Oct 18, 2022

Shortlisted: Europe’s Music Export Offices

 

You do not know a country until you are familiar with its Music Export Office. Music export offices support artists, managers and promoters with their export activities. You can google anything, but a complete list of music export offices could not be found online – until now!

The following list of national and regional music export offices and initiatives is a guidebook on where to find help in going abroad or support when bringing over an artist from a different country. Know your Export Office. Check out all the institutions from Don’t Panic We’re From Poland! to German Goethe Institut and PRS Foundation in the UK. The list focuses on the European continent, sorted alphabetically by country. You can find all initiatives outside of Europe here.

Music Export Offices Are A Driver of Diversity

What does it mean to “export” music? How does it work? Who can be “exported” and why? To find out more about the activities of music export offices and their importance for the music industry watch this INES#conference panel video:

In general, promoting your music in other countries can be a challenge due to a lack of contacts and understanding of the foreign music market as well as financial obstacles. Therefore, music export offices or initiatives have been established in many countries. They exist in different forms and varieties.

They all have the same goal: to support their country’s musicians, music companies and music professionals in their export activities and thus increase the international visibility of their music. Music export offices, for example, provide travel support to enable artists to play international gigs and showcases. Additionally, they inform the international music industry about the local music scene. In doing so, music export offices help artists to grow their international careers and also contribute to enriching the musical diversity of the importing countries.

Music Export Offices: The List

Austria

  • Austrian Music Export: A service and resource centre for exporters of contemporary Austrian music in all genres and aspects.

Belgium

  • Flanders Arts Institute: Works to increase the awareness and visibility of the Flemish arts scene on an international level.
  • VI.BE: The point of contact for artists and the music sector – from beginner to pro, from local to international.
  • WBM – Wallonie Bruxelles Musiques: A public agency specialized in supporting exports for the Wallonia-Brussels Federation’s music industry in Belgium. 

Czech Republic

  • Sound Czech: An export agency with the aim of supporting the Czech music scene locally and globally with a variety of grants, workshops, mentoring sessions etc.

Denmark 

  • Music Export Denmark: A non-profit organisation which promotes Danish rock and pop music abroad and facilitates trade between the Danish and international music industry.

Estonia

  • Music Estonia: The music industry development centre and export office in Estonia.

Faroe Islands

  • Faroe Music Export: Works to project Faroese music into the international commercial marketplace.

Finland

  • Music Finland: An organisation dedicated to promoting the success and awareness of Finnish music at home and abroad.

France

  • Le Bureau Export: A non-profit professional organisation with the aim of developing music made in France all around the world.

Germany

  • Goethe Institut: Promotes a wide range of contemporary music in Germany and exchange between performing artists in Germany and abroad.
  • Initiative Musik: The promotion and export office for the German music industry.
  • Music Board Berlin: Supports Berlin artists by offering residencies abroad or funding a tour in which they perform as a support act.
  • Music Export Cologne: A Program by the city of Cologne that supports export-oriented activities of pop-cultural actors from Cologne.
  • RockCity Hamburg e.V.: Supports the touring activities of Hamburg musicians in Germany as well as abroad.
  • Travel Grants Cultural Exchange: programme by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe Berlin, provides funding for travel and transportation expenses for projects undertaken in cooperation with a suitable foreign partner active in international cultural exchange.

Greece

  • Gre.ex Music: An initiative that supports, promotes and educates emerging musical talent made in Greece for their first career steps abroad.

Hungary

  • HOTS – Hungarian Oncoming Tunes: Hungarian music export office, aims to promote fresh and emerging Hungarian music on an international level.
  • Music Export Budapest: Aims to collect the best of the Hungarian repertoire and present it, helping performers with contracts, logistics, accommodation and travel funding options.

Iceland

  • Iceland Music: The music export office of Iceland, facilitates the growth and development of the Icelandic music sector.

Ireland

Italy

  • Italia Music Export – SIAE: The official Italian music export office powered by SIAE, aims to promote Italian music worldwide, boost music export revenues and to support Italian music companies going global.
  • Puglia Sounds Export: Aimed at promoting the internationalization of the Apulian Region music system and enhancing the presence and visibility of Apulian music culture abroad.

Latvia

  • Music Export Latvia: Aims to facilitate the promotion, marketing and sales of Latvian music abroad.

Lithuania

  • Lithuanian Music Business Association: Unites management and event organisation companies from the Lithuanian music industry to achieve common goals in the fields of education, export and lobbying.
  • Music Export Fund: An NGO supporting musicians and helping them to reach export markets with the aim to increase music exports from Eastern Europe.

Luxembourg

  • Music:LX: A non-profit organisation and network which aims to develop Luxembourgish music of all genres and export them around the world. 

Malta

  • Malta Music Export: The main Maltese music industry body, operates in the areas of education and export to develop artists, musicians and any music connected to Malta.

The Netherlands

  • Buma Cultuur: Supports and promotes Dutch music copyright in both The Netherlands and key export markets for Dutch music, aiming to increase the percentage of Dutch music in the Dutch market and foreign markets.
  • Dutch Music Export: An initiative set up to promote the export of Dutch musical repertoire abroad and to support and facilitate Dutch artists in pursuing a sustainable international career.
  • Dutch Culture: A network and knowledge organisation for international cultural cooperation.
  • Music Export Rotterdam: A program by the Popunie foundation that supports Rotterdam artists with touring abroad.

Norway

  • Music Norway: The Norwegian music industry’s export facilitator and promotional organisation.

Poland

Portugal

  • Why Portugal?: A new-model music exchange platform from Portugal and music cluster made up of professional associations.

Russia

  • Music Development Russia: A 360° music agency with key activities in artist development, music business consulting, publishing, events and music export.
  • RUSH Music: A non-profit, non-government organization whose goal is to promote young and promising Russian musicians on the international cultural scene.

Slovakia

Slovenia

  • Music Slovenia: A consortium of numerous Slovenian musical institutions which promote Slovenian music nationally and internationally. 

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

  • Pro Helvetia: National foundation, supports the creation of works of music, the dissemination of Swiss music abroad, cultural exchange within Switzerland as well as audience outreach of music. 
  • Swiss Music Export: Swiss non-profit-organisation responsible for the export of contemporary pop music.

Ukraine

  • Music Export Ukraine: An independent initiative, which helps Ukrainian emerging artists to establish connections, promote their music and develop their career on an international level.

United Kingdom

Transnational Initiatives

  • EMEE – European Music Exporters Exchange: A network of 24 national and regional music export offices in Europe with the aim of increasing the international circulation of European music, both inside and outside of the continent.
  • INES – Innovation Network of European Showcases: A project initiated by gigmit together with 8 founding member festivals. INES is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and its mission is to create a strong and united European music market and to drive international synergies for music professionals and artists throughout Europe. 
  • Finest Sounds: Cross-sectoral collaboration models for boosting the export capabilities of Finnish and Estonian music entrepreneurs to Japan.
  • MOST: A 4-year project co-funded by Creative Europe with the mission to boost the music market of the Balkans. The project’s scope includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. Their programme Balkan Music Export aims to help artists, events and professionals to connect to the global music market and benefit from it.
  • Nordic Music Export Programme (NOMEX): A collaborative organisation facilitating growth and development in the Nordic music sector.

 

You know music export offices in Europe we did not mention? Please let us know HERE.


Upgrade to gigmit PRO to access all the features and start tracking your success!