Ancienne Belgique is the coordinator of Liveurope, a pan-European initiative boosting the talent of tomorrow. A new Liveurope report brings insights on how to safeguard and boost the next generation of new European artists after covid.

Created in 2014 with the support of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, Liveurope helps music venues bring more European music diversity to their audiences. Through an incentive financial mechanism, it provides a safety net for iconic concert halls to take risks and programme more up-and-coming artists before they rise to fame. Nearly 3000 artists got to tour with support from Liveurope in the past 7 years, including now established names such as Christine and the Queens (FR), Rosalía (ES) and MØ (DK). For the venues, this translates into a 63% increase* in the number of emerging European acts booked compared to before joining the platform (*pre-covid).

“Liveurope is showing the way forward in the cross-border circulation of emerging talent in Europe. At our own scale, it shows us the power of concert venues as vehicles to promote the added value of Europe in people’s lives.” – Tom Bonte, General director of Ancienne Belgique (BE)

“Liveurope enables great venues with passionate bookers to support emerging artists that may not otherwise have that opportunity. They played a vital role in bringing my live shows to a wider audience.” – pop singer MØ (DK)

The future of the live music sector is at stake

The pandemic has deeply affected the live music sector and the development of new talent across borders. It has reinforced the many challenges the sector already faced, such as the growing concentration issue in the music business and the decrease in diversity on European live events.

Therefore the platform has developed innovative ways to promote new talent across borders, such as artistic residencies and a partnership with public radios part of the European Broadcasting Union.

“The pandemic has pushed us to rethink our activities to allow artists to continue finding new audiences abroad, even if physical borders were closed. I’m so glad our bets have been successful and that we managed to throw the spotlight on more than 400 artists; 2 times more than as many as shows the venues could organise” – Elise Phamgia, Liveurope’s coordinator.

To reinforce the resilience and diversity of the music ecosystem, EU funding schemes for the sector should have a strong focus on boosting the mobility of artists and recognise the unique role that venues can take in this process.

Discover more insights on this report: impact.liveurope.eu