“It’s impressive to see such a sparsely-populated country has got such a dedicated music scene.”
About Iceland Music
When one thinks of Iceland, one thinks of its music. From Björk to Sigur Rós, múm, Kaleo and Of Monsters and Men, Iceland’s wealth of contemporary artists in a myriad of genres has had an indelible impact on the globe, with creative talent punching high above its weight class, with a population only 330,000 strong.
If anything, the island’s soundtrack grows ever more dynamic, as artists and bands follow in the footsteps of their peers in continuing to create new music the world takes notice of.
As an Icelander, the tightly controlled divisions between “classical” and “popular” musics that […] have grown within most of Europe, have never really applied.
-Guy Dammann, The Guardian
Iceland Music was formed in November 2006 as Útflutningsskrifstofa Íslenskrar Tónlistar (ÚTÓN), an export office created by various musical rights holders’ societies in partnership with governmental and private funds. In increasing access to information about Icelandic artists and collaborating with partners to promote Icelandic music abroad, Iceland Music increases the visibility of Icelandic music in the international sphere; Icelandic artists performed over 1250 international gigs in 2017 alone.
Within the music industry, Iceland Music organises marketing strategies for musicians and music businesses, and provides an essential one-stop resource for all interested parties.
Iceland Music achieves this end via a multi-strategy approach that includes building accessible, comprehensive databases, promoting Icelandic labels, bands and events, and providing information on Icelandic music to markets and the media. In this way, it encourages and helps Icelandic bands, PRs and record labels participate in events and festivals around the world – in a sense, doing some good, old-fashioned “connecting people”.
Iceland Music manages two web presences. Iceland Music is targeted at an international, English-speaking market and introduces Icelandic music, artists, labels, and festivals to a global audience. Social media plays an integral role in our English audience outreach, with Iceland Music maintaining active presences on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify. Through these channels, audiences can stay updated with the latest happenings in Icelandic music of all genres; quarterly newsletters also provide direct-to-inbox information about happenings in the pop & indie, jazz & folk, and contemporary classical genres.
ÚTÓN is our Icelandic-language resource for Icelandic musicians and the Icelandic music industry, where local musicians may find educational resources, information about performing at showcase festivals, as well as travel and marketing grants.
partners
