Liveurope announces grassroots music boost across Europe

Europe’s grassroots music scene has been boosted by a new funding commitment for venues from the European Union.

Liveurope has been awarded €2.8m for the next four years to assist its work in supporting music venues across the continent to showcase more emerging European talent on their stages.

By the end of this grant period, Liveurope is projected to reach 8,000 concerts supported with emerging European acts since its inception. What began with 13 venues in 2014 has now grown to encompass 24 venues across 24 countries.

Liveurope allocates grants to member venues based on the number of emerging European acts they book. Venues have, on average, programmed 63% more non-national European artists than before joining Liveurope.

A Liveurope spokesperson said: “We will continue our efforts to expand our network, enabling more music venues to access crucial financial support to help them enhance the European dimension of their programmes.”

Over the last 10 years, Liveurope has supported more than 5,000 concerts featuring new European talent. The acts who were helped on their way include Poland’s Hania Rani and the Netherlands’ Altın Gün.

Livereurope venues include FZW in Dortmund, Germany, Docks in Lausanne, Switzerland, and L’Aéronef in Lille, France.

Liveurope added: “The next chapter of Liveurope’s journey comes with a stronger focus on sustainability and inclusion. We will gather more data to monitor the touring practices of artists, further encourage the use of sustainable ground transport during tours, and foster exchanges of best practices among our members.”