Eurosonic Noorderslag highlights the growing music scene in Portugal

Each year Eurosonic Noorderslag highlights a different country, showcasing the diverse musical talent across Europe. This year Portugal will be the focus country taking centre stage, organised in cooperation with WHY Portugal.

Creative director of Eurosonic Noorderslag, Peter Smidt comments: “We feel not everyone is aware of the fact that the Portuguese music sector has a lot to offer to Europe and the world. They do not only have a large number of interesting new acts, but Portugal is also a country with an incredibly huge amount of festivals  that offer great opportunities.”

Come and find out WHY Portugal is one of Europe’s most promising breeding grounds for new music.

Portuguese acts at Eurosonic Noorderslag 2017
A total of 21 acts from Portugal will be performing at the showcase festival in January: :papercutz, Batida presents The Almost Perfect DJ, Best Youth, DJ Firmeza, Dj Ride, First Breath After Coma, Gisela João, Glockenwise, Holy Nothing, Marta Ren & the Groovelvets, Memória de Peixe, Moonshiners, NEEV, Noiserv, Octa Push, Rodrigo Leão, Sam Alone and the Gravediggers, The Gift, The Happy Mess, Throes + The Shine and We Bless This Mess.
Find out more about the Portuguese acts at #ESNS17.

The Music Scene in Portugal
Alongside the acts playing in the festival program, the focus on Portugal continues at the Eurosonic Noorderslag conference where we delve deeper into the music and festival scene. During the conference there will be a Portugal focus lounge and WHY Portugal will be presenting the following panels:

WHY Portugal: Country Focus Panel. Come and find out WHY Portugal is one of Europe’s most promising breeding grounds for new music. With: David Ferreira (RTP), Pedro Coquenão (Batida), Márcio Laranjeira (Lovers & Lollypops) moderator: Rui Miguel Abreu.
WHY Portugal: Land of Festivals. Portugal has a population of 11 million, over 3 million festival goers and over 400 music festivals.  The country is a rich and flourishing home to festivals of all sizes covering every genre. With: Ricardo Bramão (APORFEST), Vanessa Careta (Música no Coração), José Eduardo Martins (Ritmos), Moderator: Vitor Belanciano  (O Público)

Eurosonic Noorderslag: Platform for European music
Eurosonic Noorderslag is the key exchange and networking platform for European music, with a proven track record for helping to break new acts on the international live music scene. Selling out each year, the event attracts more than 4,000 professional delegates, including representatives of over 400 international festivals. Each year, Eurosonic Noorderslag presents showcases by more than 350 acts alongside a conference program covering the latest developments in the international music, media, production and interactive industries.

Eurosonic Noorderslag takes place on 11, 12, 13 and 14 January 2017.

Contact
Emily Segameglio | Global Publicity
emily@globalpublicity.co.uk


ERA ISTREFI announced as winner of 2017 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA)

Albanian singer Era Istrefi was announced as the tenth winner of the 2017 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA), the European music awards for emerging artists. Istrefi was surprised at Top Albania Radio.

Born in Pristina, Istrefi debuted in 2013 as simply Era with her single ‘Mani Per Money’. Blending pop and reggae in the style of early Rihanna, the track charted in Albania and Kosovo, as did the follow-up ‘E Dehun’. Third single ‘Njo Si Ti’ charted in Belgium, but international recognition truly happened in 2015 when the single ‘Bon Bon’ became an overnight viral sensation, reaching an astonishing 133 million views on YouTube alone. Now preparing her debut album, Istrefi signed with Ultra/Sony.

Earlier, Alan Walker (no), Jaakko Eino Kalevi (fi), Namika (de), Walking on Cars (ie), Hinds (es), Jain (fr), Filous (at), Natalie La Rose (nl) and Dua Lipa (gb) were also announced as winners of an EBBA. A total of ten EBBA winners have now been announced. The Awards Ceremony will take place on 11 January 2017 in Groningen, as part of the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival.

The EBBA
The EBBA celebrate new and border-breaking artists who create today and tomorrow's music. From Adele (United Kingdom) to Christine & the Queens (France), the EBBA winners represent some of the standout European sounds of recent years. Other previous winners include Stromae, Gabriel Rios, Hozier, Of Monsters and Men, Mumford & Sons, Aurora, Disclosure, John Newman, C2C, Tokio Hotel, The Script, Years and Years, Robin Schulz, Carnival Youth, MØ and Selah Sue.

From the group of enthusiastic gig-goers out on the weekend to the industry dedicated to making the music you love, Music Moves Europe. The EBBA are one of the EU's ways of celebrating European popular and contemporary music, by bringing the artists, the industry and the fans together to celebrate European music.

Every year, 10 European artists receive an EBBA to recognise their success in countries other than their own. This success is measured by:

The European Border Breakers Charts, launched earlier this year and compiled by Radiomonitor, rank tracks from around Europe based on airplay abroad.

To be eligible for the 2017 awards, the artists must have achieved border-breaking success with their first international release in Europe between 1 August 2015 and 31 July 2016 and come from a country participating in the EU's Creative Europe programme.

The EBBA, now in their 14th year, are an EU Prize, organised by Eurosonic Noorderslag in partnership with the European Commission (Creative Europe) and the European Broadcasting Union, with support from Buma Cultuur, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Province of Groningen, the City of Groningen and Music Week.

Public choice
One of the winners will receive a Public Choice Award based on votes cast on the EBBA website from 5 to 23 December 2016. Up to ten voters, chosen at random from different countries, will be invited to the award ceremony. Each will be able to bring a friend and the flight and hotel costs will be taken care of.

EBBA ceremony
The winners will receive their award in a ceremony hosted by TV personality and musician Jools Holland at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen, Netherlands, on 11 January 2017. The ceremony will feature performances by the winning acts.

Contact
Nikki McNeill | Global Publicity
nikki@globalpublicity.co.uk
Events PR | Festival PR | Music PR

 


DUA LIPA wins European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA)

Dua Lipa is announced as winner of the 2017 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA), the European music awards for emerging artists.

Dua Lipa is a cool singer-songwriter from London, who writes love songs with a grand sound and a twist: strings, melancholic lyrics, electronic beats and dark, sensuous vocals. Hits include Be The One, Last Dance and Hotter Than Hell, proving that Dua Lipa is a mature artist in her own right, with a bright future ahead of her. Over the last year, she performed at a multitude of European festivals, including Lowlands, Frequency, Pukkelpop and Way Out West and charted in countries such as Denmark, The Netherlands, Germany and Austria.

Earlier, Alan Walker (no), Jaakko Eino Kalevi (fi), Namika (de), Walking On Cars (ie), Hinds (es), Jain (fr), Filous (at) and Natalie La Rose (nl) were also announced as winners of an EBBA. A total of ten EBBA winners will be announced in the upcoming weeks. The Awards Ceremony will take place on 11 January 2017 in Groningen, as part of the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival.

The EBBA
The EBBA celebrate new and border-breaking artists who create today and tomorrow's music. From Adele (United Kingdom) to Christine & the Queens (France), the EBBA winners represent some of the standout European sounds of recent years. Other previous winners include Stromae, Gabriel Rios, Hozier, Of Monsters and Men, Mumford & Sons, Aurora, Disclosure, John Newman, C2C, Tokio Hotel, The Script, Years and Years, Robin Schulz, Carnival Youth, MØ and Selah Sue.

From the group of enthusiastic gig-goers out on the weekend to the industry dedicated to making the music you love, Music Moves Europe. The EBBA are one of the EU's ways of celebrating European popular and contemporary music, by bringing the artists, the industry and the fans together to celebrate European music.

Every year, 10 European artists receive an EBBA to recognise their success in countries other than their own. This success is measured by:

The European Border Breakers Charts, launched earlier this year and compiled by Radiomonitor, rank tracks from around Europe based on airplay abroad.

To be eligible for the 2017 awards, the artists must have achieved border-breaking success with their first international release in Europe between 1 August 2015 and 31 July 2016 and come from a country participating in the EU's Creative Europe programme.

The EBBA, now in their 14th year, are an EU Prize, organised by Eurosonic Noorderslag in partnership with the European Commission (Creative Europe) and the European Broadcasting Union, with support from Buma Cultuur, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Province of Groningen, the City of Groningen and Music Week.

Public choice
One of the winners will receive a Public Choice Award based on votes cast on the EBBA website from 5 up to 23 December 2016. Up to ten voters, chosen at random from different countries, will be invited to the award ceremony. Each will be able to bring a friend and the flight and hotel costs will be taken care of.

EBBA ceremony
The winners will receive their award in a ceremony hosted by TV personality and musician Jools Holland at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen, Netherlands, on 11 January 2017. The ceremony will feature performances by the winning acts.

Contact
Nikki McNeill | Global Publicity
Nikki@globalpublicity.co.uk

 


ETEP final results for 2016: A record-breaking year!

This year, the European Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP) has generated a record-breaking number of shows by European artists on festivals across Europe. With 404 shows by 148 European artists, ETEP continues to stimulate cross border success of European artists and helps build artists' European and international careers.

Results
ETEP 2016 has resulted in a total of 404 shows by 148 artists from 27 different European countries. These astonishing numbers bring the grant total to 3091 shows by 1082 artist on 100 ETEP festivals since 2003. For 2016, these are the top scoring countries with their top scoring ETEP act:

AURORA                    NO      13
Blossoms                    GB      12
Liima                            DK/FI   8
My Baby                      NL       7
Have you ever seen
the Jane Fonda
Aerobic VHS?             FI         6
Fews                            SE       6
Leyya                           AT       6
The Academic             IE        6
Lost Frequencies       BE       5
Jain                             FR       5

Looking forward: ETEP 2017
We proudly welcome Maifeld Derby Mannheim, Milhões de Festa, Spring Break Showcase Festival & Conference, United Islands of Prague and Zürich Openair to ETEP in 2017. With them joining the ETEP family even more opportunities will be generated for European artists to showcase their music.

Why ETEP?
The European Talent Exchange Programme was introduced to make the “exchange” of European artists across Europe possible on a greater scale than ever before. An initiative of Eurosonic Noorderslag, ETEP facilitates the bookings of European acts on European festivals and generates extensive radio and media exposure for these artists in co-operation with the European Broadcasting Union and local media. In this way, ETEP aims to give a boost to the careers of European acts across the continent.

ETEP online
In 2017, over 100 festivals will participate in the European Talent Exchange Programme. Interested to see which festivals, artists, and countries are currently participating and have participated in the past? Please visit www.etep.nl for more information.

Contact
Nikki McNeill | Global Publicity
nikki@globalpublicity.co.uk

 

 


NATALIE LA ROSE announced as winner of 2017 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA)

Simultaneously in Amsterdam and Los Angeles, Natalie La Rose was announced as the eigth winner of the 2017 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA), the European music awards for emerging artists. La Rose was surprised by DJ Fernando at Dutch radio station FunX over a Skype transmission.

Amsterdam-born Natalie La Rose graduated as a singer and dancer in 2008, landing the role of Taylor McKessie in the Dutch version of High School Musical. With a keen interest in deep urban grooves, La Rose signed to US imprint Republic, a label distributed by Universal Music Group. Her debut single ‘Somebody’ featured a guest role by Jeremih, who provided the Whitney Houston-referencing hook. The track was released in January 2015 and immediately shot to fame, landing in the Top Ten in the US singles chart and charting in the UK, The Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and France.

Earlier, Alan Walker (no), Jaakko Eino Kalevi (fi), Namika (de), Walking On Cars (ie), Hinds (es), Jain (fr) and Filous (at) were also announced as winners of an EBBA. A total of ten EBBA winners will be announced in the upcoming weeks. The Awards Ceremony will take place on 11 January 2017 in Groningen, as part of the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival.

The EBBA
The EBBA celebrate new and border-breaking artists who create today and tomorrow's music. From Adele (United Kingdom) to Christine & the Queens (France), the EBBA winners represent some of the standout European sounds of recent years. Other previous winners include Stromae, Gabriel Rios, Hozier, Of Monsters and Men, Mumford & Sons, Aurora, Disclosure, John Newman, C2C, Tokio Hotel, The Script, Years and Years, Robin Schulz, Carnival Youth, MØ and Selah Sue.

From the group of enthusiastic gig-goers out on the weekend to the industry dedicated to making the music you love, Music Moves Europe. The EBBA are one of the EU's ways of celebrating European popular and contemporary music, by bringing the artists, the industry and the fans together to celebrate European music.

Every year, 10 European artists receive an EBBA to recognise their success in countries other than their own. This success is measured by:

The European Border Breakers Charts, launched earlier this year and compiled by Radiomonitor, rank tracks from around Europe based on airplay abroad.

To be eligible for the 2017 awards, the artists must have achieved border-breaking success with their first international release in Europe between 1 August 2015 and 31 July 2016 and come from a country participating in the EU's Creative Europe programme.

The EBBA, now in their 14th year, are an EU Prize, organised by Eurosonic Noorderslag in partnership with the European Commission (Creative Europe) and the European Broadcasting Union, with support from Buma Cultuur, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Province of Groningen, the City of Groningen and Music Week.

Public choice
One of the winners will receive a Public Choice Award based on votes cast on the EBBA website from 5 up to 23 December 2016. Up to ten voters, chosen at random from different countries, will be invited to the award ceremony. Each will be able to bring a friend and the flight and hotel costs will be taken care of.

EBBA ceremony
The winners will receive their award in a ceremony hosted by TV personality and musician Jools Holland at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen, Netherlands, on 11 January 2017. The ceremony will feature performances by the winning acts.

Contact
Nikki McNeill | Global Publicity
nikki@globalpublicity.co.uk

 

 

 


Celebrate 25 years of Sziget Festival

After a record breaking edition in 2016 with almost half a million people from more than 100 countries coming together on the Island of Freedom, the countdown is now on for the 25th Anniversary edition in 2017.

Taking place in Budapest from 9-16 August, 2017 Sziget will once again welcome music and art lovers, open-minded people from all over the world to join them for a non-stop week of fun with more than 50 program venues where festival goers can enjoy music, theatre, dance, art and much more!

We want everyone who comes here to get more than what they expected, to find something unique in every second corner of the area, to feel special and free. Sziget can be different and more because it’s not just a music festival, but an international gathering, where you get to know so many different people and cultures, can attend dance and theatre programs, or just chill by the Danube.” Says Festival Director Karoyl Gerendai.

Watch the 2016 aftermovie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-6NB2SEgLk&feature=youtu.be

So how did it all start?
The brainchild of musician Péter Müller and manager Károly Gerendai, Sziget was born as a result free and open-minded spirit surrounding the change of the political system in the early 90’s. Launching in 1993 as Diáksziget or Student Island and although the lack of funding was always an issue, creativity became the major capital of the team. This led to the organizers bringing things to the festival that were important for them personally and how there music, film, theatre and all other forms of art were included. The first event offered 200 concerts on 2 stages, 40 theater productions and 80 movies shown in an open-air cinema and attracted over 43,000 people.

The second event in 1994 launched the event onto the international stage after Müller and Gerendai realized that 1994 was also the 25th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock. Their tribute event ‘Eurowoodstock’ included headline acts such as Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, Frank Zappa’s Grandmothers of Invention, Jefferson Starship, Birds, Blood Sweat and Tears and Eric Burdon gaining them international media attention including MTV.

The 3rd edition was make or break for the team as they needed to start making money to cover the losses of putting on major acts in the second edition. In 1995 the event found major sponsorship and became Pepsi Sziget, giving the organisers financial stability and the ability to book more international bands.

From 1995 to 2000 the festival included artists such as Slash, Iggy Pop, The Prodigy, David Bowie, Motörhead, Rollins Band, Faith No More, Asian Dub Foundation and Faithless with the audience growing from 173000 to over 300,000 visitors. The international spirit of Sziget started to show with more and more foreign guests discovering the Budapest-based event, while the organizers became founders of the Yourope festival association and MTV covered the event.

Throughout the noughties the festival continued to grow and Sziget became it's own brand in 2002, celebrating the 10th edition of the festival.

The festival even achieved 2 to Guinness world records! One for group kissing, with the participation of 1592 couples and the second for a huge painting called the Festival Cyclorama (with the gigantic dimensions of 80 meters length and 390 square meters of surface area) produced by the audience. This was 9-times bigger than the earlier record and in the end more than 6000 fans took part in the painting works.

In 2012 Sziget won the Best Major Festival title at the European Festival Awards – a massive vote of confidence from fans all over the world. Besides this the event also made the top 5 in the Artists’ Favourite Festival category, showing that both fans and musicians clearly agree about Sziget’s qualities. Another important acknowledgement in the same year came from Glastonbury’s founder Michael Eavis. Answering to a question from New Musical Express he said that fans who are looking for an alternative to Glastonbury (not taking place in 2012) should simply go to Sziget. We have to agree.

In 2013 Cirque du Sziget du was born with a separate venue for unique and modern circus performances. Due to the huge interest since its launch the festival now has 2 circus tents offering a variety of shows from the world’s best performers.

In addition to the Circus, the Giant Street Theatre has been a popular part of Sziget for over 10 years, with with one of the highlights being Argentina’s Fuerza Bruta who performed their critically acclaimed ’The Bubble’ show in 2015.

Art has always been a part of Sziget too, with installations around the island since the very first edition. In 2014 the ArtZOne was launched, giving szitizens the opportunity to try out different art forms and to create arts and crafts. The main focus are re-cycled materials and with the help of the most prominent artistic groups there are many opportunities to be creative. Sziget also runs the Art of Freedom project where designers, sculptors, artists or just enthusiastic "amateurs" from all over the world can apply to build their giant installations at the festival.

These non-music programs are the ‘Soul of Sziget’ making the festival vibe a real cultural experience and make Sziget stand out from other festivals.

In 2015 Sziget once again won the the ‘Best Major Festival’ award at the European Festival Award.

In 2016 Sziget had a great start to the year at European Festival Awards Sziget winning another award, this time for the ‘Best Line Up’.

Moving forward Sziget strives to be the biggest multicultural events of Europe bringing together like minded people from over 100 different countries to the Island of Freedom.

Tickets:
Tickets onsale now from only 65 Euros

7 Day festival pass 275 Euros
5 Day festival pass 250 Euros
1 Day festival pass 65 Euros

Buy tickets here: http://szigetfestival.com/tickets/category/entry-ticket

Contact:

Nikki McNeill | Global Publicity
nikki@globalpublicity.co.uk


JAIN wins 2017 European Border Breakers Award (EBBA)

Jain is announced as the seventh winner of the 2017 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA), the European music awards for emerging artists. Jain was surprised by Luc Frelon of Radio France.

Singer Jain has a truly global background: born in Toulouse with roots in Madagascar, she grew up in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the Congo, returning to Paris after graduation and picking up many influences along the way. Her debut album Zanaka was released in 2015 and quickly received a gold certificate in France. The single Come, referring to her African roots, charted in France, Belgium, San Marino, Spain, Switzerland and Italy, where it scored platinum sales.

Earlier, Alan Walker (no), Jaakko Eino Kalevi (fi), Namika (de), Walking On Cars (ie), Hinds (es) and Filous (at) were also announced as winners of an EBBA. A total of ten EBBA winners will be announced in the upcoming weeks. The Awards Ceremony will take place on 11 January 2017 in Groningen, as part of the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival.

The EBBA
The EBBA celebrate new and border-breaking artists who create today and tomorrow's music. From Adele (United Kingdom) to Christine & the Queens (France), the EBBA winners represent some of the standout European sounds of recent years. Other previous winners include Stromae, Gabriel Rios, Hozier, Of Monsters and Men, Mumford & Sons, Aurora, Disclosure, John Newman, C2C, Tokio Hotel, The Script, Years and Years, Robin Schulz, Carnival Youth, MØ and Selah Sue.

From the group of enthusiastic gig-goers out on the weekend to the industry dedicated to making the music you love, Music Moves Europe. The EBBA are one of the EU's ways of celebrating European popular and contemporary music, by bringing the artists, the industry and the fans together to celebrate European music.

Every year, 10 European artists receive an EBBA to recognise their success in countries other than their own. This success is measured by:

The European Border Breakers Charts, launched earlier this year and compiled by Radiomonitor, rank tracks from around Europe based on airplay abroad.

To be eligible for the 2017 awards, the artists must have achieved border-breaking success with their first international release in Europe between 1 August 2015 and 31 July 2016 and come from a country participating in the EU's Creative Europe programme.

The EBBA, now in their 14th year, is an EU Prize, organised by Eurosonic Noorderslag in partnership with the European Commission (Creative Europe) and the European Broadcasting Union, with support from Buma Cultuur, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Province of Groningen, the City of Groningen and Music Week.

Public choice
One of the winners will receive a Public Choice Award based on votes cast on the EBBA website from the end of November 2016 to Christmas. Up to ten voters, chosen at random from different countries, will be invited to the award ceremony. Each will be able to bring a friend and the flight and hotel costs will be taken care of.

EBBA ceremony
The winners will receive their award in a ceremony hosted by TV personality and musician Jools Holland at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen, Netherlands, on 11 January 2017. The ceremony will feature performances by the winning acts.


FILOUS announced as winner of 2017 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA)

Filous was announced as the sixth winner of the 2017 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA), the European music awards for emerging artists. Filous was surprised at Ö3 Hitradio by Benny Hörtnagl.

A self-taught multi-instrumentalist —counting mandolin, guitar, piano, accordion, flute, bass, and drums among a few of his many skills — Austrian producer Filous began remixing tracks in 2014, with notable remixes for artists such as José González and Kodaline. The following year he released his first original tune 'How Hard I Try' featuring James Hersey on vocals. Just as Filous graduated from high school, that track went on to notch over ten million streams and was included on his debut EP, Dawn. The EP harvested positive reviews, often focusing on the use of acoustic instruments imbuing the EP with a ‘richness and warmth usually absent from electronica’.

Earlier, Alan Walker (no), Jaakko Eino Kalevi (fi), Namika (de), Walking On Cars (ie) and Hinds (es) were also announced as winners of an EBBA. A total of ten EBBA winners will be announced in the upcoming weeks. The Awards Ceremony will take place on 11 January 2017 in Groningen, as part of the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival.

The EBBA
The EBBA celebrate new and border-breaking artists who create today and tomorrow's music. From Adele (United Kingdom) to Christine & the Queens (France), the EBBA winners represent some of the standout European sounds of recent years. Other previous winners include Stromae, Gabriel Rios, Hozier, Of Monsters and Men, Mumford & Sons, Aurora, Disclosure, John Newman, C2C, Tokio Hotel, The Script, Years and Years, Robin Schulz, Carnival Youth, MØ and Selah Sue.

From the group of enthusiastic gig-goers out on the weekend to the industry dedicated to making the music you love, Music Moves Europe. The EBBA are one of the EU's ways of celebrating European popular and contemporary music, by bringing the artists, the industry and the fans together to celebrate European music.

Every year, 10 European artists receive an EBBA to recognise their success in countries other than their own. This success is measured by:

The European Border Breakers Charts, launched earlier this year and compiled by Radiomonitor, rank tracks from around Europe based on airplay abroad.

To be eligible for the 2017 awards, the artists must have achieved border-breaking success with their first international release in Europe between 1 August 2015 and 31 July 2016 and come from a country participating in the EU's Creative Europe programme.

The EBBA, now in their 14th year, is an EU Prize, organised by Eurosonic Noorderslag in partnership with the European Commission (Creative Europe) and the European Broadcasting Union, with support from Buma Cultuur, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Province of Groningen, the City of Groningen and Music Week.

Public choice
One of the winners will receive a Public Choice Award based on votes cast on the EBBA website from early December 2016 up to Christmas. Up to ten voters, chosen at random from different countries, will be invited to the award ceremony. Each will be able to bring a friend and the flight and hotel costs will be taken care of.

EBBA ceremony
The winners will receive their award in a ceremony hosted by TV personality and musician Jools Holland at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen, Netherlands, on 11 January 2017. The ceremony will feature performances by the winning acts.

Contact
Nikki McNeill | Global Publicity
nikki@globalpublicity.co.uk
EVENT PR | Festival PR | Music PR


Sziget launch a Special Party Sticker Pack with Viber

Viber, one of the leading global messaging apps, and Sziget Festival have announced the launch of a Special Party Sticker Pack. The official “Szitizen” stickers will become available today for free download by all festival and music lovers across Europe.

Hungary’s Sziget Festival fans now have the opportunity to share festival’s positive energy and passion through Viber’s globally popular platform thanks to Sziget’s unique and expressive Sticker Pack.

Viber and Sziget continue to build the future of festival communications and a truly special festival experience. As a pioneer initiative of the two partners, the special festival sticker pack is now available for download, including 30 fun stickers that express festival vibes and emotions in order to bring local and international festival-goers closer to each other and their loved ones.

"Viber and Sziget started a long-term strategic partnership this summer, when we introduced a one of a kind, exclusive, totally free service: personal festival messages sent in real time to visitors’ Viber phones during the festival. Festival lovers also followed Sziget Public Chat for live updates and enjoyed main stage surprises with our Kiss Cam. Sziget’s sticker pack is the next but surely not the last step of the cooperation towards creating the most expressive festival communication out there”, said Atanas Raykov, General Manager CEE of Viber.

Sziget is celebrating the 25th edition of the Island of Freedom in 2017, a hallmark event for which Viber users will be able to get all the exclusive information through their favorite messaging app. „We are preparing several innovative surprises for Szitizens before and during the 25th Sziget Festival – as we strive to create an unforgettable festival experience for them. We are also happy and excited to launch our Sticker Pack on Viber as the next milestone of our collaboration. It is our desire to make the package full of fun, just like Sziget, so that the people of the Island of Freedom will love it”, added Tamas Kadar, General Manager of Sziget.

Download now Sziget’s Sticker Pack for free:
http://stickers.viber.com/pages/szigetfestival

Follow Sziget Public Chat for exclusive content from the festival: http://chats.viber.com/sziget

About Viber
Part of the Rakuten family, Viber freely connects users around the world with the people that matter to them most. With more than 800 million unique users on the platform, Viber allows people to connect in the way that works best for them, whether that’s through individual messaging, video calls or group chats, or following brands and celebrities on Public Accounts. Viber can be used on iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phones and tablets, Windows Phone, Windows®, Windows 8®, Mac, and Linux devices over mobile or WiFi connections. For media enquiries, please contact media@viber.com

About Sziget Festival
Sziget Festival, the Island of Freedom, is a 7 days festival held on a beautiful green island in the middle of Budapest. A week long non-stop event with approx. 50 program venues and around 200 programs daily is considered one of the best and biggest multicultural gatherings in the world. Performing bands range from the biggest names of the international pop/rock scene to stars of world and electronic music, but you will also find metal, folk, jazz, blues, alternative and even classical tunes, while you are wondering around the huge festival area. Sziget is not just about music, as it offers several other cultural programs, like theatre, circus, or exhibitions. It also has a beach section where fans can truly enjoy the summer and the Danube. This is the only big festival where you will find authentic Roma music and even a gay-lesbian venue. And we shouldn’t forget about the fact that the festival is in the middle of Budapest, a touristic city with a lively cultural scene, beautiful historic buildings, Turkish spas and special ’ruin pubs’. The festival attracts more than 496000 Szitizens throughout the week.


Octave One Love by Machine Out This Week

A year after their impressive last album Burn It Down, Detroit techno legends Octave One are back with a nine track double EP that again shows they are masters of big hypnotic grooves.

Entitled Love by Machine, the album’s name is a nod to the fact that the Burden brothers are such revered masters of their hardware. Both in the studio, where they cook up atmospheric house and techno with soaring synths and vocals and also in the live arena, where they are celebrated as one of the most accomplished and forward thinking performers in the game today. That is all the more impressive when you bear in mind they have been active since the ‘80s, most often releasing on their own 430 West label, which is where they appear again here.

Say Lenny: “We’ve been exploring the theme of connection with this project. How technology gives us the illusion that we are closer to each other more than ever. At some point humanity crossed a line where the devices that we created to bring us together are the same devices that are blocking us from organic experiences.”

“Technology is only a tool, which we also had in mind during the recording process.” Adds Lawrence. “We decided to go back to how we used to make our records, when we didn’t have so many ‘sophisticated’ audio devices. Back to when we interacted in the studio together as musicians.”

Things open up with the loose metallic percussive line that is In Mono, which sets the machine made tone and is filled with promise. Locator then immediately gets to action with a gallivanting techno kick and various synth lines wrapping round each other as you get sucked into the groove. Just Don’t Speak (Midnight Sun Redub) is a more deep and house leaning track with big feel good piano keys and slithering synths that will get hands in the air. Proving they have real range, 7 B4 Dawn is a moody and reserved cut with subtle acid pricks, hip swinging claps and a spaced out dead of night feel.

The second half of the album offers peak time business in the form of the spectacular Bad Love II, the whirring and cosmic Sounds of Jericho and the big loops and fluid grooves of [Where] Time Collides. Pain Pressure is a wonky number with big bassline and a focus on percussive patterns as well as some vocals with real attitude and last cut 8 B4 Dawn ends things in a downbeat and sombre way with sad chords and emotive strings. It is pure Detroit, much like the whole album, and rounds out another fine release from these most revered veterans.

Tracklist:
1. In Mono
2. Locator
3. Just Don’t Speak (Midnight Sun ReDub)
4. 7 b4 Dawn
5. Bad Love II
6. Sounds of Jericho
7. [Where] Time Collides
8. Pain Pressure
9. 8 b4 Dawn

Release Info:
Artist: Octave One
Title: Love by Machine
Label: 430 West Records
Format: Double EP, Digital Download, CD
Release Date: 25th November 2016

Connect:
http://www.octaveone.com/
https://www.facebook.com/octaveone
https://twitter.com/octaveone
https://soundcloud.com/octaveone

Contact:
Nikki McNeill | Global Publicity
nikki@globalpublicity.co.uk
Music PR | Event PR | Festival PR