Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS), the largest showcase of promising European music talent, kicks off next Wednesday in Groningen, the Netherlands. This year’s festival promises to host 350 acts and more than 4,000 conference delegates, including festival bookers, expert panellists and other important industry figures.

ESNS serves as a key exchange for emerging European artists, combining a packed daytime conference schedule with an equally jammed evening live music programme. The De Oosterport conference centre in Groningen acts as the festival hub, a centre for industry networking, engaged debate and live music expertise.

Each year, the festival concentrates on showcasing talent from a specific focus nation. For ESNS 2019, the focus becomes double, with acts from both the Czech Republic and Slovakia taking centre stage.

ESNS serves as a key exchange for emerging European artists, combining a packed daytime conference schedule with an equally jammed evening live music programme

The festival opens on 16 January with the European Festival Awards (EFA), at which Peter Smidt, ESNS founder and creative director, will accept the prestigious lifetime achievement award.

Hungary’s Sziget Festival is once again nominated for the best major festival award, having taken home the prize for line-up of the year at last year’s EFAs. It contends for the top spot with Open’er Festival, Hellfest, Pinkpop and Roskilde Festival, among others. CAA agent and 2018 Music Industry Trusts (MITs) award winner Emma Banks appears among the nominees vying for success in the agent of the year category.

The European Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP) returns to ESNS following another record-breaking year spreading and promoting the newest and best in European music. Festival shows played through the programme numbered 457 last summer. The programme’s 2018 winner, Superorganism, appears alongside fellow ETEP hits Zeal & Ardor and Sigrid on EFA’s newcomer of the year nominee list.

A change to proceedings sees the Music Moves Europe Talent Awards replace the long-running Europe Border Breaker Awards. The inaugural awards look to support new acts, offering winners the chance to play live at ESNS, and providing them with tailor-made training programmes, as well as financial help. British artists Bishop Briggs and Pale Waves find themselves among the triumphant 12 winners revealed in November.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

The first winners of the new Music Moves Europe Talent Awards, presented at Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) in January, have been revealed.

Following the announcement of the 24 nominees at Reeperbahn Festival in September, an international jury have selected 12 winners – two apiece in six genre-based categories.

The winners are:

Pop: Bishop Briggs (UK) and Lxandra (FI)
Rock: Pale Waves (UK) and Pip Blom (NL)
Electronic: Smerz (NO) Stelartronic (AT)
R&B/urban: Rosalía (ES) and Aya Nakamura (FR)
Hip hop/rap: Blackwave (BE), Reykjavíkurdætur (IS)
Singer-songwriter: Avec (AT) and Albin Lee Meldau (SE)

The Music Moves Europe Talent Awards, part of the Music Moves Europe initiative, were announced in August as a replacement for the long-running European Border Breakers Awards (EBBAs). They are co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission, with the additional support of the Municipality of Groningen, Province of Groningen and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

The winners were selected by a jury comprising Huw Stephens (presenter, BBC Radio 1), Julia Gudzent (festival programmer, Melt!), Katia Giampaolo (CEO, Estragon Club Italy), Kristian Kostov (winner of the EBBA public choice award 2018) and Wilbert Mutsaers (head of content, Spotify Benelux).

The awards – plus an additional prize, the public choice award, voted for online by the general public – will be awarded at ESNS in Groningen, Netherlands, on 16 January 2019.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) has announced the launch of the Music Moves Europe Talent Awards, an EU-backed prize recognising the most promising up-and-coming European artists.

Replacing the European Border Breakers Awards (EBBAs), the new prize aims to “celebrate new and upcoming artists from Europe and support them in order to help them develop and accelerate their international careers”, according to an announcement from the Groningen conference. Nominees are selected through monitoring the former European Border Breakers Charts, artists’ streaming figures, results from the European Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP) and recommendations from music export offices and partners involved in the prize.

Winners will be rewarded with a chance to play live at ESNS, a tailor-made training programme and financial support for touring and promotion.

The Music Moves Europe Talent Awards, part of the Music Moves Europe initiative, are co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission, with the additional support of the Municipality of Groningen, Province of Groningen and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The awards are presented by ESNS and Reeperbahn Festival, in cooperation with Yourope, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), International Music Managers Forum (IMMF), Liveurope, Live DMA, European Music Exporters Exchange (EMEE) and Digital Music Europe (DME).

The nominees will be presented at Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg in September. The 12 winners will then be announced in November, with the awards handed over during a ceremony at ESNS on Wednesday 16 January 2019.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.