‘We don’t have borders’: ESNS programming preview
Ahead of next week’s ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag), head of programme Robert Meijerink has told IQ there is “magic” in helping emerging artists launch onto the European scene.
The annual music showcase festival and conference is set to take place between 15–18 January in Groningen, the Netherlands. It will include over 300 emerging acts from 24 European countries across its festival lineup, alongside more than 500 industry professionals in panel discussions, workshops and keynotes.
Though all programming has traditionally been staged in venues across the city, this year’s edition will see showcases in de Oosterpoort, the main conference centre, for the first time on Wednesday (15 January).
Centralising programming not only helps control venue and staffing costs, Meijerink says, but also brings the final part of the day’s schedule into one primary location, making it practical for delegates and festivalgoers alike. Over 50 artists will perform across the evening.
“Everything is under one roof, so it makes it very convenient for all the visitors to see the artists they want to see,” he explained. “Normally, it’s in the city and you have to walk, or sometimes cycle or get a cab, to make it in time to see the next band.
“Eurosonic is about music first, but it’s also about networking. People want to see each other. It’s quite important for many music professionals to check in with each other, and that’s very convenient and easy on that Wednesday evening.”
The 14th edition of the European Festival Awards are set for the same night in de Oosterpoort.
“It’s always our general focus to promote talents from all corners of Europe”
For 2025, Eurosonic has selected Italy as its focus country as part of its ongoing effort to showcase musical diversity across Europe. Sixteen emerging Italian acts will be featured across the four-day festival, including Bassolino, BigMama, Daniela Pes, Kharfi, and Kyoto.
Meijerink says the global success of the Eurovision-winning Italian band Måneskin was a big push to spotlight other developing talent in the southern European country.
“The business in Italy became more conscious of the opportunities outside Italy, so we were in talks with our partners there. They all felt like, to kick in these doors and to make everyone aware, in the slipstream of success not only about Måneskin, that more and more artists are from Italy.”
“This seems to be the right year to not only kick in these doors but also make people aware of the huge diversity and relevancy of the Italian music scene,” he says.
In addition to a one-country spotlight, Meijerink says Eurosonic has honed in on an overall European focus and how the team can help non-EU countries flourish: “We don’t have any borders. We consider live music should include everything that is relevant.”
“It’s always our general focus to promote talents from all corners of Europe, including the UK, Switzerland and Norway, which are not part of the EU as well.”
Recently, ESNS’s European Talent Booking Exchange revealed the top five most-booked artists of 2024 hailed from the UK and Ireland. To date, the scheme has supported nearly 2,300 European artists — including Stromae, Fontaines D.C., The XX, Sam Smith, and Hozier — to perform at over 5,600 shows across 197 partner festivals in 44 countries.
Helping support artists to expand their horizons and audiences outside their home country, who are likely performing internationally for the first time, is a key highlight for Meijerink.
“To bring artists from their home country where they built a fan base already into Groningen, where they literally don’t know anyone, to perform in front of a professional audience also consisting of many music lovers who buy tickets to discover these artists — It’s all about that. There’s magic in it.”
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