Eurosonic Noorderslag is Europe's premiere live music industry conference and showcase festival for European talent, taking place in the picturesque university town of Groningen the Netherlands from 12th - 15th January 2011.

For this special 25th edition, Eurosonic Noorderslag is proud to present two keynote speakers from America. The first being Bob Lefsetz, whose provocative industry email newsletter provides an independent, sometimes visionary, take on the state of the music business around the world. And the second, US journalist Fred Goodman who has extensive knowledge of the industry and with his ability to access people "in the know", he has been dissecting the global music industry woes and exposing in details its colorful characters. Expect an hour full of revelations, provocative views and entertaining anecdotes with one of the music industry's foremost chroniclers.

The event will also start a day earlier on Wednesday 12th January and will feature the European Border Breakers Awards (open for all delegates) and the European Festival Awards (Festivals and Promoters only). Both events will take place in the evening. The conference starts on Thursday and during the three day program over 100 panels and meetings will address the current developments and state of affairs within the European music industry, focusing on European music, touring, festivals, the (live) music industry and media developments. The conference also features industry meetings by: Yourope, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP), The European Export Office(s) and Network Europe.

Norwegian artist success at Eurosonic:
Norway was chosen as focus country for Eurosonic 2010, with 22 acts performing showcases during the event and as a result more than 80 festival shows and 40 club shows and tours have been offered to the Norwegian artists. Several acts also ended up with agent representation in new territories and received massive press interest and radio airplay. At least 15 agent deals were signed during or after the event. This is especially important, as these deals will generate business for a longer period of time and has given artists a wide variety of valuable exposure, which in turn will increase the interest in Norwegian music in the European market.

One example of an act that obtained great results from Eurosonic 2010 is The Megaphonic Thrift. They were offered 8 festival shows and signed a deal with an agent for Europe, which in turn resulted in 35 shows. They also got UK radio airplay after the Eurosonic gig. Another example is the jazz-metal band Shining, who received 15 festival offers and two tours, in addition to massive mainstream press coverage and increased record sales in the Benelux territory.

This proves that Eurosonic has become a very important arena for Norwegian bands in alternative genres.

"Eurosonic is by far the most important European festival for people in the live music industry" says Vegard Strømsodd of Amber Booking, who represented the five acts Shining, Audrey Horne, Rockettothesky, The Low Frequency In Stereo and Major Parkinson at Eurosonic 2010.

Artists that performed at Eurosonic 2010 were; Audrey Horne, Mari Boine, Diskjokke, Donkeyboy, Harrys Gym, I Was a King, Jarle Bernhoft, Kaizers Orchestra, Kvelertak, Major Parkinson, Marit Larsen, The Megaphonic Thrift, Monolithic, Noora Noor, Pony the Pirate, Rockettothesky, Serena Maneesh, Shining, Sivert Høyem, The Low Frequency In Stereo, Ungdomskulen, Wardruna.

For more info visit the Music Export Norway site http://www.musicexportnorway.no/norway-invaded-groningen.4666192-149133.html

Updated ETEP Results:
As the exchange and support of new European music in Europe is one of the main goals of Eurosonic Noorderslag, the special European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP) was introduced in 2003. Each year ETEP brings together the leading European festivals, radio and other media and stimulates them to 'exchange' a selection of artists and since the start of the ETEP program in 2003 a total of 1145 shows by 418 European artists were presented at the 60 ETEP festivals (2003 - 2010). The top 2 acts in 2010 were Mercury Prize winners the XX and Iceland's FM Belfast. To see the full results click here www.etep.nl

European Festival Awards:
With hundreds of festivals being nominated, fans are getting themselves ready for the first round of voting when the longlists are announced. Over the following weeks, hundreds of thousands of votes will be cast as festival-goers and expert industry juries select their favourite events for categories such as Best Major, Medium and Small Festival, Best Indoor Festival, Artist's Favourite European Festival, and Best European Festival Line-up.

Following its successful debut at 2010's Eurosonic Noorderslag, the European Festival Awards, produced in co-operation with Yourope and Virtual Festivals Europe, returns as a key opening event, this time at the larger Stadsschouwburg venue, where festival organisers from across the continent will gather to find out who's won, and celebrate the achievements of the past 12 months at a special gala ceremony. The event builds on the success of the UK Festival Awards, which has been running since 2004. For more information, see www.festivalawards.com

Popview Music Photography Competition:
In January 2011 the fourth edition of the Popview Music Photography Exhibition will take place at the Noorderlicht photo gallery in Groningen. Every year Popview showcases the artistic work of ten upcoming European music photographers and working together with EuroSonic Noorderslag the best photographer is presented the Lex van Rossen Award. With this award the organizers want to encourage young music photographers in Europe and winners from the past three years are Annie Hoogendoorn, Graham Smith and Tom Verbruggen. The Popview competition is open for all photographers under 35 years, please see www.popview.eu for more details. The deadline for entries is 1st October 2010.

Register for EuroSonic Noorderslag:
To attend Eurosonic Noorderslag as a conference delegate you need to be registered. Registration rates go up as the event gets closer, so book early and save! To register click here http://www.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl/en/conference/about/register/

Rates & deadlines:
All Early Bird passes are sold out
Medium €235 - register before 15 October
Late €275 - register before 17 December
Walk-up € 295 - from 17 December onwards

Testimonials:
'The best organized music conference on earth' Folkert Koopmans, Fpk Scorpio, (DE)

'The whole event is in the beautiful town of Groningen and has a great vibe that comes with all early shows in bands careers. It just so happened that after our show, some of the audience became fans and thus asked us to play on some of the festivals and shows that they book and that was very flattering. From that show we were allowed to discover some beautiful areas of Europe over the summer'. Charles Cave, White Lies (GB)

'One of the most important platforms there is for bands looking to break into the Europeean Market' Music Week (GB)

"At first we were a bit intimidated by the thought of playing mostly for industry people and we started worrying, but as soon as we started playing we realized that they are of course people too and like to dance and listen to music. The show ended up being incredibly fun with a jumping crowd and wet walls and sweaty dancers. We got offered to play at really nice festivals after this show and that made it even more worthwhile." FM Belfast (IS)

'Due to their gig at Eurosonic Noorderslag, The Megaphonic Thrift signed an European
booking deal with top agent Steve Zapp of ITB'. The Megaphonic Thrift (NO)
"Eurosonic is by far the most important European festival for people in the live music industry" Vegard Strømsodd, Amber Booking (NO)

'The most important gathering in the European live music business calendar' Pollstar (USA)

'I found the conference extremely valuable. The delegates are valuable connections in the
European music business. The showcase artists were top notch. Best of all is the proximity of the venues to each other, allowing the delegates to see a huge variety of music in one night.' Tom Windish, The Windish Agency (USA)

Additional event info:
Eurosonic Noorderslag is Europe's most important live music industry conference and showcase festival for European talent. With over 2800 delegates, showcases by 260 artists and a conference with 100 panels, keynote speakers, interviews and meetings, EuroSonic Noorderslag is the key exchange and networking platform for European music, European artists, international music industry professionals and organizations.

2011 is the events 25th birthday and as Eurosonic Noorderslag focuses each edition on a different European country, featuring performances by the best artists and organizing panels about the specifics of that market, it only felt natural to do the 2011 focus on The Netherlands.

Wednesday 12: The European Festival Awards / The European Border Breakers Awards
Thursday 13: Eurosonic Festival and Conference
Friday 14: Eurosonic Festival and Conference
Saturday 15: Noorderslag Festival and Conference

Eurosonic festival presents a broad variety of the best European talent throughout the city of Groningen. Being the largest European showcase festival in Europe, EuroSonic Noorderslag is the most important platform for new European talent. With the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Yourope and Network Europe giving additional exposure to the performing artists, EuroSonic Noorderslag plays a vital role in the development and circulation of talent in Europe and beyond. Instrumental in this circulation is our own ETEP (European Talent Exchange Program). Since the start of the ETEP program in 2003 a total of 1145 shows by 418 European artists were presented at the 60 ETEP festivals (2003 - 2010) www.etep.nl.

Noorderslag festival has been the main barometer of Dutch pop music for 24 years.
On Saturday 15 January, Noorderslag presents the very best Dutch acts in every genre, from hip-hop and urban to pop music, avant-garde, dance, alternative and everything in between.

Conference: During the three day conference over 100 panels and meetings will address the current developments and state of affairs within the European music industry, focusing on European music, touring, festivals, the (live) music industry and media developments. The conference also features industry meetings by: Yourope, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP), The European Export Office(s) and Network Europe.

Awards: Eurosonic Noorderslag is the proud home of various awards ceremonies such as The European Border Breakers Award, The European Festivals Awards, The Interactive Award and more. In 2010 The show of the European Border Breakers Awards 2010, presented by TV legend Jools Holland, will be broadcasted on TV in 12 different European countries.

International media coverage: Eurosonic Noorderslag receives international coverage in Europe and beyond, working closely with European media to give more exposure to the performing artists. During 2009, a total of 334 artist performances were broadcast on 21 European Broadcasting Union radio stations. With the EBU group firmly behind the festival, radio shows containing EuroSonic and Noorderslag concerts will reach out as far as Eastern and Southern Europe and beyond...an audience of millions.