Radio FM4, Austrian Music Export, and Waves Vienna are pleased to announce the nominees for this year’s XA Export Award.
Since 2017, Radio FM4, Austrian Music Export, and the Waves Vienna festival put their heads together to nominate up-and-coming Austrian acts for the XA Export Award, with the aim of supporting Austrian artists in launching an international career. The nominees will perform during the festival, happening this year from October 2-4, 2025, and a six-member international jury will select the best performance.
This year, we are once again thrilled to present six outstanding local talents, nominated for the XA – Export Award by FM4, Austrian Music Export, and Waves Vienna. Chosen from all acts performing at the Waves Vienna Festival, without further ado…
The nominees:
Beaks
Beaks is the music project by Anna Francesca, who has been writing for years but only recently found a way of sharing her text through songs. Coming from poetry, she plays words like an instrument, embedded into a sound that’s minimalistic and effortless. Her lyrics are introspective snapshots of life – perhaps even dream sequences – reflecting the essence of the human condition. Oscillating between reality and a dizzy daydream, Beaks is sleepwalking with open eyes. This becomes evident in her single “Dirty Girls,” that ends with the words: “How do dreams work? Will I wake up if I die?”
Live at Waves: October 2, 2025
Filiah
Live at Waves: October 3, 2025
Jo The Man The Music
Jo The Man The Music is the stage name of an Austrian singer-songwriter whose intimate, soul-baring lyrics and blend of tender folk and gritty indie rock challenge expectations and embrace vulnerability. Growing up playing violin and clarinet, she now crafts songs that balance introspection with bold sonic textures, as heard on her debut single Skinny Dipping (July 2025, Ink Music). Drawing inspiration from both personal experience and fearless artistic leaps, she has already toured with Oehl and is preparing a debut EP for 2025 that explores self-acceptance, inner conflict, and the beauty of saying what’s hardest to admit.
Live at Waves: October 3, 2025
Kids don’t smoke
Austrian indie-pop newcomer Kids don’t smoke, whose dreamy, melancholic debut single “Headlights” slowly climbed the FM4 charts to reach number one. With a DIY production style, and introspective lyrics that reflect a sense of searching and vulnerability, Kids don’t smoke presents a fresh, authentic voice in Austria’s indie music scene.
Live at Waves: October 3, 2025
Lovehead
They’re not even a year old yet, and lovehead are already turning heads among fans and feature pages alike across Germany. The trio from Burgenland, Austria, consists of Anna, Elena, and Mara. The three musicians first met on Instagram in 2021 – and, in true style, simply formed a band right away. Open-mindedness and positive vibes have been written into the band’s artistic DNA from the very beginning. After all, where there’s an artistic will, there’s also an artistic path, especially in these times. The first single, “denkst du an mich?” (Are you thinking of me?), went viral immediately with six-figure streams and, with its powerful and melodic indie rock sound, recalls the heyday of the early bands from the Hamburg School: lo-fi sound design, quirky lyrics, vibrant hooks with singalong qualities – what more could you want?
Live at Waves: October 2, 2025
Sanna
Sanna —a Vienna-based musician and producer—crafts immersive, avant-garde pop worlds that dissolve the boundaries of genre. Her lyrics unfold like a dream language, rich with metaphor and imagery that explore existential themes in vivid, poetic ways
Live at Waves: October 2, 2025
An international jury of six will attend the nominees’ performances at Waves Vienna and select the act delivering the most impressive show. The winner of the XA Award 2025 will be announced on Saturday, 4th of October at 8 PM at Brunnenpassage.