Showcasing European Music Festival Networks: the case of Eurosonic Noorderslag

In recent years, and before the dramatic downturn of festivals under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European popular music festival market has seen a considerable growth in the number of showcase festivals: those music industry events which showcase new musical talent, provide a platform for music industry networking, and are often held across multiple days, primarily in urban spaces.These events represent the annual (re) configuration of the European (live) music industry; it solidifies and extends the often rhizome-like connections and updates the knowledge canon of the ways in which festivals function in society.Despite their multi-faceted cultural significance, however, there is a notable gap in academic research which critically investigates these showcase events and traces their connections to local and translocal networks.This lacuna is addressed here by exploring the ways in which the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival has become the main fulcrum of the European transnational music industry.In its 35-year existence, the European Music and Showcase Festival Eurosonic Noorderslag has developed into the leading platform for the promotion of European music repertoire.Each year in January, the northern Dutch city of Groningen takes central stage in positioning European popular music as a core component of contemporary European culture.A detailed account of its history explores how this festival's social, ethnographical and cultural processes have facilitated its successful development from 1986 until the present.Its explicit focus on the circulation of European repertoire -as opposed to Anglo-American repertoireinvokes questions about European identity formation and utilization.In other words, how is it performed and how is it perceived?Then, the artistic reality of participating festival musicians will be examined.Due to its award culture and mediated character, Eurosonic Noorderslag serves as a stepping-stone for upcoming groups and artists internationally.But what is the significance for participating artists?What does participating in this festival do for the sustainability of artists' careers?These questions are addressed by focusing on career trajectories of artists from the northern part of the Netherlands.Narratives and experiences from musicians from this specific area trace back to debates about local representation in early festival editions and provides a new -and often obscuredperspective on the utility of showcase festival performances.Finally, three other showcase festivals provide the foil to which Eurosonic is compared and contrasted.Taken together, these perspectives present an original contribution to knowledge about the (European) music industry and its culture, in that it introduces the first multi-perspective account on the showcase festivals specifically.It reveals why these festivals matter for culture in society and synthesizes practical and theoretical perspectives upon which festival scholars can build.accessibility, openness and allowing me into the office and access to their private archive.Also to the INES organization for granting the application to visit the MENT Festival in Ljubljana and providing accommodation.The kind people I met during my fieldwork at Eurosonic Noorderslag, Reeperbahn Festival, SPOT Festival, and MENT have made this project a joyous experience.On a more personal note, I would like to thank