These events are the absolute not-to-be-missed occasions to build the future of the music industry for all professionals. Uniting conferences, showcases and networking, they’re the place to make your career start or find the right artists for your agency, venue or festival. As a music professional, you want to get a delegate pass to attend all the events organised in the festival, rather than just the showcases usually also available for a broader audience via classical concert tickets.

The Eurosonic Noordeslag’s tagline says it all: “You heard it first at ESNS”.

JANUARY

Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS)

🌐 Website: https://esns.nl/en/

🌍 Location: The Netherlands (Groningen)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: €540 (€405 for 28 yo and younger)

 
Biennales Internationales du Spectacle (BIS)

🌐 Website: https://www.bis2026.fr/

🌍 Location: France (Nantes)

⏳ Duration: 2 days

💳 Fee: free admission (via “accréditation”)

FEBRUARY

Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale (MIDEM)

🌐 Website: https://midem.com/

🌍 Location: France (Cannes)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: €270

India International Music Week (IIMW)

🌐 Website: https://www.iimw.in/

🌍 Location: India (Mumbai)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: ₹14999 (around €140, phase 2) / ₹12500 (around €117, phase 1)

 
MENT Ljubljana

🌐 Website: https://ment.si/en/

🌍 Location: Slovenia (Ljubljana)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: €119 / €109 / €99 / 89€

International Live Music Conference (ILMC)

🌐 Website: https://38.ilmc.com/

🌍 Location: United Kingdom (England - London)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: £246.88 (digital ticket)

The Event Production Show

🌐 Website: https://www.eventproductionshow.co.uk/

🌍 Location: United Kingdom (England - London)

⏳ Duration: 2 days

💳 Fee: free admission (upon registration)

MARCH

South By Southwest (SXSW)

🌐 Website: https://sxsw.com/

🌎 Location: USA (Texas - Austin)

⏳ Duration: 6 days

💳 Fee: $895 / $745 (Early bird ticket)

M4Music

🌐 Website: https://www.m4music.ch

🌎 Location: Switzerland (Zurich)

⏳ Duration: 2 days

💳 Fee: CHF 150 (around €163) - Some free passes for French delegates

 
MUSEXPO L.A.

🌐 Website: https://www.musexpo.net/

🌎 Location: USA (California - Los Angeles)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: $895 (late)

 

APRIL

Westway LAB

🌐 Website: https://www.westwaylab.com/en/

🌎 Location: Portugal (Guimarães)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: € 50 / €25 (Young Delegate Pass)

Tallinn Music Week

🌐 Website: https://tmw.ee/

🌎 Location: Estonia (Tallinn)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: €250 / €225 / €200 € / €175 / €125 (Early bird tickets)

 
c/o pop

🌐 Website: https://www.c-o-pop.de/en

🌎 Location: Germany (Cologne)

⏳ Duration: 5 days

💳 Fee: 

 
Jazzahead!

🌐 Website: https://jazzahead.de/

🌎 Location: Germany (Bremen)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: €235 (Spring Rate) / €220 (Winter Rate)

MAY

Canadian Music Week

🌐 Website: https://departureto.com/

🌎 Location: Canada (Toronto)

⏳ Duration: 5 days

💳 Fee: $999 (Priority) / $499 (Conference)

 
Focus Wales

🌐 Website: https://focuswales.com/

🌎 Location: UK (Wales - Wrexham)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: £187

 
The Great Escape (TGE)

🌐 Website: https://greatescapefestival.com/

🌎 Location: United Kingdom (England - Brighton)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: £280

BIME Bogotá

🌐 Website: https://bime.org/recurso/bime-bogota-2026/87865448-1af8-4923-a78e-3ee90ffd736c

🌎 Location: Colombia (Bogotá)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: 

Brighton Music Conference

🌐 Website: http://www.brightonmusicconference.co.uk/

🌎 Location: UK (England - Brighton)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: £192 / £159 (Early bird ticket)

SPIKE

🌐 Website: https://spikeshowcase.com/

🌎 Location: Bulgaria (Plovdiv)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: Free admission

 

JUNE

Primavera Pro

🌐 Website: https://www.primaverasound.com/en/primavera-pro/primavera-pro

🌎 Location: Spain (Barcelona)

⏳ Duration: 5 days

💳 Fee: €385

SEPTEMBER

International Festival Forum (IFF)

🌐 Website: https://www.iff.rocks/

🌎 Location: UK (England - London)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: Free admission upon invitation

SHIP

🌐 Website: https://ship.hr/

🌎 Location: Croatia (Šibenik)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: €34 (Super Early Bird Festival Ticket)

Reeperbahn Festival & Conference

🌐 Website: https://www.rbx.music/en

🌎 Location: Germany (Hamburg)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: €335.74 / €252.43 (Pioneer Pass: 29 yo or younger)

 
BIME Bilbao

🌐 Website: https://bime.org/en/resource/bime-bilbao-2025/4ffe4b27-e5fb-4773-8ca8-0422e72ced47

🌎 Location: Spain (Bilbao)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: €193.90
 

OCTOBER

Waves Vienna Festival

🌐 Website: https://www.wavesvienna.com/

🌎 Location: Austria (Vienna)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: €48 (Early Bird Conference Pass)

MaMA Music and Convention

🌐 Website: https://mama-musicandconvention.com/en/

🌎 Location: France (Paris)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: 

 
WOMEX

🌐 Website: https://www.womex.com/

🌎 Location: Different each year

⏳ Duration: 5 days

💳 Fee: 

 

NOVEMBER

Prague Music Week

🌐 Website: https://www.praguemusicweek.cz/en/
🌎 Location: Czech Republic (Prague)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: Voluntary admission - from 0 to 2000 CZK

 
Iceland Airwaves

🌐 Website https://icelandairwaves.is/

🌎 Location: Iceland (Reykjavik)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: 

 
Linecheck

🌐 Website: https://www.linecheck.it/

🌎 Location: Italy (Milan)

⏳ Duration: 6 days

💳 Fee: 

Visa For Music

🌐 Website: https://visaformusic.com/en

🌎 Location: Marocco (Rabat)

⏳ Duration: 4 days

💳 Fee: free admission (via accreditation, upon confirmation of the application)

 
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival

🌐 Website: https://hcmf.co.uk/

🌎 Location: UK (England - Huddersfield)

⏳ Duration: 10 days

💳 Fee: £390

 
PIN Music Conference

🌐 Website: http://pinconference.mk/

🌎 Location: Macedonia (Skopje)

⏳ Duration: 3 days

💳 Fee: free admission (via registration)

Competitions often come with prizes and media coverage.

The following list is not comprehensive.

Glastonbury Festival’s emerging talent competition

🌐 Website: https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/news/emerging-talent-competition-2025/

🌎 Location: UK

⏳ Eligibility/Requirements: 

🏆 Award: concert in the next festival edition

Music Project Award

🌐 Website: https://artscouncil.ie/funding-opportunities/project-award/music-project-award/

🌎 Location: Ireland

⏳ Eligibility/Requirements: individual artists and organisations born in Ireland or having lived there for at least 3 years

🏆 Award: €40,000 (max)

Les iNOUÏS du Printemps de Bourges

🌐 Website: https://www.printemps-bourges.com/les-inouis/

🌎 Location: France

⏳ Eligibility/Requirements: artists or bands living in mainland France, Reunion, Belgium, Quebec or Switzerland.

🏆 Award: concert in the next festival edition as well as 12 of the major festivals in France, or a day of studio recording or €3,000 (third place)

Residencies are a perfect concept to develop a new show and present it to a new market.

Res Artis: Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies

This directory includes residency opportunities/open calls and conferences.

Arts en résidence: National network of Arts Residencies (France)

This directory includes residencies opportunities/open calls, training sessions and useful resources.

Kultur Studio: Music production and live company (Nantes, France)

Kultur Studio’s team of music industry professionals supports artists in all stages of their development and organises residencies in Nantes and surroundings (Western France).

La Maison de Beaumont: Artistic residency site (Beaumont de Pertuis, France)

This dedicated residency site offers a peaceful place to work on an artistic project (music, fine arts) for 2 to 12 weeks. Applications (charged €45) are carefully evaluated before approval, and accommodation prices vary between €850 and €1,350 for 2 weeks. The artists in residency have access to a local partner recording studio.

Chez Lily: Cafe and concert venue in a former hay barn (Germ, France)

The idyllic site in the mountains consists of a rehearsal and recording room of 70 m² and a small concert venue of 30 m² for the end of residency’s performance, in the cafe. The flat fee is €600/day for a complete access to the facilities, recording services included. An extra option is available in a small church in Gouaux (15km away) to rehearse and record with the church’s organ.