Hello dear music and city enthusiast,
Excitement is brewing as Tallinn Music Week (TMW) approaches, and we're thrilled to share some updates from the Music Cities Network (MCN) and the European Music Business Task Force (EMBTF) team!
After a year of collaborative efforts tackling the challenges of the European music market, the task force and MCN team is gearing up for their final official in-person meeting. Join us on Friday, April 5th, as we unveil the innovative projects we've been working on to reshape the music industry. We value your input and thoughts, so don't miss our gathering at 11:00 in Room Vega!
As we prepare to wrap up 15 months of hard work and dedication, the Task Force is set to present a series of projects that have been carefully crafted to address the intricacies of the European music market. These initiatives, born from a blend of creativity and strategic insight, aim to foster a more connected and resilient industry. While we maintain a steady pace toward innovation, we invite you to get a glimpse of the efforts that will be shaping the future of music in Europe.
Transformation Towards Sustainability of the Performing Art Venues By Timurs Tomsons
Music organisations and their venues became an important part of cities’ art life. Their architecture has become a major internationally recognisable landmark. Despite stunning architecture, cultural venues have to face actual challenges. As public venues operating in the interest of society, we have to create a more efficient system that boosts creativity, creates stronger links to the local communities, and reduces ecological footprint. Liepāja Concert Hall "Great Amber" in cooperation with IKEAfor 9 month will transform its' public space of the concert venue into a great meeting spot for the local community and will offer a space for self-expression. The project will be executed together with the Liepāja 2027 European Capital of Culture.
GENIE by Grace Goodwin
GENIE (Gender Equality Networks in Europe) is an online database of projects supporting gender equality in music. The database features projects as broad as producer courses, radio shows, festivals and much more. We want GENIE to be a springboard for collaboration across borders, or finding like-minded people in your own country, all whilst working towards the common goal of gender equality in music. More information: www.geniedatabase.com
Female and gender minority track producers - Skill Development, communities and Representation by Katarina Madsen
Bridging the gender gap in the music producer field by creating communities and providing resources to aspiring female and non-binary track producers. Starting across Scandinavia with hopefully a joint event or songwriting camp between Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and with the goal of branching out to the rest of Europe, creating an international network of producer's courses and communities.
The European Synch Camps by Julian Krohn, Alex Ter Horst, Misia Furtak, Erica Romero
The European Music & Business Camp is a creative knowledge exchange to support and empower the European music scene. Its aim is to bring together the music side (creators, music business experts) and the commercial brands side (brand experts, advertising creatives & strategists) in order to learn from each other, work on actual projects – and make it possible to produce and license songs for actual brand campaigns. The focus in the camp is on the 360° of the creative process:
- Bringing the advertising world into the music biz!
- Briefing & conception phase
- Creative Production & Development Phase
- Distribution & Product Management Phase
⁃ Teaching & learning Synch/Brand Partnership
⁃ Pushing diversity also on the music creation & production side
Trailblazers - a micro degree for modern day music professional and musician by Misia Furtak and Erica Romero
Trailblazers is a micro degree providing not only straightforward knowledge transfer but also teaching resilience, agility, and future-proofing the music professionals. To see basic knowledge and agility (start-up mindset) to be combined with more conversation on how important fairness is, how we need to strive to speak of the value of music and creating culture, and how we even need to choose the right language to speak about it. It further implies more talk on how important transparency, diversity, community, and connection are. This project aims to not only transfer knowledge, but also to focus on agility of our participants and on teaching them about the values that we need to work on within the industry, the language that we need to pay attention to and further specifics of the industry.
EMBTF Mentoring for Women by Misia Furtak, Erica Romero, Grace Goodwin and Katarina Madsen
This pilot program is designed for four selected individuals: a musician, a female producer, a freelance music professional, and a female professional affiliated with an organization. Mentorship will be provided by either members of the EMBTF or individuals chosen by them. The program will consist of four mentors and four mentees, engaging in a series of six online meetings. This structured yet straightforward approach aims to facilitate meaningful exchanges and growth within the music industry.
The EMBTF journey has been nothing short of eventful, exciting, and emotional. We're eager to see where this powerful network, brimming with ideas and projects, will lead us. Stay tuned—we're ready to witness it all from the front row. A heartfelt thank you to our esteemed Task Force members and everyone who has been following our journey.
And finally, dearest Sam Malik, we will miss you dearly, you are in our thoughts every day!
Alex ter Horst Dorotėja Būdaitė Grace Goodwin , Erica Romero Pender, PhD Julian Krohn Katarina Julie Madsen Katharin Ahrend Marta Sampaio Misia Furtak Timurs Tomsons Yasmina Elkak Lena Ingwersen Sabrina Dehati KAOSPILOT Bo Blaabjerg Aneta Gaidamovic Sam Malik (in memorian)
Additionally, there will be a few other moments where MCN will be present:
5 April, Friday. 14:30 - 15:30 | Room Sirius
Music cities: From deserts to cities - music and culture pave the way. The story of Burning Man, followed by a discussion
The story of Burning Man - A city in the desert. A culture of possibility. A network of dreamers and doers. Keynote by Bryant Tan a.k.a. Level, Associate Director of City Planning, Burning Man. Followed by a panel discussion.
Speakers:
Ása Dýradóttir, Head of Reikjavik Music City
Lutz Leichsenring, Co-founder of VibeLab, Night Time Culture consultancy
Paao Uspenski, Founder of I Land Sound Festival (an electronic music festival on an Estonian island- in nature by the sea)
Liina Maria Lepik, Member of the Board, Enterprise Estonia
Moderator: Lena Ingwersen, CEO of Music Cities Network
6 April, Saturday. 11:15 - 12:45 | Room Vega
The European Music Cities Policy Guide: A deep dive into education - input, keynote and interactive workshop
The European Music Cities Policy Guide: A Deep Dive into Education - Input, Keynote and Interactive Workshop is bringing to life the Education chapter of the newly published EMPE Guide. With special guest speaker Magda Cholyst (Managing Director, Artist in Bloom) and facilitated by Lena Ingwersen (Managing Director, Music Cities Network) and Sabrina Dehati (Project Assistant, Music Cities Network).
This session focuses specifically on the contents of the Education chapter. With a keynote on education given by Magda Chołyst, Lena Ingwersen will present the contents of the chapters, and open the floor for facilitated group discussions and ideas generated from attendees.
All dates, times and rooms to be found here.
