Young Europeans Tackle the Music Industry’s Biggest Challenges

Young Europeans Tackle the Music Industry’s Biggest Challenges and Share Experiences on EU Projects

How can discussions about diversity and working conditions in the music industry be transformed into EU projects?

This was the opening question for the session at SPOT+ that focused on initiating work on EU projects. The answer is that it’s actually not that difficult.

Live Incubator, created through a partnership between Fermaten in Herning and the SPOT Festival, organized the event. The project, which delves into the shared dilemmas of the music industry, uses transnational collaboration to develop solutions. Five young Europeans from countries including Cyprus, Denmark, and the Netherlands shared perspectives and experiences.

Through a series of online sessions, the young participants had the opportunity to understand each other’s challenges, which has been an eye-opener for all of them. Danish participant Oscar O’Shea from Aarhus, affiliated with Okay Management and Tapetown Studio, explained:

“Although we are physically far apart, we are united in our challenges and goals. It shows that we can learn a lot from each other,” said Oscar O’Shea.

Gender distribution and working conditions were highlighted as some of the industry’s biggest challenges, which EU projects, according to the participants, can help address.

“It’s a tough industry. You start the day at 7 in the morning and often finish at 4 the next morning. And if you belong to a minority, the challenges are even greater,” said Oscar O’Shea.

The five panel participants agreed that success in applying for EU funding requires strong partnerships.

“We are all interested in solving the industry’s problems, so you need to think about who you can do it with. By meeting at events like these, we have the opportunity to build relationships and partnerships that are not only beneficial now but also allow us to reach out to each other a few years down the line to work on projects together and support each other,” said Maria Kaimaklioti from Scala, emphasizing that “collaboration is key.”

A common conclusion was that a rejection of an EU application is not a failure but a learning opportunity.

“Make sure your partnerships are robust and your projects flexible. That way, even a rejection can turn into new opportunities,” concluded Javier Esteves from C-Cube.