About

Eurosonic Noorderslag is Europe’s main showcase festival for European music. In four days the most current and promising acts get the change to present themselves to an audience of music lovers and international music professionals. The event consists of a music conference and two festivals.

Festivals

Eurosonic. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the city of Groningen is dedicated to new European talent. The newest European artists. The most promising acts in their homeland, but often unknown outside the borders of their home country. Eurosonic is the main European showcase festival. It is supported by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Yourope.

Noorderslag. On Saturday venue De Oosterpoort hosts Noorderslag, the main barometer of Dutch pop music. Every year this festival shows the latest and greatest Dutch artists, ranging from hard and overwhelming to charming and intimate.

Conference

Purpose of the conference is to create a platform for the European and Dutch music industry and to encourage the exchange of ideas within the sector. With over 3,000 music professionals and over 150 panels, keynote speeches, awards shows, discussions and presentations on the status quo of the national and international music industry, the conference offers a business platform for the European music market.

European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP)

The European Talent Exchange Program is an initiative of the Noorderslag Foundation to stimulate the circulation of European repertoire on festivals, radio and media in Europe. Each year ETEP brings together the leading European festivals, radio and other media and stimulates them to ‘exchange’ a selection of artists. Since the start of the ETEP program in 2003 a total of 1646 shows by 605 European artists were presented at the now 80 ETEP festivals, 2012.

Awards  

Traditionally different national and international awards are presented during Eurosonic Noorderslag. Aim is to emphasize the success within the music industry.

* EBBA Awards: a European Commission and European Broadcasting Union (EBU) award for ten European debut artists, who have been successful beyond national borders.

* The Pop Award: a prize for the artist who has made a major contribution to Dutch pop music in the past year. The Pop Prize is an initiative of BV Pop and is presented by Buma Cultuur.

* European Festival Awards, presented by Yourope and Virtual Festivals Europe: a series of prizes for the best European festivals with the aim of promoting the great diversity of European festivals.

* Interactive Awards: a prize presented by <theFactor.e> and Buma Stemra for European artists and companies who have put themselves in the picture using the internet in an original way.

*  Iron Venue- and Festival Animals were awarded at Eurosonic Noorderslag for the first time in 2012. The VNPF has been presenting the Iron Venue- and Festival Animals for Dutch festivals and venues in the categories of best CEO, best programmer, best stage and best festival on an annual basis since 1997.

* Pop Media Award: an initiative to stimulate Dutch pop music journalism. The Pop Media Award is for the entire oeuvre of a pop music journalist, and in particular their achievements in the past year. The Pop Media Award is presented bij Hogeschool InHolland.

* The Feather: a prize for a person within the Dutch music industry that has made an outstanding contribution for the national music product.