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Music Estonia was invited to participate in music strategy discussions led by the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service, and Sport of Austria. The event was attended by representatives from the European Commission and nearly 100 Austrian music industry stakeholders.

Representatives from the following organizations were present at the conference: Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service, and Sport, Austrian Music Fund, Austrian Society for Contemporary Music, Music Theatre Days Vienna, MuFA – Music for All, MICA – Music Austria, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Austrian Economic Chamber, Austrian Music Council, Wiener Festwochen, Austrian Composers Association, Austrian Music Export, IFPI Austria, Universal Edition, International Music + Media Center, University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Musician’s Guild Austria, various collecting societies, and MuTh – Concert Hall. People from Klangforum Wien, other orchestras/ensembles, and artists of different genres also attended.

A representative from Music Estonia was invited to participate with the aim of learning about strategies and goals for developing music export in Estonia, including how the country’s development center and export office were established, how the management structure is built, where input comes from, which organizations are collaborated with both domestically and internationally, and what ongoing activities and strategic future visions are.

The presentation on the topic “Networking and Export: Music Strategy in Estonia” was delivered by Music Estonia’s Director, Ave Sophia Tölpt.

Tölpt comments: “Participating in discussions on the cultural policies of another country was a very eye-opening experience. Additionally, this was the first time such a music-focused discussion took place in Austria’s merged ministry. Both the sector and the ministry aim to develop a music strategy as part of the cultural strategy. The seminar day was divided into two parts. The first part consisted of presentations by Susanne Hollmann from the European Commission, Franz Hergovich from Austrian music export MICA, and Music Estonia. This was followed by a brief discussion with the Austrian showcase festival Waves Vienna and other festival organizers, and then working group discussions on three topics: the music industry, public institution support, and the audience. There was much talk about strengthening independent music companies, creating a multi-year funding plan to provide organizations with security, broader communication of research, increasing the number of music education places in universities, better connecting music with other sectors (e.g., tourism), and the need to re-establish a separate Ministry of Culture. I look forward to seeing how they continue these discussions. I believe we have many shared challenges in consciously developing and supporting the music industry.”

See the full programme: HERE