Renewing the European music scene - statement by the Liveurope members

In light of the Covid-19 crisis, the Liveurope members issued the following statement to reaffirm our commitment to continue working together to boost the circulation of Europe’s rich musical diversity and highlight the unique role venues can take in reviving the European music ecosystem. The statement is at the core of the activities that took place under the Liveurope Online Festival, 24-25 September, a truly European and cross-border festival.

The current pandemic will be a resetting moment for our entire societies and it will change the game for our sectors in the next decades. Uncertainty is still very much the watchword for music venues whose very existence is at risk. The longer this crisis lasts, the more organisations and jobs are on the line and the less artists will be able to continue their work.

These may be testing times where everything is in question, yet we refuse to give up on our common convictions and battles. We work in clubs and venues because we believe our spaces are essential to what constitutes our music scenes. We strive to present new artists on our stages, to create unique experiences for our audiences and to breathe life in our communities.

This is also why we have joined forces six years ago to embark on a collective adventure and launch a mechanism designed to foster the circulation of up-and-coming European talent beyond their own borders.

Initially just a bet, Liveurope turned out to be an unparalleled tool for us to challenge ourselves to take more risks and keep strengthening the diversity of our European programming from one concert season to the next. Together, we are proud to have presented close to 2700 emerging European artists in our venues, representing a 63% increase of the number of new European artists we have presented since the launch of our project in 2014.

And though we cannot yet fully resume our regular activities, we want to continue arousing curiosity for new European artists among our audiences. More than ever, we are committed to build bridges between our cultures and nurture the shared fabric of our societies in the future.

What better way to do it than continue promoting new Polish hip-hop, underground Spanish garage, and Danish doom metal bands in front of Swedish, French or Slovenian audiences?  

If there’s anything our experience has taught us, is that we can find progressive and virtuous means to positively channel European public funding and support music venues in their efforts to promote EU values and cultures.

As the EU is in the final stages of adopting what already appears as a historical EU recovery plan & long-term budget, let’s embrace this unprecedented moment to invest in European cultural diversity and recognise music venues as vehicles to revive our music ecosystem!

You can download the statement in pdf format here.

Signatories:

• Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
• A38, Budapest, Hungary
• L'Aéronef, Lille, France
• Sala Apolo, Barcelona, Spain
• Blå, Oslo, Norway
• Debaser, Stockholm, Sweden
• FZW, Dortmund, Germany
• Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, Slovenia   
• Melkweg, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• Palác Akropolis, Prague, Czech Republic
• Musicbox, Lisbon, Portugal
• Rockhal, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
• Stodoła, Warsaw, Poland
• Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Village Underground, London, UK