'- by:Larm is a perfect arena for Nordic songwriters and musicians who want to cross borders with their music, says CEO of TONO's Icelandic sister society STEF, Guðrún Björk Bjarnadóttir. But Spotify, Nomex, Musikkforleggerne, NOPA and Musikindustrin.se are also looking forward to it.
/ 02/03/2016 / codexText: Kai Lofthus, photo: Valentin Zaharia (above)
by:Larm is being held for the 19th year in a row, and this year the conference attracts 1800 delegates.
– TONO is the community of Norwegian songwriters and lyricists, and at by:Larm we get to profile TONO to perhaps especially young potential and existing members. The sponsorship means that we get to contribute with lectures and meetings with some of our members in three “TONO Sessions” in the TONO lounge at Youngstorget, says communications manager at TONO, Willy Martinsen. – But last but not least, By:Larm has also proven throughout its 19 years that they are fantastically good at promoting promising, talented Norwegian artists and songwriters. That is naturally something we are rooting for!
Guðrún Björk Bjarnadóttir, director of STEF (Iceland's TONO):
– by:Larm is a perfect arena for Nordic songwriters and musicians who want to cross borders with their music. As Nordic Music Export (Nomex) has pointed out, there is surprisingly little infiltration of music between the Nordic countries, which is one of the reasons why nordicplaylist.com was developed.
Cathrine Ruud, Secretary General of the Norwegian Music Publishers:
– I look forward to being professionally inspired through good seminars, and to being involved in arranging "The Nordic Wave" which deals with the Nordic wave from a music publisher's point of view. by:Larm is a great place to make the industry more aware of publishing in Norway. Otherwise, I like TONO sessions, where talented and interesting authors are interviewed. Of the artists I am especially looking forward to hearing Alice Boman, Pale Honey, Dagny and El Perro Del Mar.
Lars Nylin, editor at Musikindustrin.se and, among other things, worked at Wire Records, which released Fra Lippo Lippi in Sweden, says:
– by:Larm has a deep respect in the Swedish music industry. My opinion is that it is associated more with the expression “cutting edge” than any other Nordic festival or conference. Personally, I work with following Swedish record labels and music publishers, and I have a feeling that they see by:Larm as the most important meeting place next to the very largest Scandinavian festivals. Is there anything negative to say? Yes, I often hear people say that they would really like to go if it weren’t so expensive in Oslo, but there’s hardly anything that by:Larm can do anything about.
Eva Lægdsgaard Madsen, Spotify's Copenhagen-based label relations director (Norden), looks forward to by:Larm primarily for networking.
– This year we will focus on talking about how we have worked with Nordic artists and elevated them in the region and internationally. That we offer a worldwide opportunity for artists to develop an audience and see how the music spreads all over the world.
Tine Tangestuen, administrative manager at NOPA, says she is going to by:Larm to meet young songwriters.
– For the third year in a row, NOPA is awarding three scholarships to young songwriters who play concerts at by:Larm. Together with TONO, the Norwegian Composers' Association and the Music Publishers, we are also arranging the seminar "New Opportunities for Your Music", which is also a good fit for young songwriters. I am looking forward to the by:Larm mix of concerts, seminars, TONO sessions and great people this year too.
NOMEX's Francine Gorman flies over from London to look for the next generation of artists for the Nordic Playlist and Ja Ja Ja nights.
– The start of the year is especially important for us, as we get to know who is planning releases, who is hoping to tour, etc. by:Larm gives us the opportunity to check out a lot of bands early, and I think they have done a really good job with the bookings for 2016. There are a lot of artists that we have promoted, and a lot of Nordic artists with great potential to break out and cross borders this year. In fact, some of the artists are already booked to perform at our Ja Ja Ja nights in England and Germany in the coming months, including Smerz, dePresno and Blaue Blume.
Gorman also highlights Alice Boman (“a personal favorite and sensational talent seen live for the 100th time”), Nils Bech, Gundelach, Ary, Great News, Mabel, Maja Francis, Liss and Liima (a collaboration between Danish Efterklang and Finnish Tatu Rönkkö). The latter curates Nordic Playlist under by:Larm. – Nordic Playlist will be a hub for filming interviews and creating other content with the artists who perform.
For more information: www.bylarm.no.