Tallinn Music Week’s Post

This series of sessions is particularly important to me because it is about the dialogue between the industry, politics and administration. In my perception, this is becoming more important rather than less important. And even if we don't immediately initiate new laws or procedures in these sessions, they can still be a building block to get things moving and give committed industry representatives a place where they can be heard. That's why the dialogue sessions are significantly longer than normal panels. I would be delighted if as many people as possible would take part in the dialogues. #RBF24

Welcome to Swiftholm!🎵 This weekend, Stockholm welcomes over 150,000 Swifties from 130 countries, as Taylor Swift takes the stage for her three concerts at Friends Arena. To make this weekend's visitors feel extra welcome, we've created the page "Welcome to Swiftholm" (https://lnkd.in/dqXi9BmR), which contains everything from important information about travel routes to the arena and bag restrictions, to tips on good second-hand shops and the city's hidden gems. Events of this scale are extremely important for the city's tourism industry and the economic impact is expected to be massive. To investigate this further, Stockholm Business Region will commission two surveys in connection with the concerts: 💚 One survey will examine citizens' perceptions of Stockholm as an event and music city and how this affects perceptions and well-being in the city (conducted by Micael Dahlen, Professor at the Handelshögskolan i Stockholm). 💵 The second survey will examine the economic impact of Taylor Swift choosing to hold three concerts here in Stockholm (conducted in collaboration with Fabege, Stockholm Live AB and Solna stad). We look forward to sharing the results! #Stockholm #Swiftholm

Celebrating our professional legacy You may have already heard that the 19th edition of the George Enescu International Competition started on the 31st of August. First, we have a message to all the young artists who have entered this year’s competition: we root for your passion, your talent and your hard work! From our perspective, there’s something very special about this year’s edition, as OMA Vision created the strategic branding of the George Enescu Festival and Competition in 2012 and developed its communication between 2012-2017 and 2019-2021. It’s the 10-year anniversary of the Enescu Competition reinvention and establishment as a standalone event, taking place in the years between the Enescu Festival’s editions. How did we get to this? In the summer of 2013, the Enescu Festival faced an unexpected government budget cut, which forced Mihai Constantinescu, the Executive Director of the Festival at that time, to postpone the Enescu Competition for 2014. Mihai Constantinescu challenged us to come with a concept allowing the Competition to become attractive to the wide audiences and for more well qualified artists. So we did! The opening gala, putting under the spotlight the winners of the previous edition is part of the concept that OMA Vision advanced. OMA Vision put its unique signature on reviving and reshaping the George Enescu International Competition. What we did was not only to communicate the Enescu Competition, but to create a new concept for a cultural event, that has revealed its potential for music lovers and artists, and opened a new avenue for growth. We are proud that the Enescu Competition continues to thrive and evolve based on our initial concept. This continuity is a proof of our legacy: building cultural institutions, and not only managing cultural communication. Read here more on this case study ->> https://lnkd.in/df54SF2u Photo Credit: Cătălina Filip - https://catalinafilip.ro

A valuable update from Event Vision:2025, If you operate in the Events sector, please take 10 minutes, grab a brew and have a read 🌍 💚 👇 . The more we share our experiences and understandings of sustainable practises in this sector, the faster we can decarbonise. 2025 is the year to ACT, stop thinking about HOW and put sustainable practises into action. There's plenty of evidence and information out there to demonstrate greener solutions are not only available, but they are affordable and reliable. Every change makes a difference, every battery that stops 100's of litres of fuel being burned is a win, every re-usable water bottle is a win, embrace the veggie options at festivals, use solar toilets, say no to single use plastics and think about how you travel to these events... it will all start adding up to one big difference 💚🌍 💚.

Can classical music knock academic and industrial professionals and researchers off their socks? As a courtesy of Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen, my friend Uta and I, the amateur duet "Cellissimae", tried it out in this year's IARIA "Smart Accessibility" conference in Barcelona. Due to its non-profit-nature and open access dedication, IARIA do not have much funds to spare for solemn fringe events. Particularly for the blind participants of our special track "Digital Accessibility", the performances at the welcome reception and the gala were a special treat that created a long-lasting impression. Cellissimae are primarily used to playing on family celebrations and in retirement homes. The new venture gave us three learnings: 1. More popular music such as Irish folk potpourris are by some conference-goers more enthusiastically received, well-known tunes being a must anyway. 2. Never play to empty stomachs! Ideally, everyone is set with a glass of wine or beer after dinner. 3. To transport a Cello on an airplane, even with prior announcement to the airline and in business class, is almost impossible, at best time consuming and expensive. Apart from the extensive organisation required, Uta, my musical partner, and I felt extremely privileged to be able to contribute to an uplifted atmosphere of an otherwise technologically focused conference.

Ghent – the last of the trio of cities I profiled for music policy – is a vibrant cultural hub in Flanders. Charles Landry called Ghent "a pocket sized metropolis". There is much to learn and be inspired by. The approach to cultural policy is very transversal, not focused on a sector-by-sector thinking. It's also focused on the cultural and social dimensions of culture and more specifically the arts. I didn't find "music industry" mentioned anywhere. The City of Ghent pays attention to how the residents and neighbourhoods want to organise their own cultural life and there are interesting programmes for it. From the "Artist seeks ..." programme, organising musicians from professional to amateur into a bookable list and subsidising neighbourhood driven events who want to hire them, to funding temporary use of space projects and much more. Ghent has a tradition of participatory policy making, so the cultural strategy claims, and it does ring true. The city works with sector partners, the city's own cultural council made of sector representatives and most importantly with the Gents Kunstenoverleg (Ghent Arts Consultation), a truly innovative organisation to engage the very diverse sector actors. As Ghent is also a UNESCO City of Music, there are thoughts in the air about a music strategy. If you want to hear more, I will speak at the Ghent Music Scene Festival 2025 next week on the January 28th together with Nikki MacRae from Belfast, also a UNESCO City of Music. More info: https://lnkd.in/eFEHsiQx This Ghent profile was possible only thanks to the people who granted their time and insights through interviews and other interactions, including Amani El Haddad (GKO), Els Uytterhoeven, Stef Bossuyt and Vince Delhaye from CultuurGent, Eric Smout / DEMOCRAZY, Geert Riem / Muziekcentrum De Bijloke, Noemi De Clercq / Ghent Culture Council, Stijn Lemaire / VI.BE and Wim Wabbes / (then) Ha Concerts. I got helpful advice from Didier Goossens and Roel Vergauwen from VI.BE and it all was only thanks to Wim's help with connecting to other Ghentians in the first place. The reports were commissioned by Ave Sophia Demelemester / Music Estonia and Grettel Killing / Tallinn UNESCO City of Music. You can read the report here: https://lnkd.in/eG52eR5N #musicpolicy #musiccity

"KUVO powered by DJ Monitor is championing fair royalties for electronic artists": working to secure fair renumeration for electronic music played in nightlife settings, AlphaTheta Corporation’s KUVO powered by DJ Monitor initiative is gaining the support of DJs, venues and industry figures. Read more: https://buff.ly/4fj47Rz #Kuvo #Royalties #Electronic #Artists

One might think that music event conferences and panels consist of a lot of technical talk and very polished speeches. However, the truth is, on panels I am hosting we usually laugh, a lot. I strongly believe that if we want to make our field of work more accessible to a broader audience, we need to present it in a way that even those not from the industry can understand. This is particularly important on panels, where attendees are not necessarily from the events field. Based on the comments my fellow panelists and I receive after we finish, I think we are doing quite well. And yes, if you are in the audience and want to chat with us afterward, do come and say hi. Don't be shy. We totally understand that some of you prefer speaking privately rather than in front of the whole audience. That's perfectly fine. Can't wait to host another panel! 💚 Photo credit : Rumina Georgieva PS : The photo is from the recent AtoJazz Festival and Music Talks conference in Sofia, which I absolutely love. Thank you once again Peter Dimitrov and the team for having me! 💜 #panel #festival #atojazz #host #conference #musictalks #sofia #bulgaria #eventindustry #eventfreelance #eventmanagement #eventoperations #freelance #femaleleaders #music #business #sustainability #experience #career #management #environment #festival #event #femaleentrepreneurs #womeninbusiness #womenentrepreneurs #EUClimatePact #MyWorldOurPlanet #planetpositiveevent

Berlin, the second of three music city policy profiles I completed in 2024, proved a labyrinth to navigate. I haven't quite found my way through it yet, so the report represents more of a midway point than a finished product. Every conversation with a Berliner, both during and after the writing process, opened a new perspective and it keeps happening. One of the most surprising findings for me was that there is very little written policy in general, music, cultural, or otherwise. The primary declaration of political intent is the coalition agreement, a lengthy and loosely organised scroll of ideas that reads more like a list of ad hoc themes and projects than a comprehensive policy plan. While such agreements may often lack detailed structure, they usually overlay a more substantial policy foundation. But in Berlin – as far as I could find – no such foundation exists in written form, at least for cultural policy. This doesn't mean strategic vision and action are absent. Rather, they exist more informally, residing in the knowledge and actions of officials and individuals within sector representative organisations. Communication and coordination occur primarily through direct bi- and multilateral exchanges. And that's why the only way to figure out how this all works in Berlin is to talk to a lot of people. More than I could afford while writing this. Hopefully I can circle back to it as part of some future professional challenge. This was possible only thanks to the people who granted their time and insights through interviews and other interactions, including Eva Kiltz and Tim Joppien form Berlin Music Commission eG, Katharin Ahrend / Clubcommission Berlin e.V., Marie von der Heydt and Maureen Noe / Musicboard Berlin and Nadja Clarus from the Berlin Senate, Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe. A special thanks for various kinds of help and advice goes to Daniel Winkel, Fabienne Krause, Lena Ingwersen and Tim Joppien. The reports were commissioned by Ave Sophia Tölpt / Music Estonia and Grettel Killing / Tallinn UNESCO City of Music. You can read the report here: https://lnkd.in/epQQDetH #musicpolicy #musiccity

🎶 Music has a unique power to unite people behind a common idea. 🇨🇭 How to Connect with Your Community Through a National Hymn One of the most profound examples of this is the national anthem. Every country has one, and in some places, it is sung daily. Many people take great pride in their homeland. For instance, we recently celebrated Switzerland's National Independence Day. 🎸 Here is a modern rendition of our national anthem, featuring a rock guitar. Even if the song isn't particularly remarkable, it carries immense significance: 🚩 It’s the shared identity and collective emotions that the anthem evokes which matter most. 🚩 People associate the music with their country and the feelings they have for it. ⚽ This is especially evident during events like sporting competitions. 👉 You can connect music to a special occasion, memory or cause for it to have a profound effect on your audience. ———- If you don’t know me yet: I can help you use the power of music to connect to your audience 🔔 Follow for content on creating and using music for your brand or story