EUROSONIC NOOERDERSLAG CONFERENCE PROGRAM ANNOUNCED: KEY NOTE SPEAKERS, INTERACTIVE PROGRAM, PANELS AND MORE

Taking place from 11th – 14th January in the Dutch City of Groningen, Eurosonic Noorderslag is Europe’s most important music conference and showcase festival, providing an important platform for new European talent and bringing together industry professionals to encourage the development and circulation of talent in Europe and beyond. 

Keynote Speakers:
The conference program always features industry professionals from all over the world to share their views on the current issues and this year will be no different with keynotes from Shawn Michael O'Keefe (SXSW Interactive), Ralph Simon (Mobilium International & Mobile Entertainment Forum - Americas) and Matthew Sheret (Last.FM).

Extensive Interactive Program:
The music industry is under constant influence of the new digital society. As offline sales decline, there are new and revolutionary developments in the field of streaming music services, social media and an explosive increase in the use of mobile internet. Eurosonic Noorderslag closely follows these developments and this is why there's more space for interactive subjects than ever before by means of the special two-day Interactive Program. Representatives from Youtube, LastFM, Topspin, Mobile Roadie and Soundcloud will be present during the Interactive program along with new and promising internet companies. These companies will also host the Music Tech Meetup Party, which will take place on Thursday the 12th of January.

The program will be concluded with the presentation of the Interactive Awards. With these prizes theFactor.e, Buma/Stemra and Eurosonic Noorderslag focus on European acts and companies that use the internet in an innovative way to promote and market their music. The aim is to encourage European talent and to highlight acts, which are inspiring to others in the field of interactive marketing.  More information about the Interactive Awards can be found on the website of the awards: www.interactive-awards.nl

The Interactive program of Eurosonic Noorderslag is organized with support from Platform Internetbureaus Nederland and Buma Stemra. The PIBN represents the 100 best Internet agencies in the Netherlands. 

Ray Cokes showcases:
Ray Cokes will make a welcome return to Eurosonic Noorderslag this year for three special showcase talks. Ray has been selling, buying and presenting music for the past 30 years, beginning his career in the early 80’s in Belgium with the first ever daily music video show before going on to change the face of television in the 90’s with his innovative live show on MTV – Most Wanted.

His showcases at Eurosonic Noorderslag are based on a show, which has been playing to packed houses for the past 3 years at the Reeperbahn festival in Hamburg. Taking place in front of a live audience and featuring Dutch and international artists, the shows are unpredictable, chaotic and above all - fun. This is a unique opportunity to discover established and new bands in an informal, interactive environment. You can expect a talk show with a difference, live music performed acoustically and the audience as an integral part of the show. That’s the plan anyway. Probably best to just turn up and expect the unexpected!

Panel Program:
The panels cover a variety of topics and issues concerning the live music industry, with the following now confirmed;

Thursday: Health & Safety Panel, Creative City Challenge Groningen Program, Interactive Program, Economic impact of major events on local regions, US Visa and tax barriers, The Creative Europe Program: the new EU support program for the cultural and creative sectors.

Friday: Pollstar Presents: Less Tours, Less Tickets, Central Eastern Market overview, Broadcasting & streaming from live shows and festival, The Rights Issues, The International Club Panel,  Ray Cokes Eurosonic Revue, Booking A Tour Live On Stage, We're not at Eurovision now Dorothy (Focus On Ireland Panel) and Green Festival Communication.

Saturday: Green international standards in Event Management. The International (new) Media Panel, Ray Cokes Noorderslag Revue, Off The Record With A Smile and ETEP & CEETEP Press Conference.   

Creative City Challenge Matchmaking
On behalf of the City of Groningen, Eurosonic Noorderslag hosts the first matchmaking event of Creative City Challenge, which focuses on the promotion of creative industries in Groningen’s partner regions.  With a special focus on Interactive and creative businesses, the project analyses challenges and barriers that professionals in the creative industry are confronted with and seeks for transnational solutions to overcome them. The three-day program will run as follows:

Thursday January 12th: KICKOFF?
Kickoff meeting and a full English spoken interactive conference program with inspiring keynote speakers, start-up presentations and a Music Tech Meetup Party.

Friday January 13th: INTERACTIVE?
Whole-day interactive English spoken conference program with keynote speakers, panel discussions and Interactive Award ceremony. Excursion to the Puddingfabriek. Basecamp of most creative industries in Groningen.

Saturday January 14th: MATCHMAKING?
All participants can introduce themselves through a PechaKucha presentation. The final moment to create new partnerships between participating companies. Unexpected talent, unexpected ideas. Some PechaKuchas tell great stories about a project or a trip. Some are incredibly personal, some are incredibly funny, but all are very different making each PechaKucha Night like ‘a box of chocolates’.

Registration
Participating organisations in the CCC program can acquire coupon codes from their local CCC representative which they can use to register for Eurosonic Noorderslag at the Early Bird rate of € 205 until 17th of December.

For more information about any of the topics log onto www.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl 

Eurosonic Noorderslag Registration:
To attend Eurosonic Noorderslag as a conference delegate you need to be registered. The registration includes access to the online delegates database, the Eurosonic Noorderslag delegates directory and the conference bag. Registration rates go up as the event gets closer, so book early and save.

Eurosonic Noorderslag 2012 full registration rates and deadlines:
Early Bird and medium registrations  - SOLD OUT!
EUR 295,- (Late) if registered before 16 December 2011 (December 15 00:00 CET)
EUR 320,- (Walk Up) from 16th of December 2011 onwards
A full registration grants access to both the conference and the festival program.

Click here to visit the Eurosonic Noorderslag webshop for registration:   https://webshop.bumacultuur.net/en/arrangements/esns2012.xhtml