Let's say you decide to create an absolutely amazing music festival. How can you get your city to pitch in? Well, it's very, very difficult, at least according to those in the trenches in Europe. “It's bloody hard," Anna Hildur Hildibrandsdóttir, managing director of Iceland Music Export, told an audience in Norway at by:Larm this week.
Hildibrandsdóttir is a major figure behind Iceland Airwaves, and tiny Iceland is a huge musical hotbed (think Bjork and Sigur Ros for starters). Sounds like a slam-dunk, Iceland style, though public officials were mostly reluctant to commit funds to a festival. Instead, Hildibrandsdóttir brokered a deal with Icelandair, and now tries to align the interests accordingly.
Airwaves has grown from “a small party into a festival," and Hildibrandsdóttir has succeeded in wrestling some funds from the Reykjavik city counsel. But the prevailing sentiment among the tourism board was that people visited Iceland to see nature, not bands, perhaps a narrow outlook.
Others relayed similar stories. “It's quite rare to get money," said Jona Rodri Jones of the Hay Festival. “[Administrators] don't really understand what you're offering them, you need to go in with indisputable facts." That includes attendance figures, expenditures, and proof of an economic impact.
Actually, the story is quite different in Hamburg, where music already attracts huge crowds. Hamburg is the starting-point for the Beatles, the birthplace of Brahms, and a major hotbed of 80s metal, among other claims to fame. According to Johannes Everke of Hamburg Marketing, the city already draws seven million people for musical events, and Everke is playing with a million euro ($1.37 million) budget. “Music has always been part of the soul of this city," Everke relayed. “It's part of the image that helps companies settle in Hamburg, it draws investment."
Which is the holy grail, right? Actually, Hamburg draws some parallels to Austin, where SXSW is now a global institution and a huge boon to the local economy. But SXSW started out small, just like everyone else, and humble beginnings are often overlooked. “The power comes from starting small, and growing organically," Jones advised.
Hildibrandsdóttir is a major figure behind Iceland Airwaves, and tiny Iceland is a huge musical hotbed (think Bjork and Sigur Ros for starters). Sounds like a slam-dunk, Iceland style, though public officials were mostly reluctant to commit funds to a festival. Instead, Hildibrandsdóttir brokered a deal with Icelandair, and now tries to align the interests accordingly.
Airwaves has grown from “a small party into a festival," and Hildibrandsdóttir has succeeded in wrestling some funds from the Reykjavik city counsel. But the prevailing sentiment among the tourism board was that people visited Iceland to see nature, not bands, perhaps a narrow outlook.
Others relayed similar stories. “It's quite rare to get money," said Jona Rodri Jones of the Hay Festival. “[Administrators] don't really understand what you're offering them, you need to go in with indisputable facts." That includes attendance figures, expenditures, and proof of an economic impact.
Actually, the story is quite different in Hamburg, where music already attracts huge crowds. Hamburg is the starting-point for the Beatles, the birthplace of Brahms, and a major hotbed of 80s metal, among other claims to fame. According to Johannes Everke of Hamburg Marketing, the city already draws seven million people for musical events, and Everke is playing with a million euro ($1.37 million) budget. “Music has always been part of the soul of this city," Everke relayed. “It's part of the image that helps companies settle in Hamburg, it draws investment."
Which is the holy grail, right? Actually, Hamburg draws some parallels to Austin, where SXSW is now a global institution and a huge boon to the local economy. But SXSW started out small, just like everyone else, and humble beginnings are often overlooked. “The power comes from starting small, and growing organically," Jones advised.
