UG students dive into the European music industry

Next week, the annual Eurosonic Noorderslag music festival (ESNS) will kick off again. Two groups of students from the UG Science Shops will participate in the event. During the ESNS festival, they will investigate various societal themes.

Eurosonic Noorderslag

ESNS is the largest showcase festival for European music acts. In January, Groningen fills up with over 40,000 music fans who come to admire the latest crop of European musical talent, including 4,000 music professionals. To serve the music industry, a conference will be held offering more than 150 panel discussions, interviews, and keynotes. Among these professionals, a number of UG students will also be present at the upcoming edition.

During the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival, seven students from the Faculty of Philosophy will serve as ‘philosophers in residence’. They will study the social impact of ESNS on the basis of a number of philosophical theories. In addition, a multi-year project on diversity and inclusion is underway at the Faculty of Arts, both onstage and offstage. A group of Master’s students from the Master's degree programme in Arts, Culture and Media will explore diversity in festival backstages this year.

Diversity behind the scenes

The collaboration between the Faculty of Arts and ESNS has been available for students for about three years and has since grown to the extent that it now has its own website. Previous studies within this project have focused on issues such as the diversity of the ESNS line-up, the ESNS Exchange programme, and the line-ups of partner festivals. The students are supported in this endeavour by Dr Chris Tonelli, assistant professor of History and Theory of Popular Music, and his colleagues. They assess the research plan, supervise the content of the project, and grade the final academic report to ensure academic integrity.

This year, students will focus on diversity around the stage. They will analyse the backstage aspects of ESNS, and the involvement of those working behind the scenes in production and programming, by conducting interviews and using data analysis. The findings will be compiled into a report, which will be published by the Science Shops.

Societal value

The other group of students, from the Faculty of Philosophy, will seek answers to the following question during the festival: 'What is the societal value of the ESNS festival for the city of Groningen?' This question was raised by the festival to the Philosophy Knowledge Centre, following the great success of a previous diversity panel at the festival. The students were asked to analyse the festival with a critical mindset. Through the process, ESNS hopes to gain new insights into opportunities for growth and development. To achieve this, the students will have access to the festival and the accompanying conference, where they can speak to visitors and professionals.

The group comprises seven students, each choosing an existing philosophical theory or vision and applying it to ESNS. The students' interests vary widely: from social philosophy to metaphysics. Nevertheless, they all have a shared goal of linking their theoretical philosophical knowledge with practice and their love for music, including live music. The results will be compiled afterwards in a booklet, which will be published by ESNS. During the festival, the students will present their initial findings. This presentation is open to all and will take place on Thursday 16 January in the House of Connections at the Grote Markt.

The Science Shops

The collaboration between the UG and ESNS originated from projects set up by the Science Shops. The Science Shops connect societal questions with the broad academic expertise that is available within the UG. They do this by setting up projects that focus on student research in collaboration with civil society organizations. For more information, visit the website of the various Science Shops within the UG faculties.

More information

Stay up to date via LinkedIn and the websites:

• LinkedIn Science Shops
• Website of the Language, Culture and Communication Science Shop
• Inclusivity in the music industry
• Website of the Philosophy Knowledge Centre [Kenniscentrum Filosofie]