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Jan 17, 2022 By Dom Gourlay

Under the Radar are pleased to announce they’ll be one of the media partners for this year’s ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag).

The largest music showcase and conference event of its kind in Europe. This year’s ESNS will once again take place digitally due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Taking place from Wednesday 19th through to Saturday 22nd January, the 2022 edition features some of the hottest new talents from around Europe including Wet Leg, Self Esteem, Yard Act and Amelie Siba.

The ESNS 2022 conference will focus on subjects such as sustainability and the recovery of the music industry. Themed “Building Back Better Together”. ESNS aims to make the industry a better, more inclusive, and greener sector. Therefore, Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for The Green Deal will be opening the conference and is set to give a keynote at ESNS on Wednesday. Timmermans will elaborate on the recovery from the current crisis and how the Green Deal will or can affect the music industry in a positive way. To act on the Green Deal, a proactive and thorough way of taking steps is necessary. Marjan Minnesma, director of Urgenda, will give a keynote on this, called “Scale Up and Hurry Up!”, on Friday 21st.

More on the Green Deal and recovery will be discussed at the ESNS conference, with the panel “The EU’s Green Deal – Where Does The Music Fit?” featuring Claire O’Neill (A Greener Festival), Niklas Nienass (European Parliament), Holger Jan Schmidt (Yourope) and Laurence Graff (European Commission) with Greener Event’s Linnéa Svensson moderating. While Emmanuel Legrand will moderate “Recovery of the Music Sector – Where Are We Now?” with Burak Özgen (GESAC), Mikolaj Ziółkowski (Open’er Festival), Susanne Hollmann (European Commission) and Erminia Sciacchitano (Ministry of Culture of Italy) to hear how the festivals were impacted and where they stand today.

Other panels and keynotes include “A Model for a United Industry”, which will dive deeper into how we can leave a better legacy for ourselves and our industry. On Thursday, Helienne Lindvall will interview Merck Mercuriades, – former manager of Beyoncé, Elton John and Mary J. Blige – speaking about his goal to get songwriters a better pay, through his Hipgnosis Songs Fund. The question of how to share streaming revenues in a fair and sustainable manner, will be answered by a panel including British member of Parliament Kevin Brennan.

ESNS also features the ceremony for the prestigious European prize for emerging talent at Music Moves Europe Awards, as well the Popprijs, ESNS Kickstart, Pop Media Prijs, Popstipendium and IJzeren Podiumdieren.

The full line up for both the ESNS music festival and conference can be found HERE.

In the meantime, here’s a 30-songs playlist featuring some of Under the Radar’s favourite acts scheduled to play ESNS over the coming week.

ESNS takes place entirely online from Wednesday 19th through to Saturday 22nd January 2022. Tickets for the digital conference are available for €99 via www.esns.nl/tickets. The festival will be available free of charge with sessions recorded by Dutch broadcaster NTR in collaboration with NPO 3FM, to be broadcast by NPO 3FM, NPO 3 and the digital festival platform, hosted by VPRO 3VOOR12.