The eighteenth edition of by:Larm, the Nordic’s premier showcase festival, attracted over 7000 festival visitors and 2000 conference delegates from over 20 countries around the world. Since its foundation, by:Larm has slowly but surely developed from a small industry conference into Scandinavia’s biggest festival showcase for new Nordic talent.
With the Nordic and international music and tech industry, music lovers, artists and media in attendance at the 4-day event, which took place from 4 – 7 March this year, by:Larm was truly a global event offering guests a window into the Nordic music scene.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
With a diverse live program featuring over 100 artists, spanning indie, rock, hip hop, folk and electronic music, by:Larm festival was once again the place to discover the finest names on the Nordic scene. From established acts to the most exciting newcomers, this year’s highlights included Astrid (NO), AURORA (NO), Beatrice Eli (SE), Bendik (NO), Broen (NO), Carl Louis (NO), Coucheron (NO), Drippin (NO), Elias (SE), Fay Wildhagen (NO), Ivan Ave (NO), Julias Moon (DK), Karl William (DK), Karin Park (SE), KUUK (NO), Les Big Byrd (SE), Lorentz (SE), Miss Tati (NO), Miriam Bryant (SE), OMVR (NO), S!VAS (DK), Samaris (ICE), Sekuoia (DK), Silvana Imam (SE), $USHI X KOBE (NO), Ukendt Kunstner (DK) and Vök (ICE).
For the first time in the event’s 18 year history, by:Larm’s 2015 line-up also featured 15 rising international acts, part of the new International Feel program. The successful first edition included East India Youth (UK), Girl Band (IE), Hinds (ES), Novelist (UK), Pretty Vicious (UK), Rae Morris (UK), SOAK (IE) Sylvan Esso (US) and Visuals (DE).
Red Bull Music Academy Presents returned for the fourth consecutive year, hosting an impressive programme of concerts and talks. The RBMA live stage showcased performances from acts including André Bratten (NO), Gidge (SE), Kleerup (SE), Novelist (UK), Slick Shoota (NO) and DNKL (SE). As part of this year’s by:Larm talks programme, RBMA also hosted talks from disco legend John Morales, eminent producer Trevor Horn, enigmatic folk artist Vashti Bunyan and punk pioneer Viv Albertine.
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
As the number one networking destination for music industry professionals looking to connect with the Nordic scene, the by:Larm conference once again played host to array of speakers and delegates. This year’s conference, located for the first time in Oslo’s burgeoning Vulkan area, included influential speakers such as British music manager and record producer Peter Jenner, Because music group founder Emmanuel de Buretel, Young Turks founder Caius Pawson, President of EMI Music Publishing UK & European Creative Guy Moot and Norway’s bestselling crime novelist Jo Nesbø.
By:Larm Interactive also returned, presenting its strongest program to date, growing in stature as one of the must-visit events in the tech conference circuit. With topics ranging from music tech to celebratory environments, from the politics of the new economy to pure inspirational presentations, highlights of the schedule included talks from entrepreneur, investor and former VP of Marketing at MySpace Sean Percival, acclaimed marketing guru and media strategist Ryan Holiday, and Burning Man’s cultural maven and communications specialist Rosie von Lila. Read the Guardian article the fall of MySpace and Sean Percival’s talk at by:Larm.
For a full recap of by:Larm 2015 – and a look ahead at by:Larm 2016 – click here!