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ESNS reveals first wave of speakers for 2025

ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag) has unveiled the first keynote and featured speakers for the 2025 edition, taking place between 15–18 January in Groningen, the Netherlands.

Sumit Bothra (SB3 Artist Management), Seth Dodson (Pitchfork), Jess Iszatt (BBC), Katie Melua (artist) and Victoria Oakley (IFPI) are among the first confirmed speakers for the European showcase festival and conference.

Other confirmed speakers include tastemakers from Dekmantel, EMMA, Wasserman Music, and many more.

In 2025, the programme focuses on topics such as the impact of AI on the music industry, the future of streaming, achieving sustainability goals for festivals by 2030, the fairness of dynamic pricing, activism among artists and festivals, the effect of private equity on business, and the devastating impact of rising costs and lack of personnel in the live music industry.

In her keynote speech at the ESNS Conference, Victoria Oakley (IFPI) will discuss the main challenges the recording industry will face in the upcoming years.

Katie Melua and her manager Sumit Bothra will discuss strategies for balancing parenthood and music industry career demands

Talking about the challenges and strategies for balancing parenthood and music industry career demands, singer and songwriter Katie Melua and her manager Sumit Bothra (SB3 Artist Management) will engage in a conversation with moderator and psychologist Anne Löhr from Music Industry Therapist Collective.

Other featured speakers taking the stage at ESNS 2025 include agent at Wasserman Music Clementine Bunel; Pitchfork’s executive director of festivals and events Seth Dodson; CEO and co-founder of Copyright Delta Daan Archer, who specialises in safeguarding music in new digital, virtual and AI-driven worlds; Radio 1’s flagship BBC Introducing show host Jess Iszatt; music programmer at events company and record label Dekmantel Elisa Luengo; innovator, social change activist, podcast host, and artist Saskhia Menendez.

Also featured on the conference programme is music editor at The Independent Roisin O’Connor; founder and CEO of hybrid virtual conference, bootcamp, and workshop Measures of Music Christine Osazuwa; executive director of the European Music Managers Alliance (EMMA) Jess Partridge; president of Music Managers Forum’s US chapter and International Music Managers Forum advisory board member Neeta Ragoowansi (MMF-US & IMMF); Dave Webster, the head of international at UK’s Musicians’ Union, addressing touring post-Brexit; and Kees van Weijen (Hit4us, IMPALA, STOMP), who will address challenges for the independent music community in creating a level playing field.

The first artists showcasing at ESNS and more panels and speakers will be announced in the coming weeks. ESNS recently announced a new Open Call for ESNS25 and its Focus on Italy.

The full conference programme can be found here and delegate passes can be purchased here.

 


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