ESNS: Innovations shaping the future of live music

During a panel session at the 2025 Eurosonic Noordenslag (ESNS), a group of executives shared the recent music tech innovations they predict will change the global live scene.

Hosted by Music Tech Europe co-founder Yvan Boudillet, panellists included MusicTech Japan MD Takayuki Suzuki, shesaidso co-director Maiju Talvisto, ComeTogether co-founder Stathis Mitskas and Effenaar director Jos Feijen.

Major themes revolved around best practices for fan engagement, utilising data to expand reach and strengthen engagement and unique attributes of their specific markets.

Feijen launched the discussion by highlighting the experimental work Effenar Lab is focusing on, including measuring audiences’ emotions via brainwave to deliver a better live experience and the creation of digital twins in holographic form.

Initiatives like these create “a completely different way of thinking about how to involve in your audience”, Feijen says.

Placing fans at the forefront of live experiences is key, as echoed by Suzuki. He delved into the ‘superfan’ culture of Japan and explained exclusive artist or promoter fan clubs, in which audiences pay a fee — which helps fund the label and artists’ activity — and get access to exclusive pre-sale access, among other benefits.

“It’s a transformation of the value chain and the mindset of the fanbase,” he says.

Advancements in ticketing were another core theme of the discussion, as ComeTogether’s Mitskas, shesaidso’s Talvisto and Music Tech Europe’s Boudillet discussed how best to harness and utilise ticketing data.

“Live is a perfect lab for more than music”

Boudillet posed how to capture and utilise secondary ticketing data to further expand data sets for artists and touring markets, while Mitskas conceptualised individual-to-individual link distribution to help build accurate and engaged data sets.

Maiju highlighted Coldplay’s combination of activism and ticket sales to further their ideologies, specifically within their own fanbases.

She went on to discuss how technology could help mix up and expand bookings across one-off shows and festival lineups, with inclusion being a necessary facet of fan engagement.

“Festival booking, for example, is very pale and very male … Hopefully tech would help diversify lineups and ease bookings and make it easier to tap into a whole sector that could be used much more,” she says.

On a general point, the panellists also flagged the need for walls between artist teams, labels, promoters, and ticketing companies to be reduced to create a more cohesive approach to live experiences.

The conversation wrapped up with a nod to how live could lead to further developments in non-cultural spheres, like medical and educational advancements.

“Live is a perfect lab for music and more: it’s for society,” Boudillet concluded.

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