Feb. 1 2013 – Wien: SPOT On Denmark in Vienna: A Special Selection of Danish Talents Get a Shot in Austria
|A young melancholic storyteller accompanied by a violinist, a calypso orchestra counting seven members, and an ambitious electronic wizz kid will be representing Danish music in Austria. This will happen during SPOT On Denmark, which is held for the fourth time next week in Vienna.
Rangleklods, The Eclectic Moniker, and Broken Twin are going to Vienna next weekend. They have all been selected by representatives from the Austrian music industry during last year’s SPOT Festival and for the fourth consecutive year, SPOT On Denmark will be travelling to Vienna with a strong team of Danish musicians.
The event takes place at the large Vienna venue WUK, which holds an audience of close to 700 – an indication of the great interest in Danish music among the Viennese. The event was moved to WUK last year, due to the demand exceeding the capacity of the smaller club that was previously used for SPOT On Denmark’s endeavors. The interest isn’t limited to the audience, as large media such as Orf.at (the biggest Austrian website) and FM4 (Austria’s biggest radio station) have become aware of the event. Also, the Austrian music export office are so fond of the Danish model that they apparently copied it.
A strong program
The two-day program presented by SPOT On Denmark January 31 – February 1 is indeed strong. Besides Austrian industry affiliates, about 15 international representatives from such diverse places as UK, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the Benelux countries are participating along with 40 representatives from the Danish music industry, promising great opportunities to continue or expand the networking.
The first day, January 31, the Austrian partner of MXD, Ink Music will be introducing an evening program including listening sessions with the Austrian bands and networking opportunities for the Danish/Austrian/international guests.
An introduction to the Austrian market and its role as an entry point to eastern Europe will take place the following afternoon, which will also feature pitching meetings with the big Waves Vienna festival, before the traditional three course networking dinner leads up to the concerts with the three Danish groups.
The Danish bands have been appointed by an Austrian jury consisting of the radio station FM4, the magazine The Gap, the national broadcasting system ORF.at and the management group Ink Music – following the consensus that the Danish artists all have the potential to appeal to the tastes of Austrian music market.
Opening doors in Austria
The effects of the showcase can be testified by Rangleklods:
– We’ve only played one concert in Austria so far. It was at Waves Vienna in October. It was amazing, however, so we will be playing quite a few Austrian shows this year. We have a great booking agency in Austria and the big radio station FM4 has been playing “Clouds” a lot. So things are going great in Austria,” says Esben Andersen, the electronic talent behind Rangleklods.
The latest Rangleklods shows were at the large, Dutch industry festival, Eurosonic, where he garnered both German, French, Spanish and Austrian attention
Broken Twin, who played a highly praised show at Eurosonic in early January, have been previously introduced to the Austrian market as well: The EP ”Hold On To Nothing” was presented in November at the Autumn Leaves Festival in the Austrian city of Graz.
Calypso band The Eclectic Moniker haven’t previously played in Austria, but their album will be released in the spring in both Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
It’s an obvious opportunity to keep building on the positive experiences with SPOT On Denmark in Vienna, MXD-executive Thomas Rohde explains about the event: – SPOT On Denmark will be going to Austria for the fourth consecutive year. One of the great benefits of such an event in Vienna is that we are not only reaching the Austrians, but also neighboring eastern markets which are exciting new markets that helped the new Austrian showcase festival Waves get off to a great start.
The SPOT On Denmark events are held in cooperation between MXD and ROSA – The Danish Rock Council.