Groningen, 19 January 2024
ESNS and Soundcharts proudly announce EMERGE, a ground-breaking AI project for the European music industry. The project was publicly announced today at the annual music conference and showcase festival ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag), the platform for emerging European music talent.
EMERGE is an AI-powered chat interface for sync professionals, linking European music with sync prospects such as film producers, advertising agencies, the gaming industry, and sync agents. It facilitates audio-visual professionals to find the perfect track to sync for their new production. EMERGE is developed by ESNS and Soundcharts, in close collaboration with ICMP, EBU, IMPALA, IMPF, and Europe in Synch. EMERGE will be EU-funded by Creative Innovation Lab.
Connecting the audio-visual sector with the music industry
ESNS and Soundcharts identify a gap connecting the audio-visual sector with the music sector in Europe, the so-called sync market. The sync markets are well developed in some European countries internally, while in others are lagging behind. Both of those, however, are missing worldwide visibility and representation; while Anglo-American tracks can access European markets in massive commercial campaigns, European musicians and tracks have rarely reached foreign markets in terms of sync.
Some of these issues are already being addressed. For example, Europe in Synch is making a great contribution to smaller emerging markets such as Estonia, Portugal, Hungary, Slovenia and Austria by presenting the publishing power to local musicians, educating them about the commercial possibilities and connecting them with domestic and European marketing agencies.
To contribute bridging this gap, ESNS and Soundcharts see the potential in technology, by bringing the European markets even closer together and to reflect the continent’s creativity worldwide. The proposed technical solution is to develop a ground-breaking AI-powered chat interface that supports European music, linking it directly with possible sync customers such as TV producers, film producers, marketing agencies, gaming industry, sync agents. etc.
The proposed AI-powered search will be significantly different from any other AI currently on the market, as it would source its factual data directly from the metadata database of Soundcharts, one of the largest depositories of music data including airplay, streaming and social media. In addition to this depository, we would additionally add sources of track (song) data, such as: energy, mood, genre, emotional profile, instruments, vocals, segments, etc. characteristic to match the search criteria.
Roadmap to new technology
Following the public launch, ESNS and Soundcharts will regularly publish news on the developments of the AI via ESNS Radar news, keeping the interested audience updated.
During ESNS 2025 the AI will gain a soft/alpha launch and be offered to the ESNS delegate professionals to test it and provide feedback. The exclusive access to the tool will be open for a few months and used to attract attention and interest to it.
The full wide launch will occur in January during ESNS 2026, introducing the technology at the ESNS Conference with a wide press campaign that will continue the whole year.
About ESNS
ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag) is a non-profit organisation and independent platform dedicated to promoting and discovering new European and Dutch music.
ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag) is a non-profit organisation and independent platform dedicated to promoting and discovering new European and Dutch music.
Founded in 1986, ESNS annually hosts the annual four-day showcase festival and music conference across venues in Groningen, the Netherlands. Uncover the most enthralling emerging European (Eurosonic) and Dutch (Noorderslag) acts ranging from mainstream pop to progressive finds during the festival, which sets the stage for leading European festivals. Expand your knowledge of industry-leading topics and innovation during the conference, geared at trailblazing the music industry towards a sustainable future.
ESNS has proven essential in breaking new European acts into live music scenes throughout Europe and beyond. Launched in 1986, the showcase festival has an impressive history and proven track record of kickstarting the international careers of artists like Altin Gün, Alina Pash, Arlo Parks, Baby Volcano, Deki Alem, Dua Lipa, Fontaines D.C., girl in red, Hania Rani, The Haunted Youth, July Jones, Meduza, Priya Ragu, Pongo, Queralt Lahoz, Sigrid, Tramhaus, Trupa Trupa, and Wet Leg.
ESNS24 will take place from January 17 – 20, 2024 in Groningen, the Netherlands.
About Soundcharts
Established in 2016, Soundcharts stands as the leading Market Intelligence platform in the global music industry. Utilized extensively for talent discovery, marketing campaigns, broad market intelligence, and financial auditing, it caters to over 1,900 clients from over 50 countries. Soundcharts offers real-time data analytics on artist performances and market trends by monitoring radio stations, playlists, charts and social media.
The platform, accessible via web, mobile apps, browser extension, and an API, also powers many third-party data platforms including ESNS Radar and Celebrity Access, reinforcing its central role in the music industry’s B2B ecosystem for the past eight years.
About IMPALA
IMPALA was established in 2000 and now represents nearly 6000 independent music companies in Europe. 99% of Europe’s music companies are small, micro and medium businesses and self-releasing artists. Known as the independents, they are world leaders in terms of innovation and discovering new music and artists – they produce more than 80% of all new releases and account for 80% of the sector’s jobs. IMPALA’s mission is to grow the independent music sector sustainably, return more value to artists, promote diversity and entrepreneurship, improve political access, inspire change, and increase access to finance. IMPALA works on a range of key issues for its members, runs various award schemes and has a programme aimed at businesses who want to develop a strategic relationship with the European independent sector – Friends of IMPALA.
