INTERNATIONALIZE & IMPROVISE – A full day of music and creativity

Internationalize and Improvise was a full day filled with inspiring lectures, workshops and live music held here at MCV's office and in Musikens Hus concert hall. With a focus on music export and improvisation, the day brought together MCV musicians to explore new possibilities, sounds and ways forward to create collaborations across borders.

Lectures and workshops

Music export with Ragnar Berthling
The morning started with a lecture by Ragnar Berthling at 10-12, where the focus was on the opportunities and challenges of music export. Questions that were raised were “How do you build networks? Which markets are the right ones to bet on?” Berthling shared practical advice and experiences that gave the participants an insight into how Swedish musicians can position themselves on the international stage.

Improvisation with Lisa Ullén
After lunch, Lisa Ullén, one of Sweden's most prominent improvisational musicians, took over. Through an interactive workshop, the participants had the opportunity to test the limits of their musical expression and develop their ability to improvise. The atmosphere was relaxed and creative - and Lisa created a warm and open place for innovation and experimentation.

Live music at BRÖTZ

The evening ended with a concert at BRÖTZ, where musicians from different backgrounds and genres shared the stage. It was a nice rounding off of a full day where music's paths forward were at the center.

About the project I AM ABROAD

This full day is part of the project I AM ABROAD, an initiative run by Taller de Músics and funded by the European Union through the LIVEMX program. The project aims to strengthen cooperation between music organizations and musicians in Europe. Among the partners are actors such as Catalan Arts Music Export, Austrian Music Export, Knutpunkt and Göteborg Artist Center.

I AM ABROAD works to highlight new opportunities in the music industry and create platforms to meet, exchange ideas and develop.

Final thoughts

Internationalize and Improvise became a reminder of the power of music to unite people and open doors to new possibilities. With the combination of knowledge, creativity and collaboration, the participants and leaders took away valuable tools for the future. Many thanks to everyone who helped make this day possible! 🌟

Scania Sounds are both panel discussions, lectures and showcases with live music from Scania and Denmark. The idea is to strengthen musicians and increase knowledge about the collaborations in the Öresund region.

Scania Sounds premiered in Malmö in November 2023. The purpose of the festival is to attract important players in the music industry to Scania and at the same time strengthen Malmö's role as a central point on Sweden's music scene. Scania Sounds wants to highlight the enormous potential that Scania has to offer the music industry.

Much of the theme and set-up revolves around pop music with all its sub-genres. My guess is that the conditions are very different depending on the genre we are dealing with. Not least with talk of pledge levels and the current situation of the organizers, this was touched on in the panel Money, Money, Money.

The talks are in English and the titles of the panel discussions were:

• Should I stay or should I go? - Benefits and challenges of working in music from Scania
• Across the bridge – Exchange of live acts between Sweden and Denmark
• Money, Money, Money – Can live music be financially sustainable for everyone.
• I need a dollar – The financial situation in music and culture

The lectures were very interesting, i.a. with:

• TALKThe Art of Peer Pressure – Queer people in Danish hip-hop
• Blockchain and decentralized protocols with The Creator Protocol

Musikcentrum Syd was on site and offered online coffee with international players to build collaborations.

https://scaniasounds.com/

Lars Elf/MCV

WOMEX 2024

Manchester 23 – 27 October

Between 24 and 27 October, Sara Aldén from Musikcentrum Väst participated at WOMEX (WorldMusic Expo) in Manchester to represent the organization Musikcentrum Riks (MCR, in English Musikcentrum Sweden) together with MCR's international coordinator Ragnar Berthling from Musikcentrum Öst. The goal of our presence is to network, find new partners for international projects and to promote the Live Music From Sweden project that Musikcentrum Riks runs in collaboration with ExMS, Musik i Syd and the Culture Administration Västra Götaland. The purpose of our participation was to strengthen our networks, represent our members and create new contacts at a time when cultural support is being cut sharply. By establishing both national and international collaborations, Musikcentrum Riks wants to promote a continued dynamic exchange between professional musicians and audiences, both in Sweden and abroad in order to strengthen the Swedish free music life.

WOMEX 2024 is an international trade fair and meeting place for world music that brought together industry professionals from all over the world. During this year's event, artists, bands, bookers, organizers, festival representatives and various networks and organizations in world music participated.

Sara's experience of WOMEX and her best tips for next year's fair:

Friday, April 25, began with a meeting with present MCV musicians to join hands and create a clear connection with each other as a starting point for the upcoming days' intensive work of creating new contacts and meetings for future projects. Export Music Sweden hosts the Swedish stand, where the Swedish organizations and artists who made it to WOMEX have their base. Here, visitors to the fair can browse among lots of stylish material in the form of business cards, press kits and albums. At 12.00, Export Music Sweden's annual event "Nordic at Noon" started. There, Swedish delegates and their invited guests were offered drinks and snacks in the Swedish booth.

On Saturday, October 26 at 13 p.m., Export Music Sweden held a lecture for Swedish delegates called "Keynote" with Lisa Schwartz where the focus was on creating start international export and US Artist Visa with Matthew Covey

During the fair there was the opportunity to discover music from different record companies, participate in lectures with headphones, and mingle and network with delegates, musicians and artists from all over the world. In the afternoons and evenings, showcases and club nights were arranged, giving visitors a chance to experience live music and make new connections.

From this year's WOMEX, I take with me many new contacts and ideas, but above all reflections on accessibility and the opportunity for everyone to participate. During the fair, there was a discussion about the noticeable lack of representation from the Global South, especially from Africa and Asia. In the past, WOMEX has been organized in Spain, among other places, where it was easier for African musicians to participate both geographically and financially. This year, however, the fair was held in Manchester, and after the UK formally left the EU on 31 January 2020, visas to the UK have become significantly more difficult to obtain, making it expensive and difficult for delegates from parts of Africa and Asia to attend.

Next year, the fair will be organized in Finland, which is an advantage for delegates in the Nordics as travel costs will be lower and accessibility will be improved. But it also reminds us of the importance of working to make WOMEX accessible to musicians and delegates from around the world, so that global representation is truly possible.

Another recurring thought was how much a freelance musician is expected to handle in order to operate today. They need to act as their own agent, manager, booker, social media manager, economist and on top of this also be their own mental coach. The requirements are many and broad in order to be able to run your business. We at Musikcentrum Väst have a responsibility to equip and support our members - the free musicians - so that they can maintain their health and balance in their professional life, therefore we offer a range of courses and training in various fields that will help them develop and take his music further.

At the same time, we are aware that the great pressure risks harming many musicians. Stress, burnout and sick leave are common, and some are even forced to leave the profession. We would rather see a safer system that gives the musicians the freedom to create under sustainable and long-term conditions, which would enable a more stable and secure career in music.

/Sara Aldén, project manager and communicator at Musikcentrum Väst.

On October 4, an exploratory conversation took place around a table in Kulturhuset Bergsjön, where cultural actors from different parts of Gothenburg gathered to discuss diversity and inclusion in the cultural sector. I, Sara Aldén, attended on behalf of MCV and I felt that the participation on site was very valuable and above all giving a "human-to-human perspective". Having direct contact with organizers and actors really felt particularly significant in a time when digital communication dominates. 

This was the second of three meetings, arranged by Navet i Bergsjön, Nätverkstan and Gothenburg City's cultural administration, with the aim of exploring what measures can make the cultural scene more fair and representative.

During the conversation, which was held in the Färgateljén, we shared examples and insights about what works and what challenges there are when it comes to broadening cultural life. The goal was to understand how we can create more opportunities for artists and cultural actors who have either moved to Sweden or who are outside the prevailing norms.

Questions discussed were: What can we do to include those who should be accommodated but are not? How can we broaden the cultural scene to make it more fair and qualitative? The talks focused on how structures and norms in recruitment, resource distribution and access to premises can be changed to create better conditions for everyone.

Many participants highlighted the need to change recruitment strategies to ensure a more diverse workforce and emphasized the importance of challenging the norms governing selection processes. Prejudices and structural obstacles, which can affect access to, for example, premises and project support, were also discussed, these risk excluding normatively underrepresented actors from cultural life.

The conversation opened for concrete proposals regarding how new guidelines and increased transparency can contribute to creating equal conditions for everyone. Mentoring and networking were identified as key strategies to build bridges between different actors and create more opportunities for collaboration for all actors, small and large. By sharing experiences and reviewing our working methods in a critical and creative way, we were able to explore new ways forward. We will continue to discuss these when we meet next time in November.

For me, the conversations contributed to a deeper understanding of how knowledge sharing and joint initiatives can strengthen the diversity within Gothenburg's cultural life. I look forward to the next meeting in November, as I said, when we gather again to together enable the creation of an even more inclusive cultural sector in Gothenburg. A cultural sector that we are proud of and can proudly say works to actively include all cultural actors and practitioners.

Sara Aldén, MCV, Musikens Hus, 7 October 2024

We are happy to announce that it is now possible to apply to Live Music From Sweden again! Artists are now welcome to submit their applications until October 4. If you are going to WOMEX or participating at Viva Sounds, this is a golden opportunity to bring nice PR material to share! Don't miss this fantastic opportunity to become part of a platform that is created to highlight and spread Sweden's best live music talents!

Autumn 2024

We are happy to finally be able to share the fantastic news that Music in the Library has expanded and will now also be offered at the libraries in Värmland! We will present which musicians will perform at Musik på Biblioteken Värmland starting November 2024, so stay tuned!