Liveurope Online Festival helps build paths to renew the European music scene

The third edition of the Liveurope Festival took place digitally for the first time on 24 and 25 September. With close to 40.000 total viewers, the festival brought together music professionals, decision-makers and the general audience from the four corners of Europe to imagine a more desirable future for our sector and showcase promising new artists.

The event is the result of the close cooperation between the 16 Liveurope member venues who, despite the many challenges they are facing, keep looking for new ways to boost the circulation of Europe’s musical diversity – even in times when crossing physical borders has become challenging. A commitment well echoed in the statement that served as a backbone to the festival’s activities. 

Looking at how we can best face the new realities brought by the pandemic, a series of panels organised in partnership with internationally acclaimed organisations tackled some of the most urgent topics for venues and the music sector at large. The conference’s 25 speakers have enriched the discussions with their perspectives and expertise, allowing participants to gain a Europe-wide view of the current state of things as well as future prospects. 

The festival also took a broader look at the conditions needed to allow the European music ecosystem to flourish post-crisis through a high-level panel discussion between decision-makers and music professionals, which counted with the participation of European Parliament Culture Committee Chair, Sabine Verheyen, French National Music Center President Jean-Philippe Thiellay and many others. This was an opportunity to stress the value of using a sector-specific approach when it comes to elaborating measures to help music recover from the crisis. 

A celebration for new European talent

The two days of the festival culminated in a series of concerts with 12 emerging European artists from 12 nationalities streamed simultaneously in the social media pages of the iconic music venues gathered in Liveurope. 

“Though our programmes have been turned upside down, it is so important for us to continue our mission with the platform and keep presenting new talents from the continent to our audiences. With the festival, we jumped on the occasion to work together with our fellow venues and do precisely that.” commented Kurt Overbergh, artistic director of Ancienne Belgique and master of ceremonies for the event’s showcase when explaining the approach behind the concerts. 

Liveurope was created in 2014 first and foremost with the goal of empowering music venues in their capacity to present new artists from unchartered territories. Today, and as the crisis reveals, the platform is an example of how European public funding can nurture strong collaborations, build bridges between our shared cultures and honour EU values. 

As EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel put it during her opening keynote: “Since the beginning, Liveurope is a key partner for us in the European Commission. (…) we really must applaud every person working for and in the music sector for uniting us. And this event shows us exactly that we are united.” 

The video recordings of the conference sessions and concerts of the Liveurope Festival are available for on-demand viewing on Youtube.