Showcasing

Some of the showcase festivals have a territorial/regional focus (e.g. Tallinn Music Week/EE, M4Music/CH), some are visited by internationals from all over the globe (e.g. Eurosonic Noorderslag, SXSW, The Great Escape). Some festivals put a focus on certain genres (e.g. Jazzahead, WOMEX). You can find descriptions of the focus of the events that we frequently work with as well as the application criteria and deadlines below.

Most of the festivals book acts only once, so it is very important to think about the right timing. Very often bands want to play too early and therefore hurt their chances for later on in their career when they would be able to make more out of such an event.

From our point of view it does not make sense to apply for a showcase festival, if you:

• did not yet perform a relevant number of live shows, some of them already outside of Austria. Please note that you’re competing with the best new acts from dozens of countries, you should be perfectly prepared.
• do not have professional partners (manager, agency, label…) that work for you at the event and in preparation for it. You will be busy checking in, making soundcheck, hopefully giving interviews, preparing for the show – you don’t have time to do business yourself. The chance of being selected will be greater if you already have an international network of professionals working for you.

• Make an effort to select the right events that fit your export strategy at the time. Get in touch with us for advice and funding opportunities. Do your research on visas or other permits needed.
• Use the database of delegates to find the key people you want to connect with and arrange meetings with them.
• Avoid mass mailings to all delegates. It is better to focus on people that fit your profile. Start working on radio or media promotion well ahead of the event.
• As a manager, agent or label: visit the event already before you go there with your own band to know the venues and specifics of the event. If you for instance go to SXSW first, you might be puzzled and overwhelmed due to the size of the event.
• As a band be aware that a showcase audience is very different to your usual audience. The professionals are here to work and watch a lot of acts every evening. They’re not patient, so don’t start with a ten minute intro, get right to the point. If they’re leaving, it does not necessarily mean they didn’t like it – they’re heading for the next shows. Even if there’s a very small crowd – give your best. The two people in the audience might become turning points in your career. Be aware that showcasing is not fun. It’s hard work, but it might pay off.

c/o pop (D)
About: Founded in 2004 as a response to the Popkomm festival’s move to Berlin, c/o pop has established itself as a staple on national and international festival circuits. c/o pop is considered a genuine festival for the up-and-coming: bands like Arcade Fire, Maximo Park, The Whitest Boy Alive and a host of others have played the festival long before their international breakthroughs.
Dates: April 15 – 19, 2026
Applications: Contact the festival at booking@c-o-pop.de. No deadline listed.

Eurosonic (NL)
About: Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) is the key exchange and networking platform for European music, with a proven track record for helping new acts break into the international music scene. Selling out each year, Eurosonic Noorderslag attracts over 4000 delegates, including 400 international festivals.
Dates: Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) takes place annually during the second half of January. Next edition: January 14 – 17, 2026.
Applications: Via the online form. Applications for the edition of 2026 are now closed. Applications for 2027 will open on May 1st, 2026.

Focus Wales
About: Focus Wales is a multi-venue international showcase festival based in Wrexham, North Wales, offering the music industry a selection of the best new acts from Wales and around the world.
Dates: May 7 – 9, 2026
How to apply: Via the online application form. Applications for 2026 are now closed.

Future Echoes Norrköping
About: Future Echoes is Sweden’s leading showcase festival, featuring about 100 international artists and a conference with international speakers. The festival is held at several venues in central Norrköping.
Dates: TBA
Applications: See website.

The Great Escape (UK)
About: The Great Escape is a festival for new music, showcasing 450 emerging artists from all over the world in 30+ walkable venues across the city. It’s the first place to discover your new favorite artist and see them in an intimate setting before they go on to headline major festival stages. TGE is also attended by the music industry who are on the hunt for the next big thing. TGE runs a convention alongside the gigs featuring insightful panels, topical debates, keynote speeches and networking opportunities in abundance.
Dates: May 13-15, 2026
Applications: Apply via the festival website; applications open until February 2026.

Iceland Airwaves (IS)
About: Halfway between North America and Europe, Iceland Airwaves brings together emerging Icelandic talents and the most promising acts from around the world. Every November, Reykjavik comes to life for a four-day conference and non-stop music. The deadline for international bands to apply for Iceland Airwaves is usually May-June.
Dates: November 4-7, 2026
Applications: Via the festival website. Applications TBA.

Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK)
About: hcmf is an annual, international festival of contemporary and new music, over 10 days consisting of approximately 50 events, including concerts, music-theatre, dance, multi-media, talks and film, with a related Learning and Participation programme devised and implemented to reflect the artistic program and respond to regional need.
Dates: 2026 TBA
Applications: Contact Sophie Cooper at s.cooper@hud.ac.uk.

India International Music Week (IIMW)
About: India’s first global music conference and showcase festival – IIMW aims to establish India as a central trade hub in the global music industry by promoting international bilateral trade, collaboration, cultural exchange, and industry insights through a week-long commemoration of music, business networking, and global diversity.
Dates: February 10 – 12, 2026
Applications: TBA, via website.

jazzahead! (D)
About: jazzahead! is an event for the international jazz industry and a place for high-quality, contemporary jazz from Germany, Europe and overseas. The jazzahead! trade fair and the accompanying festival take place in April in Bremen (GER).
Dates: April 22 – 25, 2026
Applications: Online via the event website. 2025 application phase ended on 8 October 2025. The application phase for jazzahead! 2027 will start around Sep 2026.

Linecheck (IT)
About: Linecheck is a music festival and meeting point for industry professionals, held in the Italian city of Milan. Forming part of the wider Milano music week, Linecheck presents an extensive programme of talks, showcases, discussions that explore Italy’s music industry and its relationship with the global scene, featuring international players and the major protagonists of Italian industry, with more than 40 guest speakers.
Dates: 2026 TBA
Applications: Contact the festival.

M4Music (CH)
About: m4music connects, promotes and discovers: This is where the Swiss music scene comes together, exchanges ideas and celebrates the acts of tomorrow. The Zurich festival creates a platform for exchange, information and talent promotion.
Dates: March 20 – 21, 2026
Applications: No deadline listed; contact the festival directly at booking@m4music.ch.

MaMa (F)
About: MaMA is a music festival and convention for the international music industry based in Paris. This event offers a gateway to the French music market and offers a place to meet majors or independents, producers and promoters, venues and festivals, bookers and agents, record companies, publishers, promotion companies, media… – and obviously artists!
Dates: October 14 – 16, 2026
Applications: For information contact contact@mama-event.com.

Ment Ljubljana (SLO)
About: MENT Ljubljana is a three-day showcase festival of fresh artists from all of Europe and beyond, during which around 60 acts perform at different venues in Ljubljana. The international conference focuses on the music industry and creativity.
Dates: February 18 – 21, 2026
Applications: See website.

MUSEXPO L.A. (USA)
About: MUSEXPO, sponsored by A&R Worldwide, brings together some of the world’s most successful and infulential music business exceutives and more in Los Angeles for a showcase festival and conference.
Dates: March 22 – 25, 2026
Applications: To be considered, please create an artist profile at www.fenix360.com and submit your FENIX360 profile link along with your contact information no later than Friday, January 9th, 2026, to info@anrworldwide.com. 

PIN Music Conference (MZ)
About: PIN is the first and only international music conference and showcase festival in Macedonia. Our goal is to enrich the local music sector by bringing the diversity of best practices, up-to-date knowledge and people who will be part of this development in Macedonia and the Balkan region.
Dates: 2026 TBA
Applications: Applications via the form.

Prague Music Week (CZ)
About: Prague Music Week is a three-day music event that serves as a platform for connecting music artists and professionals, while also offering an exciting program for music enthusiasts from around the world.
Dates: November 4-6, 2026
Applications: Via the festival homepage or contact Michaela Beránková artist@praguemusicweek.cz.

Primavera Pro (E)
About: Primavera Pro (the Barcelona professional showcase festival and conference that runs parallel to Primavera Sound) is a global meeting for the music industry. For 5 days, the state of the music business is debated with the best-known experts in the field, showcasing dozens of newcomer bands and giving access to all the tools necessary for the professionals from all around the world who attend the meeting. Reduced prices for Austrian delegates are usually available for Primavera Pro Basic and the Primavera Pro Premium accreditation. Please note there is a limited quantity of accreditations, and they tend to go quickly.
Dates: June 3 – 7, 2026
Applications: Contact Austrian Music Export, no specific deadline listed.

Reeperbahn Festival (D)
About: Since its debut in 2006, the Reeperbahn Festival has grown to become one of the most important meeting places for the music industry worldwide, and, as Europe’s largest club festival, it boasts a broad spectrum of emerging and more etablished artists. In addition to some 600 concerts by international artists held in a wide variety of venues, the festival programme includes events in the fields of fine art, film, and literature. The Reeperbahn Festival conference programme is designed for professionals active in the music and creative digital industries and features sessions, showcases, networking events, or awards ceremonies. Reeperbahn Festival also runs a series of international events throughout the year. With the support of the German Foreign Office, Reeperbahn Festival International offers a group of small and medium-sized companies, as well as promising new artists, a way into established and emerging global markets.
Dates: September 16 – 19 2026
Applications: Via the application page; no deadline currently listed.

SHIP Showcase Festival (CRO)
About: SHIP is a three-day celebration of music in Šibenik, Croatia, taking place at multiple venues against the backdrop of the Adriatic Sea. The festival is open to musicians and bands of all genres; the inaugural festival in 2023 drew a crowd of over 3,000, including more than 300 music professionals.
Dates: September 10 – 13, 2026
Applications: Submissions are opened from December, applications via online form.

SPIKE – Bulgarian Music Showcase (BG)
About: SPIKE is Bulgaria’s leading showcase festival and music conference. Held yearly in historic Plovdiv, Bulgaria, SPIKE plays host to music professionals and performers from all genres from around the world.
Dates: TBA
Applications: Applications are currently closed.

SXSW (USA)
About: South By Southwest dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries. The event, an essential destination for global professionals, features sessions, showcases, screenings, exhibitions, and a variety of networking opportunities.
Dates: March 12 – 18, 2026
Applications: Applications for 2026 showcase are now closed. Next year submissions are expected in summer 2026. Visit link for updates.

Tallinn Music Week (EE)
About: An international line-up of over 200 artists will unfold in Tallinn’s best concert venues. Expect a multi-genre mix of regional headliners, up-and-coming names, cutting-edge acts, and established heavyweights from avant-garde to pop, from dance to metal and to classical music.
Dates: April 9 – 12, 2026
Applications: Applications for 2026 edition are closed. Visit application link for 2027 updates.

Waves Vienna Festival (AT)
About: Waves Vienna is the city’s first club and showcase festival, featuring numerous local, regional, and international alternative, electronic, rock, and club acts performing in a variety of venues. The parallel Waves Vienna Music Conference offers lectures and panels, and workshops.
Dates: October 1 – 3, 2026
Applications: Via website, check the news section for additional opportunities.

Westway LAB (PT)
About: Westway Lab is Portugal’s first showcase festival, featuring a PRO conference and artistic residencies yielding unique performances. The festival’s goal is to bring together acclaimed and emerging, international and national, innovative and purist artists.
Dates: April 8 – 11, 2026
Applications: TBA, news via website.

WOMEX
About: WOMEX – the World Music Expo – is the world’s biggest music meeting and global music conference, featuring a trade fair, talks, films and a showcase festival. Since 1994 WOMEX has been traveling all across Europe. Its 2023 edition will take place in Galicia, Spain.
Dates: October 21-25, 2026.
Applications: WOMEX launches its annual call for applications via its newsletter. Proposals can be submitted here.