SCOTTISH FOLK ARTISTS IN WORLD-FIRST, GLOBAL MUSIC INITIATIVE
Twelve Scottish artists are participating in what is thought to be the world’s largest online musical matchmaking - featuring 96 artists from 14 countries around the globe!
For six weeks across September and October, Scottish music will be on the world’s stage alongside artists from as far afield as Canada, Australia, Taiwan, the USA and throughout Europe.
The world-first collaboration was created by founding partners Showcase Scotland Expo, with Sounds Australia and Canada’s East Coast Music Association (ECMA), to continue developing profiles for folk-based artists in international music markets within the challenging and unprecedented parameters of COVID-19.
Artists from around the world have been grouped into international teams of six acts from different countries, who will take it week about to ‘introduce’ each act to their respective social media followings - thereby expanding all participating artists’ global fanbases, whilst not able to tour in 2020. With just shy of 100 artists in all, 16 teams will work simultaneously across multiple markets and timezones.
Global Music Match begins next Monday, August 31, running to October 11.
Representing a diverse cross-section of the country’s folk, roots and acoustic music, the Scottish artists selected to take part in Global Music Match (after an open application) are: Breabach, Claire Hastings, Elephant Sessions, Fara, Iona Fyfe, Kim Edgar, The Langan Band, RURA, Ryan Young, Siobhan Miller, Skerryvore and Twelfth Day.
Each Scottish act has been placed into a working group with five other artists from different countries.
As well as the founding partners in Scotland, Australia and Canada, a further eleven international music export offices have come on board with the pilot initiative - bringing with them artists from Catalonia, Iceland, Estonia, Finland, Wales, the USA, Norway, Brittany, Puglia (Italy), England and Taiwan.
Global Music Match was created as a unique and direct response to the sudden limitations imposed on the worldwide music industry, making use of the few available platforms - social media, and peer-to-peer collaboration - to increase networks, audiences and meaningful exposure for internationally touring or export-ready artists, providing a groundwork for future development.
The programme will also support participating artists to improve and broaden their social media activity, as well as encourage cross border artist collaboration by connecting musicians globally.
Showcase Scotland Expo Executive Producer, Lisa Whytock said: “We’re really excited to see Global Music Match kick off next week. The idea came about on a Zoom call between myself and Millie Millgate of Sounds Australia several months ago, and we have since seen it grow to include so many export organisations - all of whom have been meeting regularly to develop the initiative.
“It’s great that we can all still connect through social media and we are really looking forward to seeing how all the artists work together. With so many from around the world, most of the musicians won’t have met - let alone toured in their respective countries - so it really is going to establish new and lasting international connections”
David Foley, of Scottish group RURA, said: “This year was set to be one of our busiest yet, internationally - so it’s great to be taking part in Global Music Match to bridge that gap, and keep on developing new audiences for when we can hit the road again.
“We were relatively lucky in that we managed to visit festivals in Australia and New Zealand with the Year of Scotland in Australia before the pandemic hit in March, and had a wee tour in Denmark in February too - but that was just the start of our tenth anniversary year. We were due to be touring our new album across Europe and to Canada this summer, and then throughout the UK in the autumn. It’s great that opportunities like this exist through Showcase Scotland Expo, to keep the word out there!
For further information, head to https://globalmusicmatch.com, or search for the hashtag #GlobalMusicMatch to check out the worldwide introductions to new artists.
Supported by Creative Scotland, Showcase Scotland Expo works to promote the international export of Scottish-based musicians working in the genres of folk, traditional and world music. Most often this is via targeted industry showcases and presentations at key conferences worldwide, however in 2020 has pivoted to a number of online initiatives in a bid to ensure that Scottish artists’ profiles remain high amongst international markets, with both audiences and bookers.
