How can we boost European music?

In 2021, a task force composed of 12 emerging music business professionals from eight different European countries was selected by Eurosonic to embark on a seven-month expedition to several industry meetings in Europe to gather and share knowledge about the music industry. The goal has been to find new strategies to increase collaborations in the internal music market in Europe.

Eurosonic Noorderslag is the last stop for the task force after visiting the SPOT Festival in Aarhus, Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg and Iceland Airwaves in Reykjavik. At Eurosonic Noorderslag, they will present their findings and the insights they have gained, as well as present their proposals to a panel of industry experts, leading to an interactive discussion on how we can boost European music and strengthen collaboration across borders.

Director Kathrine S. Finnskog sits on the panel at Eurosonic and thinks it will be interesting to hear what advice and recommendations this group has come up with.

- They have gathered experience and insight from industry professionals from all over Europe, and my expectations are that they give us concrete proposals on how we can collaborate more and better to strengthen the European music market, says Synnes Finnskog.

- Investing in a market closer to you will provide sustainable and environmental benefits, and more cooperation in Europe will also strengthen our competitiveness in the face of markets further afield. But first and foremost, we all share concerns about how revenues will be generated and distributed in the future, where we not only compete with each other, but also with technology platforms, audience attention, pandemics and political ambitions. If the advice in the middle of this manages to be realistic and market-oriented, then we get started both quickly and accurately.

In the panel with Finnskog is Chris Cook, Co-Founder and MD of CMU, Susanne Hollmann, Deputy Head Cultural Policy, European Commission, Jesper Mardahl, Managing Director Promus Aarhus, Project Lead EMBTF and host Bo Blaabjerg, KaosPilots, Aarhus, Denmark.

The Task Force:

1. Astrid Storm Thorsen | A&R at Copenhagen Records (Universal Music Denmark) | DK

2. Colm O’Herlihy | Founder INNI | Iceland

3. Hildur Maral | Co-Label Manager & Head of Marketing at Mercury KX (Decca/Universal Music Group) | UK/Iceland

4. Jens Uhre Karlsson | Manager at Heartbeat Management, Agent at Backbeat Music | DK

5. Jørgen Sælensminde Avsnes | Artist and producer Management at Made Management | NOR

6. Maria Riedel Borg | disco:wax / No3 / One Seven Music / Sony Music | DK

7. Oskar Pullinen | A&R at The Bank | FIN

8. Robert Frederick Harry Aitken | Operations & Finance Officer at Brighter Sounds, Trustee at National Foundation for Youth Music, Co-Director at Traffic MCR, DJ & Producer (AYRTAN) | UK

9. Sandra Perens | A&R Manager at Tier Music Publishing, Event Coordinator at Arvo Pärt Centre | EST

10. Sjoerd Vriesema | Freelance project manager | NL

11. Tom Besford | Chief Executive at English Folk Expo | UK

12. Victoria Brüker | Department Development Artist at OHA! Music GbR | DE