News

Successful 38th edition of ESNS with focus on European talent

22 January 2024

The year 2024 has started well! Last weekend from January 17 to 20 it was time for ESNS 2024, the platform for emerging European music talent. It was a successful 38th edition, with a focus on European talent and an international flavour. Not only because of the European acts but also because of the music professionals present within and outside Europe.

Eursonic Noorderslag 2024

Eurosonic Noorderslag makes Groningen the music capital of Europe every year. The event consists of two parts, a conference and a showcase festival, spread over 4 days. Music lovers and music professionals have indulged themselves with their and others’ musical passion in the far north of the Netherlands.

Eurosonic

This year, the European borders were expanded. In addition to more than 4,000 music professionals from Europe, delegations from Canada, India, and Mexico were also present. The Eurosonic conference part is all about networking and attending talks with a total of 500 speakers. In other words, Groningen was the place to be for music professionals. Topics discussed include:

the Taskforce GO! Report on inappropriate behaviour in the music industry
the impact of climate change on the music industry
the announcement of the groundbreaking AI project EMERGE
het report ‘The state of European music: Report 2023‘

Noorderslag

Noorderslag is the showcase festival of ESNS. On Saturday evening, January 20, this sold-out edition Elmer, Froukje, Kay Slice, Ploegendienst, YĪN YĪN and Zoë Livay were on stage. As always, the Popprijs was also awarded during Noorderslag. This year Joost Klein received the award. He will represent the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden this year.

Photo: Niels Knelis, ESNS

European talent

Once again, it turned out that Europe has many musical pearls. From Wednesday to Saturday, more than 200 acts from 40 European countries showed themselves musically. In addition to European acts, the Netherlands was also well represented, with no fewer than 71 acts from our little country. The quality of all acts appeared to be sky-high. The acts to keep an eye on this year are Bulgarian Cartrader (BG), Fat Dog (ENG), freekind. (SK), MARO (PT), Tramhaus (NL), YĪN YĪN (NL), yunè pinku (IE), Zaho de Sagazan (FR), Elephant (NL), néomi (NL), ROLROLROL (NL), Sarah Julia (NL), The Vices (NL), English Teacher (ENG), Klawo (PL), LEILA (CG), Loverman (BE), Prisma (DK) and Zamilska (PL).

Continuity

ESNS has been a success for 38 years in a row because of its continuity. As a music lover, you discover new music. But as a music professional, you also discover new music (creators). As a creator, you can network and pitch your creations. This makes the event successful and also attracts many visitors, for whom it is also a golden combination.

“We see that acts immediately reap the benefits of their showcase on ESNS. From the figures we receive via ESNS Radar and Analytics, we see the fan bases of ESNS acts growing rapidly. And through Exchange, the talent development program for European talent, the first ESNS acts have already been booked for major festivals.”
Robert Meijerink, Head of Program ESNS

Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) 2025

ESNS will take place in 2025 from January 15 to 18, 2025. This year the ‘Focus was on Poland‘, in 2025 the focus will be on Italy. ESNS collaborates with Italia Music Lab for this. This puts the hottest new acts from Italy on the map for the year 2025. To increase the visibility of musical talent across Europe. Would you like to register as a maker for ESNS 2025? This is possible from May 1 via ESNS.nl.

Header photo: Niels Knelis, ESNS

Back to news overview