ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag), the key exchange for emerging European music talent is gearing up for its 2024 edition, which will take place from 17th to 20th January. The event has proven essential in breaking new European acts into live music scenes throughout Europe and beyond and is the place to discover new breakthrough acts before they make it big. You heard it first at ESNS!
There is so much to discover during the 4 days and nights of the event including the conference, festival, awards shows and much more.
Conference
By day, the ESNS conference program will include over 500 speakers taking part in panel discussions, interviews, and keynotes covering a diverse range of thought-provoking and industry-leading topics including; Diversity & Inclusion, Education & Talent Development, Event production, Focus on Poland, International Exploitation & Export, Politics & Policy, Streaming, Safety & Mental Health, Sustainability, Technology & Innovation, Ticketing, 20 years of ETEP Exchange and many more.
Keynotes at the conference this year include Amy Thomson, the former Chief Catalog Officer at Hipgnosis Songs Fund and CEO and founder of ATM Artists, who will address the music industry’s challenges regarding finding, tracking, and tracing metadata across different platforms. MIDiA Research Managing Director Mark Mulligan will explore the rise of the next music business, presenting a vision for what this new world will look like and who will be the key players John Mulder, who will resign as CEO of Mojo Concerts, the Dutch Live Nation subsidiary will reflect on his versatile career in a special keynote interview.
Other featured speakers include: Ama Walton (Soundcloud), Beckie Sugden (CAA), Bryan Johnson (Spotify) Chiara Santoro (Youtube), Claire O’Neill (A Greener Future), Carlos Abreu (United Talent), David Weiszfeld (Soundcharts), Elk Dijkhuizen (Heineken Nederland), Gemma Bradley (BBC Radio), Helienne Lindvall (ECSA), Henrik Bondo Nielsen (Roskilde Festival), Holger Jan Schmidt (YOUROPE), Ibán García Del Blanco (European Parliament), Jess Partridge (EMMA), Judith Videcoq (European Commission/Creative Europe), Justin Lockey (The Editors), Kees van Weijen (STOMP/IMPALA), Kim Bloem (MOJO Concerts), Laurent Marceau (EBU), Marlon Burton (ATC Live), Marta Pallarès (Primavera Sound), Michal Kaščák (Pohoda Festival), Pascal Viot (Paléo Festival), Rod Glacial (Deezer), Ruth Barlow (Beggars) Rutger Tuit (Google), Tom Windish (Wasserman Music), Turo Pekari (Music Finland), Virág Csiszar (Sziget Festival) and many more.
View the full conference schedule here: https://esns.nl/en/conference/panels/
Festival
By night, over 260 European acts will perform across 40 locations in the heart of Groningen. The ESNS Festival has proven essential in breaking new European acts into live music scenes throughout Europe and beyond. ESNS23 is the place to discover new breakthrough acts before they make it big. You heard it first at ESNS! Discover all the acts performing here: https://esns.nl/en/festival/artists/
Focus on Poland
Each year Eurosonic Noorderslag highlights a different country, showcasing the diverse musical talent across Europe. This year Poland will be the focus country taking centre stage in close collaboration with Music Export Poland. Focus on Poland showcases the latest music acts from Poland on the ESNS stage and puts them in front of an audience of industry professionals, media and music lovers. Artists from Poland include; Berry Galazka who is also a Music Moves Europe awards Nominee, Artificialice, Ciśnienie, Franek Warzywa & Młody Budda, Klawo, Immortal Onion, Izzy and the Black Trees, LASY, Moonstone, Wacław Zimpel and Zamilska.
ESNS Conference will also present all you need to know about the Polish music sector with a program of panels and networking events. Speakers include: Izabela Izzy Rekowska (Izzy and the Black Trees), Jarek Szubrycht (Mystic Festival/Gazeta Wyborcza), Magda Chołyst (Artist in Bloom), Radek Chudzio (Fource Entertainment), Tamara Kamińska Music Export Poland) and many more.
Music Moves Europe Awards
On 18th January 2023, the winners of the Music Moves Europe Awards will be announced. Fifteen outstanding nominated artists are eligible for this year’s MME Awards, including the acclaimed Grand Jury Award, and the Public Choice Award. The 2023 nominees are; Bulgarian Cartrader (Bulgaria), Fran Vasilić (Croatia), Giift (Denmark), Pearly Drops (Finland), Zaho de Sagazan (France), ClockClock (Germany), Arny Margret (Iceland), yunè pinku (Ireland), Tramhaus (Netherlands), Ash Olsen (Norway), Berry Galazka (Poland), Ana Lua Caiano (Portugal), freekind. (Slovenia), Ralphie Choo (Spain), waterbaby (Sweden).
Five Music Moves Europe Award winners will receive €10,000 each. The winner of the Grand Jury Award will receive €10.000 and a Green Touring voucher worth €5,000. The winner of the Public Choice Award will receive €5,000. The Music Moves Europe Awards Ceremony will be presented by radio host Fernando Halman and Italian singer and last year’s MME Awards winner Sans Soucis.
The MME Awards is the annual European Union Prize celebrating the emerging artists who represent the European sound of today and tomorrow. Former winners include; Stromae, Alyona Alyona, Rosalía, Girl in Red, Dua Lipa, Sans Soucis, Hozier, Meskerem Mees and Christine and the Queens. More info here: https://mmeawards.eu/en/
To RSVP to attend the awards click here
European Festival Awards
The 13th edition of the European Festival Awards will take place on January 17th 2024 at de Oosterpoort in Groningen. The categories include: Best Major Festival, Best Medium Festival, Best Small Festival. Best Line-Up and the Lifetime Achievement Award. More info here.
Press can attend from 21:00 and be allocated a tribune seat. For guestlist to attend the ceremony please email nikki@globalpublicity.co.uk
ESNS Exchange
In 2023 ESNS Exchange celebrates its 20 year anniversary. ESNS Exchange, the European Talent Exchange Programme formerly known as ETEP, traces its roots back to 2003 when it was established in response to the significant challenges faced by European pop music in the realms of international promotion and distribution. To date, ESNS Exchange has supported 2,145 European artists hailing from 35 countries, enabling them to perform at an impressive tally of 5,288 shows across 187 partner festivals in 44 countries and supported the careers of artists such as Editors, Blood Red Shoes, The XX, Iceage, Anna Calvi, Katzenjammer, AURORA, Kae Tempest, Phoenix, Shame, Buraka Som Sistema, Fontaines D.C., Sigrid, Flohio, Marina Satti & Fonés, Altin Gün, Priya Ragu, and many more.
An overview of all the ESNS Exchange results of the past 20 years is now available at ESNS Radar. This includes a line-up archive of over 130 Exchange partner festivals counting ESNS Exchange alumni and the rest of the bookings. More info here: https://radar.esns.nl/bookings-artist-chart
ESNS Analytics
ESNS Analytics presents countless helpful tools to industry delegates, such as a yearly overview of an artist’s airplay, a detailed airplay history, a Spotify followers graph, a Social Media Followers chart, a Festival Bookings overview and other data. ESNS Analytics is available in the ESNS Radar app! Download it on the App Store, or get it on Google Play, and you will have everything you need right in your pocket.
ESNS Recommended
Each year ESNS asks international media attending about their favourites on our line-up. This year’s most recommended acts are; CMAT, Berry Galazka, yunè pinku, Izzy and the Black Trees and Arny Margret. View this year’s top recommended artists here
ESNS24 Playlist
To get familiar with the artists you will be able to discover in Groningen, a playlist has been created with all the confirmed acts for ESNS23. Listen here