it might be an important investment to recruit the services of a french promo agency to assist you in your export initiatives.

TV

French television is dominated by national broadcaster France Televisions while smaller players such as Arte and Mezzo air more specialist programming.

● Canal+ – The program has a useful website with a lot of editorial content on music.

● TMC – One of the channel program, Quotidien, showcases both established and new bands.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 67␀ ● Arte – This French/German culture channel is an important service for the jazz-, classical- and contemporary segments.

● Mezzo – TV channel that only has music in its broadcasting slots. Covering the fields of opera to classical, contemporary, jazz and world music. Often airs extensive productions of live concerts.

Again, the French state, national broadcaster Radio France is the largest provider of radio as for television. Smaller players such as Radio Nova and especially student radio network Radio Campus Network can be important channels for the slightly narrower genres.

Radio

Pop, rock, metal and electronica: ● Radio France is the national French radio station ● Le Mouv ● France Inter – The channel features live broadcasts from Radio France concert hall, artist interviews and operate with official playlists. ● Fun Radio – Commercial channel with a younger audience. ● NRJ – Caters to the same segment as Fun Radio. ● OUI FM / Virgin Radio – OUI FM is the only radio station that plays metal and hardcore. ● Radio Nova – Alternate channel that focuses on indie, electronica and crossover. ● Radio Campus Network – Student Radio Network with their own broadcasts in all major French cities. Jazz: ● Jazz radio ● TSF Jazz

Classic and contemporary: ● France Musique ● France Culture ● Radio Classique

Web Pop, rock, metal and electronica: ● Les Inrocks ● Arte Live Web ● La Blogothèque

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 68␀ ● Tsugi Magazine ● GOÛTE mes disques Classic and contemporary: ● Disco naïvet ● Resmusica ● Onlike ● Concert Classic

Print Pop, rock, metal and electronica: ● Metallian ● Les inrockuptibles ● Obsküre Mag ● Rock & folk ● Telerama Jazz: ● Tsugi Magazine ● Jazz news ● Trax Magazine ● Improjazz ● Vice ● Hard rock magazine Classic and contemporary: ● Magic ● Classica ● Modzik ● Diapason ● Noise ● La Lettre du Musicien ● Rock Hard ● La Terrasse

PR and Promotion Pop, rock, metal and electronica: ● La mission ● Boogie Drugstore ● Ping Pong Promotion ● Phunk Promotion ● Bérengère Promotion ● Melissa Promotion ● ZAZA media Group ● Clarisse Fieurgant ● Canitrot & Co Jazz and world: ● Le cri de la marmotte ● Agnès Thomas ● Du bruit au balcon ● Batida and Co ● Ephelide ● Marc Chonier ● Impact France

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 69␀ Ísland (Iceland)

Introduction to the Market Population: 350,000

GDP per capita: USD $60,000

Iceland is an extremely small country with 65% of the population living in the capital region of Reykjavik. As a consequence, there is no ‘music industry’ to speak of in a traditional sense – although Icelandic artists have managed to gain international acclaim for over three decades.

Due to the lack of music businesses, Iceland’s music community is very DIY-based and artist-led. There are a number of of festivals around the country, while most key venues are in Reykjavik. Bookings tend to come from the Icelandic promoters and venues, rather than from external bookers.

Record Labels, Licensing and Distribution There are a small number of record labels in Iceland, and only a handful of these (eg Bedroom Community) operates on an international level. Most labels release product domestically or have digital-only international distribution.

The key labels are as follows: ● 12 Tónar ● Smekkleysa SM/Bad Taste SM ● Bedroom Community ● Alda Music ● Möller Records ● Lagaffe Tales ● Record Records ● FALK Records

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 70␀ Publishing and Performance Rights

There are presently no publishing companies in Iceland.

STEF is the performing rights organisation in Iceland and it retains a strong association with the other Nordic CMOs.

Management Most Icelandic managers are independent, and the number of managers working internationally from Iceland is very low. Some management companies are Iceland Sync and Klapp.

Venues

Bigger venues: ● Harpa Concert Hall ● Kórinn ● Gamla Bíó ● Laugardalshöll ● Nasa Háskólabíó

Smaller venues: ● Kex Hostel ● Gaukurinn ● Húrra ● Iðnó ● Fríkirkjan ● Mengi

Bars that sometimes host gigs:

● Kaffibarinn ● Paloma ● Prikið

Local booking agents: None

Festivals Biggest festivals:

● Iceland Airwaves ● Sónar Reykjavík ● Secret Solstice ● Dark Music Days

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 71␀ January ● Reykholt Music Festival ● Reykjavik Folk Festival ● Bræðslan ● Neistaflug March ● AK Extreme August ● ● Innipúkinn April ● Þjóðhátíð í Eyjum ● Tectonics ● The Icelandic Chamber Music Festival ● Reykjavík Blues Festival ● Pönk á Patró ● I never went south ● Gæran ● Gardabaer Jazz Festival ● Reykjavik Cultural Festival ● Melodica Acoustic Festival Reykjavik May ● Night of lights ● Reykjavík Arts Festival ● ● Vaka Folk Festival September ● Breiðholt Festival ● Októberfest á Íslandi ● Reykjavík Jazz Festival June ● Reykjavík Midsummer Music October ● Við Djúpið – Summer Courses and ● Sláturtíð Music Festival ● JEA Jazz Festival ● Blue North Music Festival ● Kirkjubæjarklaustur Chamber Music Festival ● Skálholt Summer Concerts ● Folk Music Festival ● Cycle Music and Art Festival ● July ● Eistnaflug ● The Blue Church Concert Series ● Extreme Chill Festival ● Lunga

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 72␀ Media, PR and Promotion

TV

RÚV is the national broadcaster. Other channels are Sjónvarp Símans and Stöð 2.

Radio

RÚV is also dominant on the radio with Rás 1 and Rás 2. Rás 1 plays mostly classical music and jazz and Rás 2 plays more pop and rock.

Others:

● Bylgjan Top 40 ● FM957 Top 40 ● Xið 977 (rock) ● Flass FM (EDM/pop) ● FM Extra (dance)

Online Media

● Vísir.is / Fréttablaðið ● MBL.is / Morgunblaðið ● DV.is ● Grapevine.is (English)

PR Agencies Very few that work with music, save one: Ysland

Taxation

Value-added tax (VAT)

The standard value-added tax rate in Iceland is 24%. The lower rate is 11% and applies to foodstuffs, restaurants and hotels.

CD’s and other recordings are VAT free.

If a business sells and delivers goods or services from another state to customers in Iceland to a value of ISK 1,000,000 or more in any twelve-month period, then they are required to register and account for VAT in Iceland.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 73␀ If a business supplies electronically supplied services to consumers in Iceland, to a value of ISK 1,000,000 or more in any twelve-month period, then they are required to register and account for VAT in Iceland. Registration is not required when the buyer is a company and can account for the VAT as part of the input tax.

For the purpose of registration, an Icelandic VAT representative is needed.

You can access the registration form on the Icelandic tax authorities’ (RSK) web site. (PDF 142 KB)

Importation of goods to Iceland

The customs authorities will calculate and determine the customs duties and import VAT at the time of importation. The declared consignee of the goods is responsible for the payment of customs duties and import VAT.

Importation of services to Iceland

If a foreign company performs physical services in Iceland, they will have to register and charge VAT.

The Icelandic buyer of a service from abroad shall pay VAT on the service price (reverse charge).

The same applies to the service of a foreign party in Iceland, provided the foreign party does not operate a venue for business or have an agent in Iceland. This is intended to reduce any VAT advantage of buying those services from outside Iceland.

The reverse charge applies on a wide range of services. For example:

● the purchase and lease of copyright, patent rights, registered trademarks and copyrighted designs and the sale or lease of other comparable rights

● advertising services

● services of consultants, engineers, lawyers, accountants and other similar specialised services

● computer services, other data processing and the transfer of information

Income and source-tax

If you are working or performing in Iceland as an artist and stay in the country for less than 183 days during any twelve month period, you have limited tax liability. This means your income is eligible for tax in Iceland.

If you are performing in Iceland as an artist and invoicing your employer (ie. You’re acting as a company), then you are obliged to pay 20% income tax. The tax rate for individuals who are not represented by a company or agency is 18%. Individuals also pay municipal tax.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 74␀ Royalties and other copyright related transactions

For foreigners with limited tax liability, the gains from royalties and other copyrighted material are also taxed. Individuals pay 20% income tax and 14.44% municipal tax; whereas companies pay 20% income tax and no municipality tax.

It is recommended that you check best practices with your accountant.

Useful and practical tax information about taxation of Nordic citizens in all Nordic languages can be found on Nordisk eTax.

*See below for sources and additional information in English and Swedish.3, 4

3 "A Brief Overview of the Icelandic Music Market - Mxd." 6 Sep. 2016, https://mxd.dk/vidensbank/ a-brief-overview-of-the-icelandic-music-market/. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

4 "Island - Music Norway NO." https://no.musicnorway.no/veikart/island/. Accessed 24 Aug. 2018.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 75␀ Japan

Introduction to the market

Population: 126,880,000 (2015 estimate)

13,378,584 live in Tokyo, Japan’s capital city – the Greater Tokyo area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world

GDP (PPP 2015 estimate) per capita: USD$38,216

Japan is the second biggest music market in the world, with a retail value of USD $2,627.9 million (IFPI 2014). 78% of recorded music sales are physical and 17% are digital. The market share of physical music sales in relation to all sales is the largest in the world.

In 2014, the production value of physical and digital music sales decreased 5% to ca.2,5 billion USD, according to a RIAJ (Recording Industry Association of Japan) 2015 report. The value of vinyl production increased by 66% in 2014, although the total amount of units sold remains small (ca. 400,000 units).

Arguably, one of the main reasons Japan still retains a relatively strong recorded music market is a result of the 2012 Copyright Act that enacted penalties including imprisonment and fines for illegal downloading, uploading and even viewing of copyrighted material.

According to the Oricon 2014 music market report, J-Pop (Japanese pop) is the country’s most popular genre, accounting for 73.2% of total music sales. Of the remainder, Anime soundtrack account for 9.7%, international music (known as YOGAKU) 8.4%, Jazz and Classical 4.6% and Enka (Japanese traditional/country music) 4.1% of total sales.

When looking at 2014, Japanese music accounted for 84% of all music sales compared to 16% for international artists. Because of cultural reasons – including language barriers – and the fact that international artists seldom perform in Japan, it can be challenging for international artists to connect with Japanese fans.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 76␀ Record Labels, Licensing and Distribution

Record Labels

● Universal Music LLC ● Nippon Columbia Co. Ltd. ● Warner Music Japan Inc. ● Pony Canyon Inc. ● Avex Entertainment Inc /Avex ● Yamaha Music Communications Co. Marketing Inc. Ltd. ● JVC Kenwood Victor Entertainment ● Dreamusic Inc. Corp. ● Yoshimoto R and Co. Ltd. ● King Record Co.,Ltd. ● NBC Universal Entertainment Japan ● Teichiku Entertainment Inc. LLC. ● Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), Inc. ● LD&K Inc. ● P-vine Records ● Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. ● Hostess ● Space Shower Networks Inc. ● Beatink ● Rambling Records Inc. ● Hats Unlimited Co. Ltd. ● Grand Gallery ● Naxos Japan, Inc. ● T-Toc Records ● Marquee/Avalon ● Moorworks ● Spiritual Beast Co. Ltd. ● Linus Records ● Trooper ● Tugboat Records ● Inpartmaint ● Wave Master inc./Billion ● Flau ● Wowow Entertainment, Inc. ● Rimeout ● Andre Records ● Rallye ● Ward Records, Inc.

Distributors ● King International Inc. ● Bridge Inc. ● Ratspack ● Village Again Association Co. Ltd. ● Japan Publications, Inc. ● Crown Tokuma Music Distribution Co. ● Ultra-Vybe, Inc. Ltd.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 77␀ Publishing

Japan’s major music publishing companies are mostly owned or partly owned by media companies (eg TV networks, radio stations, newspaper publishers, film and TV production companies), as well as major marketing agencies, artist management companies and record labels.

Most publishing companies and broadcasting media companies have umbrella agreements with JASRAC (the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers), the collective management organisation administering music copyrights and collection of royalties in Japan.

The music-related publishers listed below are the ones that have their own international department.

Publishers

● Amuse Inc. ● Teichiku Music, Inc. ● Avex Music Publishing Inc. ● Toy’s Factory Music ● Bad News Music Publishing Co. Inc. ● TV Asahi Music Co. Ltd. ● Fujipacific Music Inc. ● TV Tokyo Music, Inc. ● Lastrum Music Entertainment Inc. ● Universal Music Publishing LLC. ● Mr. Music, Inc. ● Victor Music Arts, Inc. ● Nichion, Inc. ● Warner/Chappell Music, Japan K.K. ● Nippon Television Music Corporation ● Watanabe Music Publishing Co. Ltd. ● Seven Seas Music Co. Ltd. ● Yamaha Music Publishing, Inc. ● Shinko Music Entertainment Co. Ltd. ● Zen-On Music Company Ltd. ● Sony Music Artists Inc. ● Sony Music Publishing (Japan) Inc.

Retail

Being the world leader in physical sales, Japan still has a large number of music retail chains and stores. Despite online retail sites such as Amazon and sites run by major retail chains (eg Tower Records, HMV, Tsutaya), physical retail stores remain popular for purchasing music and related merchandise.

In-store promotion sponsored by record labels is a useful promotional tool in Japan. Radio promotions tend to be less effective as most people commute by public transportation, rather than listen to the radio in their cars.

In most music stores, customers have the option to listen to entire albums before purchase, while in- store events with artist signings, live performances and talks are also common. Music store staff are generally well informed about their field, which contributes to a healthy retail culture.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 78␀ Retail Stores and Chains ● Tower Records ● Big Love ● HMV ● Frake Records ● Disc Union ● Spiral Records ● TSUTAYA ● Pastel Records ● Yamano Music ● Technique ● Recofan ● Lighthouse Records ● Bonjour records

Digital

In 2014, the value of digital music sales increased 5% to USD $360 million, which marked the first year-on-year increase in five years since 2009 (RIAJ 2015).

Digital music sales in Japan include large volumes of ringtone downloads directly to mobile phones. Ringtones are popular especially among minors and others who want to be saved the trouble of registration, as such services are charged directly to the phone bill. However, this somewhat prevents other music downloading services such as Apple’s iTunes Store and Amazon from gaining users.

In 2015, several new music streaming services officially launched in Japan:

• AWA, owned by Cyber Agent and Avex Digital – a digital company under a Japanese major label

• Line Music – owned by Asia’s largest SNS message application company LINE

• Apple Music – by Apple

Since all these services have a three-month free trial period, it is currently hard to estimate what their adoption rate will be. Other streaming services like Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Prime Music and Google Play Music are not yet available in Japan.

Although Spotify opened a Japanese office in 2013, the company has not been able to effectively launch its service due to slow negotiations with the Japanese labels. Tidal is not available in Japan.

The launch of major streaming services marks a big change in the Japanese music industry. However, a lot of negotiations remain before the services can provide an artist and song selection similar to that found in Europe and North America. Key subscription services Digital distributors

● Recochoku ● Ototoy

● KKBOX ● Mora

● Recoshoku

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 79␀ Promoters

There are over 70 promoters and booking agencies in Japan, as well as venue-based booking such as Billboard Live (Tokyo, Osaka), Club Citta and Blue Note Japan.

Major promoters and booking agencies for international artists include:

● SMASH ● Creativeman ● UDO Artists, Inc. ● HIP Hayashi International Promotion ● Kyodo Tokyo ● Livenation Japan

Venue & Booking ● Billboard Japan ● Blue Note Tokyo ● Cotton Club ● Club Citta

Management and PR

Artist management companies in Japan tend to discover and develop artists rather than sign them when they are already established. They mostly handle everything from artist management to PR for the artist, as well as overseeing their label work.

It is rare for an international artist to sign with Japanese management, mostly due to the language differences and the long travelling distances. If/when this does happen (or if their domestic management company establishes a Japanese office), then they may be categorised as a “domestic artist” and required to create music according to what the label and management see as “suitable”for the Japanese market (J-Pop).

Hiring independent PR is rare. Almost all labels and management companies in Japan handle PR in- house, except for a small number of indie labels and management companies.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 80␀ Media, print and online

TV

There are few music programmes on national TV, and most networks prefer to show domestic or global artists.

Most music programs and channels are available on-demand with satellite TV, cable and online. MTV, Space Shower TV and other music channels play international music. However, K-Pop remains more popular than other international genres. Most international music performances and music videos are available through the same networks.

There are six public TV networks in Japan:

● NHK (Japanese Broadcasting Corporation) Public broadcaster ● NNN (Nippon News Network) & NNS (Nippon Television Network Systems) ● JNN (Japan News Network) ● FNN (Fuji News Network) & FNS (Fuji Network Systems) ● ANN (All-Nippon News Network) ● TXN (TV Tokyo Network/TX Network) A public network TV program that often features international music is Sukkiri (Nippon TV).

Satellite and Cable TV

● MTV Japan ● Space shower TV ● Music ON! TV ● Music Air

Radio

FM radio stations in Japan are not specialised in any specific genre and are considered to be “all- genres” including “talk”. AM stations in Japan tend to be all talk and/or infomercial.

The FM stations still host signature radio programs with specific musical profiles. A morning show on one radio station may feature all J-Pop music, an afternoon show on the same station may feature all international rock and pop, and a Sunday morning show may feature all Hawaiian music, e.g.

For radio promotion it is essential to get a song chosen for “heavy rotation”. Since all public radio stations are connected through umbrella networks, most stations tend to play similar music and choose the same song for their power play. However, the importance of radio as a promotional platform has decreased during recent years, due to the popularity of YouTube, SoundCloud and other digital platforms. There is also an increased focus on talk shows rather than music shows.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 81␀ FM Network ● FM-FUJI ● JFN ● FM Port ● JFL ● ● Megalopolis Radio Network AM Network ● ● Japan Radio Network Independent FM stations ● National Radio Network ● FM Yokohama ● NHK (Japanese Broadcasting ● FM NACK5 Corporation) ● Bay FM ● α-station

Music Websites and Online

Many Japanese print publications have been discontinued or converted into online-only magazines over the past five years.

Those online magazines specialising in music and entertainment mainly feature artist interviews and reviews, as well as gossip. Most subscribers and viewers are music fans since several magazines require special apps and the commitment of monthly subscriptions. As elsewhere, light users often prefer social networking sites and social media with free and easy access.

Online Music Magazines ● BARKS (the biggest music news website ● Rockin’ On in Japanese) ● skream! ● Quetic ● GekiRock ● Natalie ● InRock ● Musicman (music business website) ● Music Magazine / Record Collectors ● Latina ● Strange Days ● Player ● Young Guitar ● BURRN!

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 82␀ Social Media

The number of Twitter users continues to increase in Japan. In 2014 the service had 19.8 million users, of which 60% were active. Facebook had around 24 million users, of which 53% were active. Increasingly, internet users use social media to search for information online although many still depend upon TV, radio and traditional media sources.

YouTube has become one of the major online sources for music and entertainment with ca. 50 million active viewers. Of these, 37 million Japanese viewers watch YouTube on their smartphones.

Music Industry Organisations

● MPA (Music Publishers Association of Japan)

● JASRAC （Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers) ● RIAJ （Recording Industry Association of Japan) ● JAME （Japan Association of Music Enterprises)

● FMPJ （the Federation of Music Producers Japan) ● PROMIC （Foundation for Promotion of Music Industry and Culture） ● ACPC (All Japan Concert & Live Entertainment Promoters Conference)

Industry Networking Events ● TIMM (2014) ● Hokuo Music Fest, Tokyo, November

*See below for sources and additional information.. 5, 6, 7

5 "The Recording Industry in Japan." http://www.riaj.or.jp/riaj/pdf/issue/industry/RIAJ2015E.pdf. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

6 "【2015年保存版】ソーシャルメディアのデータまとめ一覧。ユーザー数から ...." 15 Jan. 2015, https://gaiax-socialmedialab.jp/post-27828/. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

7 "オリコン2014年年間音楽ソフトマーケットレポート発表、総 ... - Musicman-net." 16 Jan. 2015, https://www.musicman-net.com/business/3679. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 83␀ Noregur (Norway)

Introduction to the Market Population: 5,019,701

GDP per capita: $55,300

Norway’s domestic music market has gained significant global attention over recent years due to the disproportional take-up of streaming services. During the first half of 2015, the Norwegian recorded market grew by 6.5% compared to the previous year. The revenue from different streaming services accounted for a massive 81% of all recorded music revenue for said period (IFPI Norway, 2015). Downloads are on a steady decrease.

Norway’s wider economy has also outperformed the rest of Europe, characterized by high income levels, low interest rates and a technologically advanced society. As a result, Norway’s domestic music market is ranked as the world’s 11th largest. Quite impressive given the nation’s scarce 5M population.

Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution Only a very small portion of the recorded music sales in Norway are physical. In the first half of 2015, the physical sales increased a tiny bit thanks to vinyl, which now accounts for 24% of all physical formats.

According to the 2015 IFPI Norway report for the first half of 2015, music released by Norwegian labels accounted for a ca 75% stake of Norway’s recorded music market.

Some of the key domestic indie labels include:

● Musikkoperatørene ● KKV ● Bare Bra Musikk ● Rune Grammfon ● Playground Music ● Smalltown Supersound ● Cosmos Music Group ● Komponist ● VME ● Simax ● Grappa ● LAWO Propeller Recordings

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 84␀ ● Indie Recordings ● Fysisk Format ● Jansen Plateproduksjon

Norway retains a number of independent distributors and digital aggregators, including:

● Indie ● Musikkoperatørene ● VME ● Phonofile ● Beat

Publishing

Norway’s publishing sector is relatively small but still highly active. Annual turnover for the sector is estimated at approximately 100mNOK. The publishing sector is represented by its trade organisation NMFF – the Norwegian Publishers’ Association.

Some of the main independent publishing companies include:

● Hacate ● Oslo Recordings ● Waterfall ● VME Publishing ● Sheet music publishers ● Cantando ● Norsk Musikkforlag ● Norsk Noteservice ● Musikk-Husets Forlag ● Lyche Musikkforlag

Songwriting camps Norway is also home to two songwriting camps that encourage different creative collaborations:

Trondheim Calling SONG:EXPO: The co-writing camp is held annually in late January and attracts international song writers, A&Rs and publishers which are teamed up with domestic writers to create a vibrant meeting point in which leads are provided and songs pitched for markets in the US, Germany, UK and Asia.

Waterfall Songwriting Camps: The Oslo-based music publishing company runs a string of songwriting camps for their in-house talent domestically as well as abroad.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 85␀ Performance Rights

Tono is Norway’s Performing Rights Society and represents more than 22 000 Norwegian composers, authors and publishers. Administration of mechanical rights on the Norwegian market is administered by NCB – Nordic Copyright Bureau.

Gramo is the joint collection society in Norway for musicians, performing artists and phonogram producers.

Management Key Norwegian management companies include:

Pop and Rock: ● Jazz and Folk: ● Stageway ● Kalleklev ● Made ● Musikkprofil ● Toothfairy Classical and Contemporary: ● Unit ● Nordic Artists Management ● Up Front Artists ● Classical Management ● HES ● Artefact ● Vox Artist ● Pro Arte

Live

Norway has a well-developed and well-funded live music sector, renowned for its quality and professionalism. More than 20% of the population attends a music festival every year and Oslo, in particular, despite a population of only 600,000 is home to a wide range of venues. The best known of these is undoubtedly the Rockfeller complex, which incorporates the Rockefeller Music Hall (capacity: 1350), Sentrum Scene (capacity: 1750) and the John DEE Live Club & Pub (capacity 400).

Other notable venues in Norway’s capital include Café Mono, Kampen Bistro, Blå and Parkteatret, while other cities like Bergen, Fredrikstad, Kristiansand, Stavanger and Trondheim also have strong live music scenes.

In addition to commercially run concert halls, Norway also has more than 100 publicly funded cultural houses in cities and municipalities throughout the country – including:

● Oslo Concert Hall ● Grieghallen ● Kilden ● Olavshallen ● Stavanger Concert Hall

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 86␀ Booking Agents

Live Nation has offices in Oslo, but there are many Norwegian promoters and booking agents who focus on the domestic market, including:

● Atomic Soul ● Artistpartner ● Musikkprofil ● Kalleklev ● Polar Artist ● Ramble On ● United Stage

Festivals

It has been said that every little Norwegian town and village has its own festival. From May to September more than 200 festivals are staged throughout the country. Below is a selection of each genre’s main events:

Pop and Rock: Contemporary and Classical: ● Øya Festival ● Bergen International Festival ● Hove ● ICMF International Chamber Music ● Norwegian Wood Festival Stavanger ● Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival Jazz: ● Oslo Chamber Music Festival ● Kongsberg Jazz Festival ● St. Olav Festival ● Molde International Jazz Festival ● Oslo International Church Music ● Punkt Festival ● Oslo Jazz Festival ● Borealis ● Risør Chamber Music Festival Traditional folk and world music: ● Festival of North Norway ● Førde Folk Music Festival ● Trondheim Chamber Music Festival ● Oslo World Music Festival ● Folkelarm

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 87␀ Orchestras

Norway’s five largest cities sport a symphony orchestra of their own with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra fronting a strong sector that is active at home and abroad.

● The Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra ● The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra ● The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra ● Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra ● The Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra ● Stavanger Symphony Orchestra ● Norwegian Radio Orchestra

Operas

The Norwegian opera scene is spearheaded by Oslo’s Norwegian National Opera, which stages large and smaller operas at its spectacular iceberg-esque opera house by the capital’s waterfront.

● The Norwegian National Opera ● Bergen National Opera ● The Arctic Opera ● Operaen i Kristiansund ● Opera Nordfjord

Media, PR & Promo

TV

TV broadcasting is dominated by public broadcaster NRK – the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation with its three channels (NRK1, NRK2 and NRK3/NRKSuper). Trailing behind is commercial broadcaster TV2 with its five channels. TV Norge is third on the list.

Radio

NRK is also dominant on the radio waves. Coming in second is the commercial station P4 while Radio Norge is third.

● NRK P1 ● NRK P2 ● NRK P3

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 88␀ ● P4 ● Radio Norge

Key music programmes on the radio include:

● Lydverket ● Musikk i Brennpunktet (Classical/Contemporary) ● Jazzklubben (Jazz) ● Jungeltelegrafen (Folk/Traditional/World)

Online

A quartet of music-specific sites that focus on album reviews, festival reports, artist interviews and live reviews:

● Gaffa ● Groove.no ● Hissig ● Lydgalleriet (Contemporary/Classical)

Print

Akersgata, the Norwegian equivalent to Fleet Street, encompasses several dailies that feature album reviews, festival reports and, to some extent, artist interviews:

● VG ● Dagbladet ● Aftenposten A string of niche-oriented, high-quality music magazines have a loyal user base in Norway and cover their respective genres thoroughly: ● Klassisk Musikkmagasin (Classical/Contemporary) ● Jazznytt (Jazz) ● Scream Magazine (Metal, Hardcore)

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 89␀ PR agencies

● Indianer ● This Is ● Haaland, Eidsvåg & Strøm ● Miss Fixit

Networking Arenas Oslo’s by:Larm is widely regarded as one of the Nordic music scene’s premier networking arenas and showcasing festivals. The event is staged annually mid-February in Oslo and features a wealth of showcases with Nordic bands and performers, seminars, meeting arenas and creative networking sessions.

Øya International is the Oslo festival’s programme for its foreign delegates and offers a tailored package for the participants with exclusive concerts, networking sessions and social events.

Molde Jazz Expo is a newcomer on the music industry networking circuit and is staged in conjunction with the Molde International Jazz Festival in mid to late July. International music industry reps, journalists and other key delegates are treated to a tailored programme with concerts, scenic trips and networking opportunities.

After a one-year hiatus, Folkelarm is back as the Norwegian folk/trad/world music scene’s premier meeting point and showcasing festival. Held at Oslo’s Riksscenen – the Norwegian Hub for Traditional Music and Dance, the showcase festival also features seminars and networking arenas for domestic as well as international folk music execs.

The Norwegian contemporary music scene’s main festival is without doubt the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. The festival also features a tailored programme for its invited foreign delegates.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 90␀ Taxation

Value-added tax (VAT)

Norway is not a member of the EU, and therefore extra attention should be applied to the country’s tax legislation – although the Norwegian VAT Act is largely based upon the EC Sixth VAT Directive .

The standard rate for VAT in Norway is 25%.

The sale of music performances is VAT free. However, if an intermediary is involved, like a booking agency, then the middle hand’s eventual fee is subject to VAT. The artist’s fee is not subject to VAT.

Normal VAT rate of 25% is collected on record sales.

Importing goods to Norway

Foreign businesses that only supply goods or services into the country do not need to pay Norwegian VAT when selling. However, the importation of goods is a taxable event and VAT is payable at the time of importation by the owner of the goods.

VAT is calculated and collected by Customs and Excise and, in terms of imports, is calculated on the customs value.

It is the owner of the goods who must pay VAT on the importation of goods. It is irrelevant whether a consumer or a taxable person imports the goods. For persons and companies in the VAT register, all VAT on imports is deductible.

Importing services to Norway

When importing tangible services to Norway (i.e. services that cannot be supplied from a remote location) the foreign business must register for VAT in Norway.

For intangible services (i.e. services that can be supplied from a remote location, for instance consultancy services or digital services) it is the recipient’s duty to pay the VAT if they are established in Norway.

Income tax for foreign artists

If you only stay in Norway for a ‘limited time’ (under 182 days in any 12 month period) you are not viewed as a ‘resident’ and will be taxed as a ‘foreign artist’.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 91␀ The tax for foreign artistes is 15% of their gross income – although travel and other expenses can be deducted providing they can be substantiated.

Foreign artist tax is payable irrespective of whether the income is paid to the artist him/herself, a representative, commission agent or a business enterprise.

Any performances must be reported by a promoter or event organiser to the Central Office – Foreign Tax Affairs (COFTA) no later than three weeks before its scheduled date.

The form RF-1091 ”Information on artist(s) from event organiser/hirer-out of venue” is used for reporting the events or performances.

It is recommended that you check best practices with your accountant.

Useful and practical tax information about taxation of Nordic citizens in all Nordic languages can be found on Nordisk eTax.

*See below for sources and additional information in Norwegian. 8, 9, 10, 11

8 "Regnskap - Unntak og fritak fra merverdiavgiften - Wiki ...." https://innsida.ntnu.no/wiki/-/wiki/ Norsk/Regnskap+-+Unntak+og+fritak+fra+merverdiavgiften. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

9 "A Brief Overview of the Norwegian Music Market." 2 Sep. 2016, https://mxd.dk/vidensbank/a- brief-overview-of-the-norwegian-music-market/?print=3. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

10 "A Brief Overview of the Norwegian Music Market." 2 Sep. 2016, https://mxd.dk/vidensbank/a- brief-overview-of-the-norwegian-music-market/?print=3. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

11 "Do you live in another Nordic country and work in Norway as an artiste ...." https:// www.nordisketax.net/main.asp?url=files/nor/eng/016.asp. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

ÚTÓN - Vegvísir - 92␀ Svíþjóð (Sweden)

Introduction to the Market

Population: 9,6 million

GDP per capita: $57,297

Sweden has earned a global reputation for producing and exporting successful pop music, with the success of ABBA in the 1970s (and later bands like Europe, Roxette and Ace of Base) beating a path that today’s Swedish artist are still following – whether that’s songwriters/producers like Max Martin and RedOne or artists such as Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, Robyn or Lykke Li. The country remains one of only three net exporters of musical repertoire in the world.

However, Swedish music is more diverse than pure pop. The independent scene, for instance, grows bigger and more influential each day – combining melancholy with a touch of happiness (but not too much), that has been proven to be very popular all over the world.

The country is also host to an amazing metal scene and an increasing number of urban acts. Meanwhile, a well-oiled system of music schools, music clubs, collecting societies, and the accessibility to be able to work with music has schooled many technically excellent musicians, not least in the fields of jazz and classical.

As with other Nordic territories, there has been a significant attention paid to the uptake and growth of streaming – and particularly of homegrown service Spotify, which appears to have dramatically curbed the usage of Sweden’s other significant (though perhaps more notorious) contribution to digital music: the Pirate Bay. When Spotify launched in 2008, piracy in Sweden was endemic.

In 2014, the recorded market decreased by 0.4%. Out of the total music sales revenue, 83.8% is digital, with streaming contributed to 79.8% of recorded revenues. Physical decreased by 33.8% and now accounts for 15.4% of the market (IFPI, 2015). Record Labels, Distribution & Licensing

The Swedish recorded music market has bucked international trends for a number of years – not only by displaying continuous growth, but through the enduring popularity of streaming services (notably Spotify).

The vast majority of Swedish record labels are represented by IFPI Sweden, which aims to represents its members in national and European politics, as well as lobby in their interests.

In addition to the three major labels (Warner Music Sweden, Universal Music and Sony Music) there is a thriving independent ecosystem represented by the trade organisation SOM.

Major and independent record labels working in Sweden include:

Rock, pop, indie, electronic and metal

● 100 Songs ● Enviken Records ● A West Side Fabrication ● Gain ● Adore Music ● Glendisc ● Adrian ● Headstomp Productions ● Atenzia ● Heptown Records ● Atlantis Grammofon ● Hybris ● Bootleg Booze ● Ingrid ● Bolero Records ● IO Music ● Buzzbox ● Imperial Recordings ● Bad Taste Records ● Kning Disk ● BB Records ● Kite Recordings ● BD Pop ● Kooljunk Communications ● Birdnest Records ● Lionheart Music Group ● Belpid Records ● Labrador ● Black Mark Production ● Ladybird ● Blue Ball Music ● National ● Capitol Music Group ● Nintetone Records ● Catchy Tunes ● Novoton ● Comedia ● Playground Music ● Cosmos Music ● Progress Productions ● Dead Frog Records ● Rabid Records ● Despotz Records ● Riverside Records ● Electric Fantastic Sound ● Silence ● Fuzzorama Records ● Smilodon ● Startracks ● Telegram Recordings ● ST4T ● Ten Music Group ● Start Klart Music ● Warner Music Sweden ● Stockhouse ● Vicisolum Productions ● Swingkids

Contemporary and classical Folk, jazz and blues ● Acoustica ● Arietta ● Alice Musik ● Dimma ● Arietta ● Footprint Records ● BIS ● Einnicken Records ● Daphne ● Ein Mangfaldig Kar ● dB Productions ● Gazell ● Musikverket ● Giga ● Holmen Music ● Hoob ● Imogena

Distribution

● Border Music Scandinavia ● Sound Pollution Distribution ● Naxos ● Playground Music ● Subliminal Sounds

Publishing

Music companies working with music publishing in Sweden include:

● Edition Reimers ● BMG Scandinavia ● Edition Bjorlund ● Bolero Records ● Cue Music ● AUX Publishing ● Cosmos Music ● Abraham Lundquist Musikförlag ● Lionheart Music Group ● Mono Music ● Mars Music ● Universal Music Publishing ● Kobalt Scandinavia ● Warner/Chappell Music ● ICE Services ● The Kennel ● G2 Publishing ● Telegram Studios ● Sony/ATV Scandinavia ● Ten Music Group ● Extreme Music ● Sweden Songs ● Razor Boy Music Publishing ● Subliminal Sounds ● National ● Stiggy Music & Management ● Peer Music ● Streoscope Music Scandinavia ● Playground ● Sound Pollution Distribution ● Mr. Radar ● Start Klart ● Monza ● Smilodon ● Music Super Circus ● Snowflake Music ● Misty Music

Sheet Music

● Ehrlingförlagen ● David Media ● Bo Ejeby Förlag ● Gazell ● Gehrmans

Performance Rights Performance rights in Sweden are administrated by the collecting societies STIM and SAMI.

STIM collects revenues on behalf of 71,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers and has bilateral agreements in place with collecting societies all over the world.

SAMI collects performance royalties for artists, musicians and record labels and has reciprocal partnerships in place with over 40 performer organisations in Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Management

Music companies working with artist management in Sweden include: ● Stereoscope Music Scandinavia ● Lionheart Music Group ● Stockhouse ● Lolinn ● ST4T ● Lateral Management ● Bud Fox ● Subliminal Sounds ● Comedia ● Wife ● D&D Management ● Versity Music ● Headstomp Productions ● Ten Music Group ● Familjen Beckman ● Swing Kids Live

Festivals ● Sweden Rock ● Umeå Open ● Way Out West ● Sthlm Jazz Fest ● Stockholm Music and Arts ● Peace & Love World Forum ● Summerburst ● Storsjöyran ● Gagnef ● Popaganda ● Bråvalla

Venues Stockholm Gothenburg ● Ericsson Globe Arenas (Globen, Tele2 ● Musikens Hus Arena, Annexet, Hovet, Söderstadion) ● Lokal Sinnet ● Cirkus ● Henriksberg ● Friends Arena ● Truckstop Alaska ● Debaser ● Sticky Fingers ● Fryshuset ● Nefertiti ● Nalen

● Södra Teatern Malmö ● Berns ● Babel ● Inkonst ● Kulturbolaget Media, PR & Promo

Print

The largest national newspapers in Sweden are:

● Dagens Nyheter ● Svenska Dagbladet ● Aftonbladet ● Expressen

Music Magazines ● Orkesterjournalen ● Gaffa ● Sweden Rock Magazine ● Lira ● Close-up Magazine ● Obladoo ● Rockfoto Music Business Media ● Kingsize Magazine ● Musikindustrin ● Musikant ● Skap-nytt ● Nutida Musik ● Stim-magasinet ● Tidskrift Opera ● Opus Magasin

Radio

National Radio Commercial Radio ● Sveriges Radio P2 ● Rix FM ● Sveriges Radio Jazzradion ● Bandit Rock ● Sveriges Radio P1 ● Lugna Favoriter ● Sveriges Radio P3 ● Mix Megapol ● Sveriges Radio P4 ● Rockklassiker ● The Voice ● Vinyl 107 ● Radio 107.5 Here is an extensive list of the various Swedish radio stations.

Relevant TV-news programs:

● Aktuellt ● Rapport ● Kulturnyheterna ● TV4-nyheterna

Networking Arenas Where’s the Music? is arranged in the city of Norrköping, about 160 km south-west of Stockholm.

Where’s the Music? was a arranged for the first time in 2015 and hosted 144 acts and 32 speakers. There is an open-for-all concert and showcase part as well as an industry event with a networking and conference program.

Taxation

Value-added Tax

B2B trade between businesses eligible to pay VAT is generally tax free inside of the EU. With B2B- trade, it is the responsibility of the buyer to pay VAT according to the buying country’s laws. However, the buyer is allowed to apply for a refund when submitting their taxes, which makes the transaction practically tax-free. When selling to consumers, tax is collected by the country of the provider.The same thing goes for services: the buyer country collects the VAT when the buyer is registered for VAT.If the buyer is not registered for VAT (in other words, the buyer is a consumer) the VAT is collected in the provider country.

The standard VAT rate for Sweden is 25%. Invoicing for an artist performance is VAT-free if the performance takes places in front of an audience and as long as it is the artist who sends the invoice. If the invoice is sent by a third party (e.g. a booking agency) the VAT rate is 25%.

The VAT rate for admittance fees to concerts and live performances is 6%. This tax is usually collected by the promoter. For works of art covered by the copyright law (e.g. records) the tax rate is 6%.

Income tax

As an artist, you are also obliged to pay a 15% tax (A-SINK) on all income you earned in Sweden – typically the payment you receive for performing.

However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. For instance, royalties and other copyright-based payments are tax-free. Busking is also tax-free, as well as refunds for travel and accommodation expenses.

It is the responsibility of the promoter to report and pay an artist’s income tax. Reporting and statements are prepared in the same way as a promoter’s other employees. If you are employed during your time of performance (i.e. you are being paid a salary) your employer also needs to pay a payroll tax. However, if you are invoicing through a company your employer/ buyer does not need to pay payroll tax, as only the transaction is taxed as income (15%).

If you have only paid income tax then you do not need to file your taxes in Sweden.

It is recommended that you check best practices with your accountant.

Useful and practical tax information about taxation of Nordic citizens in all Nordic languages can be found on Nordisk eTax.

*Sources and additional information (in Swedish). 12 13 14

12 “Särskild inkomstskatt för utomlands bosatta artister och idrottsutövare (A-SINK).” https:// www.skatteverket.se/privat/skatter/internationellt.4.6a6688231259309ff1f800029140.html. Accessed 24 Aug. 2018.

13 “Utbetalning av ersättning till utomlands bosatta artister, idrottsutövare m.fl.” https:// www.skatteverket.se/download/18.77dbcb041438070e03969aa/1389784425409/52011.pdf. Accessed 24 Aug. 2018.

14 "Insights | KPMG | GLOBAL." https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights.html. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018. Pólland (Poland)

Introduction to the Market Population: 38 587 820 (2016)

GDP per capita: approx. $25,825 (OECD) Disposable income per household: approx. $17,820

From the recent political changes, to the fact that is is a significant, emerging economy and geographically located in the center of the continent – Poland is one of the most interesting countries in Europe at this moment in time and one worth paying attention to. The domestic music market has been quite strong for some time as has the import of world-class acts that can headline the major festivals or fill stadiums. It’s only in the last five or six years that the market has opened up to mid- to small-level foreign bands (and Polish bands, for that matter). This also means that there is a marked difference in the ‘old school’ industry (that is more conservative) and the young, up-and-coming generation that is very open to new phenomena, technologies, trends and ways of doing business.

This also means that Poland’s music industry is still developing when it comes to international norms and business practices. Fortunately, Polish industry members are learning quickly, travelling frequently and establishing organizations, companies and partnerships that support the development of the market as a whole.

A few statistics that point to very positive growth in the industry:

● Overall industry measures approx. 25 million euro (20% growth from Q1 205 to Q1 2016) ● Digital sales grew by 13% (1⁄3 of the market) ● Physical sales grew by 23% (2⁄3 of the market) ● Vinyl sales grew by 39% and make up 8.3% of physical sales ● Foreign albums make up 41% of the market (15% increase in sales) ● Poland is home to Europe’s largest music festival – Woodstock Festival (approx. 500,000 attendees annually) 37% of Poles attended 1 or more concerts in 2014 (over twice as many as visited a museum, gallery or theater). Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution

There are three major international record labels in Poland: Sony Music, Warner Music, Universal Music.

There are also lots of indie labels, among them:

● Mystic Production (specializing in a ● NextPop very significant foreign catalogue) ● Thin Man Records ● Kayax (biggest indie label, responsible ● Brennesel for Poland’s current export star, ● Antena Krzyku Brodka) PIAS (just starting to cement a real presence in Poland) ● ForTune (jazz) ● LADO ABC ● U Know Me

Publishing

There are only a few publishing companies in Poland.

● Sony ATV ● Schubert Publishing ● Jazzboy Publishing

Performance Rights Performance rights in Poland are administered by the collecting societies: ZAiKS and STOART .

Management In Poland a lot of labels offer 360 deals currently so all of them usually offer also management. There are a few strictly artist management agencies.

Some music companies working with artist management in Poland include: ● ART2Music ● Chaos Management ● Artgrupa ● Toinen Music ● TBA Music ● Kayax ● Chimes

Plus a myriad of freelance managers. Live

There are two levels of touring:

● Major bands targeting the largest mass audiences and venues of 1,000-2,000

● Alternative circuit – venues of approx. 200-400

Tour requires extra PR activities in order to guarantee crowds. For a new band, most promoters are likely to offer rather small guarantee, plus a percent of ticket sales/accomodation/food/bar.

Promoters

● AlterArt ● Go Ahead ● Knockout Production Good Music Production

Festivals

● Open’er Festival ● Krakow Live Festival ● Orange Warsaw Festival ● Pol’and‘rock Festival ● OFF Festival ● Red Bull Music Academy Weekender Audioriver ● Tauron Nowa Muzyka ● Halfway Festival ● New Neighborhoods Festival (focus on Nordic music)

Clubs (a few examples)

Warsaw

● Progresja Proxima Stodoła Palladium ● Cafe Kulturalna Poznan

● CK Zamek ● Meskalina ● Hala nr. 2 Trójmiasto

● Sfinks 700 B90 Wrocław

● Sala Gotycka

Media, PR & Promo

TV

Breakfast TV shows – guests appearances /music material + live music at the end TVP Kultura – culture channel, features music and shows with guests.

● MuzoTV – pop music ● 4FunTV – dance & pop music ● EskaTV – dance music ProstoTV – hip hop channel

Radio

There are very many radio stations in Poland – public and private. There are few nation wide:

Public:

● Polish Radio I – focused on popular music and golden oldies ● Polish Radio II – focused on jazz and classic ● Polish Radio III (Trojka) – the most important station for indie music ● Polish Radio IV (Czwórka) – only online since summer 2016, focused onpopular and indie music In every city there is a city Polish Radio division e.g. Polish Radio Krakow, Polish Radio Poznan, etc.

Private:

● RMF FM – biggest commercial station, only hits and mainstream music,widest reach ● Zet Group – commercial stations, divided by genre, e.g. Zet – popularmainstream, hits only, Chilli Zet – indie, soul, r’n’b; Zet Gold – goldenoldies, Antyradio – rock music ● Eska – dance music, Eska rock – rock music (only online) ● Student radio stations (most prominent: Kampus – Warsaw, UWM FM -Olsztyn, Afera – Poznań, Radiofonia Żak – Krakow) For jazz music, the most important station is Polish Radio II. There is also online Radio.

Online

● Onet ● Vice ● Muzyka Interia ● Outrave ● Muzyka Noisey ● LAIF – very interested in Nordic music ● RedBull Muzyka ● Jazzarium ● Brand New Anthem ● Jazz Forum ● Music Is ● Jazzpress ● So music!

Print

There aren’t many Polish paper magazines dedicated to popular music only but every lifestyle paper or magazine has culture section where news on albums releases or tours etc. are often presented. There are a few on jazz though.

Here are a few of the music print media:

● Gazeta Magnetofonowa – primarily on Polish music LAIF – published quarterly ● Gitarzysta – monthly magazine ● Perkusista – monthly magazine ● Lizard – monthly magazine ● Jazz Forum

PR agencies There are few PR music agencies – it is still a developing market in this sense.

● Chimes ● Mood Production ● Smile PR ● Fabryka Rozgłosu

Industry Networking Arenas

● Spring Break (showcase festival) ● European Music Fair (industry meeting and conference + showcase) ● Warsaw Music Week (industry meeting, conference & showcase) Taxation

Unlimited tax obligation in Poland

Individuals with their place of residence in Poland are taxed on their total income, regardless of where the income is earned (unlimited tax obligation in Poland). Individuals who do not have a place of residence in Poland are taxed solely on income earned in Poland (limited tax obligation in Poland).

Natural persons in Poland are subject to personal income tax calculated, as a rule, according to a progressive tax scale. Tax rates vary depending on the income earned, defined as the total revenue minus tax deductible costs, earned in a given taxable year. Full information available here: http:// www.paiz.gov.pl/polish_law/taxation/pit

Current politics The Polish political situation is currently a bit tricky – the conservative government is implementing a rather populist set of policies and has euro-centric tendencies. That being said, it is important to note that this has had (and will likely not have) much influence on the daily life of the majority of Poles, especially those working in the creative industries.

If you are, however, interested in the political changes, here are a few articles that give you a bit of a picture of what is happening:

● – Potrait of Jarosław Kaczyński, head of the ruling PiS party and MP

This article provides a great bit of background as to the political motivations behind the PiS party’s decisions and legislative proposals:

"Poland's 'powerholic' - Politico Europe." 8 Jul. 2016, https://www.politico.eu/article/polands- powerholic-jaroslaw-kaczynski-warsaw-law-and-justice-party-pis/.

● Local governments are doing great things in terms of supporting more liberal policies:

"Local governments in Poland need to defend Constitution | HuffPost." 18 Oct. 2016, https:// www.huffingtonpost.com/pawel-adamowicz/local-governments-in-pola_b_12537154.html.

● the Gdańsk mayor also announced that he is starting a committee on integration made up of migrants and refugees.15

The city of Warsaw announced a policy against violence and racism on 15 Oct at a large condoned and supported gathering at the city’s Palace of Culture

15 "Local governments in Poland need to defend Constitution | HuffPost." Accessed August 23, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/pawel-adamowicz/local-governments-in-pola_b_12537154.html. The new government is implemeting policy to foster an innovative environment for entrepreneurs, startups and research and development

"Poland plans to turn universities into start-up ... - Financial Times." 16 Oct. 2016, https://www.ft.com/ content/dc01376a-451c-11e6-9b66-0712b3873ae1.

● Polish society is getting quite vocal about sticking up for their rights:

"Polish Women Protest Catholic Bishops' Intervention In Abortion ...." 19 Mar. 2018, https:// www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/polish-women-abortion-protest-catholic- bishops_us_5ab00be5e4b00549ac7e3525. Þýskaland (Germany)

Introduction to the Market

Population: 82.3 million

GDP per capita: $47,893

Germany is regarded as one of the Nordic region’s most important export markets. A number of Nordic performers and composers have experienced significant artistic and commercial success over the past 10 years. The market is perceived as very open to Nordic music and Nordic culture in general.

Germany has the third largest market for recorded music globally and a strong live sector. In 2015, the music market as a whole grew by 3.9%. Germany is the fourth richest country in the world in terms of nominal GDP. The country is the world’s second largest exporter and third largest importer. The music industry has close relations with neighboring countries Austria and Switzerland (popularly known as the GAS territories) and success in Germany often ripples across borders. Germany (and Berlin in particular) are notably close to the fast-growing Polish market. Indeed, Berlin has arguably become Europe’s entrepreneurial and start-up center and has nurtured a number of exciting developments at the intersection of music/entertainment and technology.

Record Labels, Licensing & Distribution

Germany is currently the world’s third largest market for recorded music. Physical formats still dominate and in 2015 it accounted for 69.1% of the recorded music market. The ratio between distribution of physical/digital is almost diametrically opposed to the Nordic territories. Streaming services came relatively late to the market (Spotify only launched in Germany in March 2012)

Even though physical is strong, digital revenues increased to 30% of the whole recorded music market in 2015. In 2015, roughly half of the digital revenue came from downloads and the rest from subscription-based streaming.

Streaming services account for a relatively small share of the market, but are growing rapidly. It is worth noting that even though Spotify is the most important player, there are over 14 services engaged in serious competition for market shares. Labels

Also interesting to note is that the three majors are based in different cities – with Universal Music in Berlin, Warner Music in Hamburg and Sony Music in Munich. However, Sony has its offices for jazz and classical in Berlin, as well as the successful imprint Four Music.

The German market also sustains more than 1,000 independent record companies. Below is a small excerpt of those who work or have worked with Nordic rights holders:

● Act ● Domino (Berlin) ● Greco-Roman (Berlin) ● Compost Records (Munich) ● Edel (Hamburg) ● Jazzhaus Records (Freiburg) ● City Slang (Berlin) ● Jazz Sick Records (Düsseldorf) ● Grönland(Berlin) ● Get Physical Music (Berlin) ● Ministry of Sound (Berlin) ● Bpitch Control (Berlin) ● Morr Music ● Nuclear Blast (Donzdorf) ● Superstar Recordings (Berlin) ● Ozella Music ● K7 (Berlin) ● Pias (Hamburg) ● Kompakt (Köln) ● Kontor Records (Hamburg) ● Cargo records (Wuppertal)

Germany does not have a particularly developed market for sync and music supervision businesses. Aside from a few specialists, the majority of this work is undertaken by in-house production companies, advertising agencies or directly with copyright holders and publishers. Germany also differs sharply from US and European models in that licensees often have to pay to have their repertoire played on major commercial TV channels such as RTL and ProSieben.

Sync and music consultancy companies include:

● Hear Dis! (Stuttgart/Berlin) ● Tracks and Fields (Berlin) ● Supertape (Berlin)

Publishing

Most major multinational publishers are represented in Germany and typically report back to head offices in London or New York. For several of these, A&R responsibilities for Nordic repertoire belongs to the Swedish head office – although this often depends on where the copyright holder is most active. Majors

● Sony / ATV (Berlin) ● Warner / Chappell(Hamburg) ● Universal Music Publishing Group (Berlin) ● BMG Rights (Berlin)

Independent

● Imagen (Berlin) ● Rolf Budde Musikverlag (Berlin) ● Peer Music Classical (Hamburg) ● Peer Musikverlag (Hamburg) ● Roba Music Publishing (Hamburg) ● International Musikverlage Sikorski (Hamburg) ● AMV Talpa (Hamburg) ● Freibank Musikverlage (Hamburg) ● Hansa Musik Verlag (Berlin) ● AMV Publishing (Hamburg) ● Kobalt (Berlin)

Performance Rights

Representing the rights of composers, authors and publishers, GEMA(Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte) has reciprocal licensing agreements in place with all Nordic collecting societies. Despite some criticisms of its licensing policy towards certain digital services (notably YouTube) GEMA is considered a successful organisation within Germany. Nordic writers should contact GEMA if they believe their compositions are being played in Germany or if they plan to tour the country.

GVL (Die Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten GmbH) represents and protects the rights of performers when their recordings are used in visual performance – for example, in video, DVD, TV or stage. GVL licences on behalf of all musicians and creative producers. Musicians may also be members of GVL as an ensemble/orchestra, but can not have a personal membership (as is the case with GEMA). Note that there is a more complex calculation of an artist’s income with GVL than with GEMA.

Management The German market is populated by a number of small companies working in management. For Nordic artists an alternative strategy might involve hiring a specialist music consultant with knowledge of the German industry and insight into contract negotiations, etc. Consultants who have already worked with Nordic clients include:

● Tessy Schulz ● Ulysses Hüpauff ● Sven Fobbe ● Pino Brönner ● Christian Hald Buhl ● Gregor Stöckl ● Christina Schwaß

The trade body for German managers is the IMUC.

Live The live sector is now the predominant force in the German music industry, and has grown rapidly since 1995 (Source: GfK 2009) although revenues have been turbulent over recent years. In 2013, the revenue of the whole live sector increased by 15% and the number of event visitors increased by ca 9% (BDV 2015).

The main cities for touring are Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Frankfurt . Other relevant destinations on the touring circuit include the Leipzig/Dresden region, Stuttgart/Karlsruhe, the Ruhr, Hannover and Düsseldorf

The country has a good transport infrastructure and, given its geographical position, Germany makes an ideal anchor for major European tours.

Unlike the US and the UK, the dividing lines between promoters and agents can be relatively diffuse and they can broadly be divided by:

Agents: who work on a commission – either exclusively for Germany, GAS or occasionally throughout Europe.

Tour Promotors: who often work with British agents (or management) and sell concerts to the local/ venue/festival promoters.

Promoters: who taken on the organiser role (along with any financial risk).

Promoters ● CTS Eventim (ticket company) ● FKP Scorpio ● DEAG ● MCT ● Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur In practice, most of these players tend to work closely with British agents and arrange some of Germany’s (and Europe’s) largest festivals. FKP Scorpio with Folkert Koopmans is now the largest festival organiser in Europe, with a number of events in their portfolio including Hultsfred, Best Kept Secret, Southside, Hurricane and Greenfield Festival.

Other important companies in the live sector include:

● Schoneberg ● Musikbüro Gert Pfankuch ● Karsten Jahnke Konzertdirektion ● Asia Network ● A.S.S. Concerts ● Hopper Management ● Four artists ● Planetrock Booking ● SSC Group ● Ohsotrue ● Target Concerts ● MCT Electronic music: ● Neuland Concerts ● SSC Group ● Backroom Entertainment World music: ● Magnet ● F-cat ● Surefire Agency ● Prime Tours & Promotion ● Geist Agency ● Musicas ● Solar Penguin ● La Candela ● Engelhardt Promotions Others: ● DEAG ( m a i n s t r e a m s h o w s , Jazz: entertainment) ● Karsten Jahnke ● Meistersinger ● Bremme Hohensee ● Headquarter Entertainment (pop, alternative, jazz etc) ● Artribute ● Semmel Concerts ● F-Cat ● Avocado Booking (hard rock/metal) ● Werner Oberender ● Uli Filda ● Dr. Raimund Kast Kulturbüro Festivals

The German festival market is diverse and well established and host to some of the world’s most iconic events. Those of interest to Nordic artists and music businesses include:

● Rock am Ring / Rock im Park – around 90.000/75.000 capacity – owned and run by MLK (Nurbürgring Eifel / Zeppelinfeld Nürnberg). ● Wacken Open Air – around 70,000 capacity (Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein). ● Nature One – around 61,000 capacity (2009)(Raketenbasis Pydna, Kastellaun/Hunsrück) ● Southside / Hurricane – around 50,000 capacity (Take-Off Park, Neuhausen Ob Eck / Eichenring in Scheeßel) – owned by FKP Scorpio booking agency ● Fusion Festival – around 50.000 capacity (2010) (Mecklenburg) ● Sonne Mond Sterne – around 30,000 capacity (Saalburg Beach) ● Highfield – around 25,000 capacity (2009) (Störmthaler See, Grosspösna/Leipzig) ● Melt! Festival – around 20.000 (2011) capacity – is owned and run by the Melt Festival ● Berlin Festival (Berlin) ● Haldern Pop (Haldern) ● Dockville (Hamburg) ● Elbjazz (Hamburg) ● CTM / Transmediale (Berlin)

Jazz festivals: ● Enjoy Jazz, Heidelberg, Mannheim, ● MaerzMusik / Berliner Festspiele Ludwigshafen ● Überjazz (Hamburg) ● Elbjazz (Hamburg) ● Moers Festival (Moers) ● Münster International Jazz Festival An overview of German jazz festivals can be (Münster) found here. ● JazzFest Berlin / Berliner Festspiele

Electronic music festivals:

● CTM Transmediale (Berlin)

C/O Pop, Fusion and Melt! have great focus on electronic music.

Other festivals with a specific focus on Nordic artists include:

Nordischer Klang (Greifswald), Nordwind (Berlin), Enjoy Jazz, CTM Transmediale, Nordklang (Sveits). For up to date information, Intro Magazin has published a guide (www.festival-guide.de) that contains a good overview of both German and international festivals.

Media, PR & Promo

Because of its geographical split into separate states, the media landscape in Germany is decentralised. Therefore it can be important to set aside additional time for promo for an artist to achieve maximum impact. Due to the diversity of the various national and regional media, it is recommended that Nordic businesses recruit a professional promotion agency.

The media is dominated by public broadcasting and a handful of private players. In total there are 9 public broadcasters in Germany. The most famous are the television channels ARD and ZDF – although both TV and radio have a strong regional focus. Additionally, Germany is home to some of Europe’s strongest European private entertainment companies such as RTL, SAT1 and PRO7.

The German radio market is relatively fragmented, with over 380 stations (including 250 commercial channels). Key music programs and stations include:

● 1Live (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) ● Radio Eins (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg) ● Radio Fritz (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg) ● SWR3 – broadcasting group in the region of Baden-Württemberg and member of ARD. ● Flux FM – Berlin-based innovative online radio ● Byte FM – relatively small but influential ● FM4 (public broadcaster in Austria, but with a large impact area in Bavaria, similar to the BBC’s 6 Music)

Links to charts and sales

● http://www.mediabiz.de/musik/charts ● www.musikindustrie.de ● http://www.radiocharts.com/html/charts_de_main.htm ● http://www.musictrace.de/ ● https://www.gfk-e.com/charts/(Media Control/GfK)

Print Media

In terms of print media, the main music-based titles are: ● Musik Express, magazine / online – national monthly magazine featuring music news ● Rolling Stone Germany, magazine / online – German Rolling Stone ● Intro, magazine / online – free music magazine with interviews and reviews ● Visions – magazine, pop, rock, metal ● Spex – “intellectual” music magazine with varied coverage. Also available online. Key German-specific online music and entertainment magazines, include:

● Motor – including reviews and interviews.

● Tonspion – news blog featuring music downloads, video, news and comments.

● Mitvergnuegen– “hip” page that recommends events etc.

● Vice/Noisey – Vice’s online video venture in partnership with YouTube.

A more detailed list of German entertainment magazines can be found here.

Other important genre specific titles include:

Jazz:

● Jazz Thing ● Jazzthetik ● Jazz Podium ● JazzZeitung ● Jazz Echo

Art music: FonoForum, Neue Musik Zeitun, MusikTexteNeue Zeitschrift für Musik, Position – Beiträge zur Neuen Musik.

Hard rock/metal: Metal Hammer, Visions, Sonic Seducer (Dark Wave).

Electronic music: Electronic Beats, Groove Magazine, De:Bug, Resident Advisor, Rave Line.

Germany also has two trade magazines focusing on industry news for Germany and Europe:

Musicmarkt – a weekly publication, covering Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Musikwoche – a weekly print edition, with strong online coverage and in-depth reports.

Industry Networking Arenas

Reeperbahn (Hamburg) Germany’s largest showcase for pop/rock that incorporates more than 400 events across 70 venues as well as an extensive conference programme. Taking place in September, the festival brings together music industry players from all over the world, but especially from Germany and continental Europe. C/O Pop (Cologne) A festival and music conference focused mostly on the pop/rock and electronic music scenes – as well as new media/technology. Taking place in August, the industry program involves a network of international festivals, matchmaking and panels.

Jazzahead (Bremen) Jazzahead has established itself as the most important meeting place for jazz in Europe with over 7,000 visitors, including 2,250 professional participants from 31 different countries. The exhibition hall features over 500 exhibitors including record companies, agents, venues and media.

Berlin Music Days (BerMuDa) A specialist conference and festival for electronic music. BerMuDa takes place in November and is spread over several clubs in Berlin. There will be no 2015 edition.

Introducing (Berlin) Introducing is a series of concerts organised by Intro Magazine and Melt Booking. The series focuses on ‘new’ talents and it is usually a full house as the evenings are free.

Ja Ja Ja (Berlin) Modelled on their successful UK initiative,NOMEX are currently developing a similar showcase concept for Germany.

Taxation

Value-added Tax (VAT)

B2B trade between businesses eligible to pay VAT is generally tax-free inside of the EU. In B2B-trade it is the buyer who is responsible to deduct, register and pay the VAT according to the buying country’s laws. However, the buyer is allowed to apply for a refund when submitting their taxes, which makes the transaction practically tax-free. When selling to consumers, tax is collected by the country of the provider.

In practice, this means that it is the responsibility of the promoter or booking agent to pay the VAT when buying services from a non-German artist.

The standard VAT tax-rate for Germany is 19%. For imported works of art the VAT-rate is 7%.

If a business is not registered for VAT in Germany, but sells and delivers goods to customers in Germany who are not VAT registered to a value of € 100,000 per year (or more), then they are required to register and to account for VAT in Germany (www.kpmg.com).

Useful questions to consider in terms of VAT are:

• Who is buying, who is selling – is it a consumer or a B2B transaction?

• Which country is the providing country – whose tax legislation should be applied?

• When it is clear whose tax legislation should be applied – is this a taxable or a tax-free transaction?

• Who pays the tax – the buyer or the provider?

Further information about the taxation processes can be found here and here. It is also advised to check best practices with your local tax authorities and your accountant.

Income tax

An artist is eligible for reduced taxes in Germany if he or she has income in Germany and is a non- resident – ie if the artist remains in the country for less than 180 days during any twelve-month period. Anyone who stays in the country for longer than that is taxed in the same way as a German citizen.

As a rule, an artist needs to pay income tax on performance fees – unless their fee is € 250 or less per performance (Milderungsregelung). This rule can be applied to all performers individually if they choose to be paid as individuals. If the fee is paid to a company (a booking agency, or if the band/ artist is also a company) the rule is only applied to the company as a juridical person – ie if the fee is higher than € 250, then the company must pay tax on that income. It is not possible to split the income between a company and individuals in order to make the Milderungsregelung-rule apply.

An artist who is paid more than € 250 per performance needs to pay tax on that income. The standard income tax rate for artists is 15.825% and there is also a solidarity levy of 5.2%. These taxes apply to both real individuals and juridical persons (companies). Be aware that these taxes are also applied to revenues gained through means other than performing, for instance sales of recordings or merchandise.

Deposits are also subject to tax. Therefore, from a tax-point of view, it might be a good idea not to ask for a deposit, but instead ask the promoter to pay some of the expenses that can be estimated in advance.

As a non-resident with reduced taxed rates, it is possible to obtain refunds and deductions for traveling and accommodation expenses. This might not always be profitable for individuals, since the income tax rate is then raised to around 30%. For all juridical persons the rate stays at 15.825%.

It is the responsibility of the promoter to deduct, register and pay taxes. Therefore it’s possible that all relevant invoices need to be sent to them. It is recommended to ask for a receipt in order to prove that any taxes have been paid, and in order to avoid double-taxation when returning to the home country. *Sources and additional information 16 17 18 19 20 21

16 "Insights | KPMG | GLOBAL." https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights.html. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

17 "Momsbeskattning vid utrikeshandel - Vero." 2 Jan. 2017, https://www.vero.fi/sv/foretag-och- samfund/om-foretagsbeskattningen/momsbeskattning/momsbeskattning_vid_utrikeshandel/. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

18 "Tyskland – Export Music Sweden." http://exms.org/exportmarknader/tyskland/. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

19 "Income taxes abroad - Germany - Europa EU." https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/ taxes/income-taxes-abroad/germany/index_en.htm. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

20 "Freistellung - BZSt-Portal: Internetauftritt des Bundeszentralamtes für ...." https://www.bzst.de/DE/ Steuern_International/Abzugsteuerentlastung/Freistellung_Erstattung/FAQ/FAQ_node.html. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.

21 "EVENT- UND MEDIENRECHT - Die Ausländersteuer." https://www.eumrecht.de/eventrecht/event- und-steuern/die-ausl%C3%A4ndersteuer/. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018.