Spot (music festival)

infobox music festival
music_festival_name = SPOT


location = Århus, Denmark
years_active= 1994 - 2000, 2002 - present
dates = Two days (friday and saturday), early June
genre = Indie rock, hip hop, electronica, reggae etc.
website = http://www.spotfestival.dk

SPOT is an annual music festival in the city of Århus, Denmark, showcasing up-and-coming Danish and Scandinavian talent. Around one hundred artists and bands from most genres of contemporary popular music - such as rock, hip hop, electronic music - play various stages in and around the Århus theatre and music venue, Musikhuset. Around 800 people attend, according to the official web site.

Speakers also participate in panel discussions and give lectures on various music industry topics. For example, they answer musicians' questions on "How to make it in the US" and participate in debates on topics including file sharing and the future of the album.

While the audience is mainly local, the most quoted of its [http://www.spotfestival.dk/index.php?SectionID=1420&1167333750 stated aims] is to promote Danish and Scandinavian music to the international music business, from record companies and concert organisers to agents and the music presscite web
url = http://www.spotfestival.dk/index.php?SectionID=1419&1167333876
title = SPOT Info
accessdate = 2006-12-28
publisher=SPOT
language = Danish] . Trying to please both camps, a curious, local music audience and an international music business crowd, is occasionally a source of frictioncite web
url = http://www.musik.dk/13502
title = Private party or festival?
date = 7 June 2006
accessdate = 2006-12-28
author = Peter Krogholm
publisher = musik.dk
language = Danish] .

History

Started in 1994 at a local initiative, the festival has been organized by ROSA (Dansk Rock Samråd, translating as Danish Rock Council, an umbrella organization representing various Danish musicians' unions) from 1995 onwards. In 2002, David Fricke of Rolling Stone Magazine spotted The Raveonettes at the festivalcite web
url = http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5933467/raveonettes_whip_it_on_in_nyc
title = Raveonettes Whip It On in NYC
date = July 30 2002
accessdate = 2006-12-28
author = David Fricke
publisher = Rolling Stone Magazine] and his subsequent endorsement was considered instrumental in landing them a contract with Columbia Recordscite web
url = http://gaffa.dk/nyheder/view.php/news_id=10717/artist_focus=19474
title = SPOT09 - A year after The Raveonettes
accessdate = 2006-12-28
author = Peter Studstrup
date = 30 May 2003
publisher=Gaffa
language = Danish] . This incident greatly increased interest in the festival among musicians as a 'place to be seen', prompting among others Sort Sol, a staple of the Danish music scene since 1977, to appear the following year in the hope of garnering international interest in their back catalogue.

Growth and changing profile

In recent years the festival has seen an increase in the number of bands and venues as well as public attention - a transformation that has not escaped criticism. In 2005 the festival included 107 acts featured on 10 stages across town, a number that led the festival manager, to call for a scalebackcite web
url = http://gaffa.dk/nyheder/view.php/news_id=13708/theme_focus=87
title = SPOT to be cut
accessdate = 2006-12-28
author = Michael Jensen
date = 17 June 2005
publisher=Gaffa
language = Danish] . Critical voices have focused more on the choice of venues and artists, claiming that venues have been spread too far out and the choice of musicians has gotten safer and less variedcite web
url = http://www.geiger.dk/anmeldelser/anmeldelse.php?id=2155
title = Bandapart (concert review)
accessdate = 2006-12-28
author = Steffen B. Pedersen
date = 3 June 2006
publisher=Geiger
language = Danish] . Political interest in the festival has grown with the commercial successes of acts such as Mew, The Raveonettes and Junior Senior. In 2005 the minister for culture, Brian Mikkelsen, proclaimed it "the most important musical event in Denmark" due to its potential as a vehicle for "networking and musical export"cite web
url = http://stiften.dk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050311/AARHUS/103110419/0/stiften&SearchID=73267364598726
title = SPOT festival brings ministers to Århus
accessdate = 2006-12-28
author = Louise Wilhelmsen
date = 11 March 2005
publisher=Århus Stiftstidende
language = Danish] . However, this attention has prompted questions about the relative weights given to artistic merit and marketability as criteria for band selection and claims that the new focus on big business has alienated the local music scenecite web
url = http://gaffa.dk/nyheder/view.php/news_id=15575/theme_focus=120
title = SPOT - the everpresent dilemma of underground versus major attractions
accessdate = 2006-12-28
author = Anders Jørgensen
date = 4 June 2006
publisher=Gaffa
language = Danish] . The inclusion of by now well-established names (or at least names that were felt to have had their chance of international recognition) such as Saybia and Outlandish was greeted with muted enthusiasm in the music press and occasional hostility from audiences.

Highlights

Among the bands who have taken baby steps at SPOT are
* 1997 (SPOT04): Kashmir (Denmark), moi Caprice (Denmark)
* 1998 (SPOT05): Under Byen (Denmark), Superheroes (Denmark)
* 1999 (SPOT06): Sigur Rós (Iceland)
* 2000 (SPOT07): Outlandish (Denmark)
* 2002 (SPOT08): The Raveonettes, Junior Senior (Denmark)
* 2003 (SPOT09): Kaizer's Orchestra (Norway), The Blue Van (Denmark)
* 2004 (SPOT10): Múm (Iceland)
* 2005 (SPOT11): Blue Foundation (Denmark), Mew (Denmark)
* 2006 (SPOT12): Oh No Ono (Denmark), Figurines (Denmark)
* 2007 (SPOT13): Spleen United (Denmark), Shout Out Louds (Sweden), Eivør Pálsdóttir (Faroe Islands)

A complete list can be found at the [http://www.myspace.com/spotfestival MySpace profile] .

References

External links

* [http://www.spotfestival.dk/choose.php?Code=uk&SiteID=16 Official homepage] (English language version)
* [http://www.myspace.com/spotfestival SPOT's MySpace profile]
* [http://www.rosa.org/v4/home/choose.php3?Code=uk&SiteID=1 ROSA Official homepage] (English language version)