IMPALA Campus training programme for young recorded music professionals in Europe to kick off at Westway Lab

Brussels, 10th March  2021

IMPALA, the European association of independent music companies, is launching today its new IMPALA Campus project, an EU-funded training programme for recorded music professionals and self-releasing artists. Four workshops will take place in the spring and summer of 2021, each one in partnership with a leading music conference across Europe. 

Westway LAB in Portugal, Tallinn Music Week in Estonia, Mastering the Music Business in Romania and MENT in Slovenia will all work with IMPALA to deliver the workshops in the context of their conferences. This is part of the EU’s pilot for the EU’s new Creative Europe programme, which for the first time ever will have dedicated support for music.

Participants will receive high-quality training delivered by leading music industry experts on key industry topics. These topics are tailored to the specific industry needs of the region where the conferences are taking place, based on the feedback of IMPALA’s members across Europe.

Ten participants will be selected for each workshop, with two of them chosen for follow-up one-on-one mentoring sessions. Participation is free and all participants will also get access free of charge to the music conference corresponding to their workshop. 

The IMPALA Campus will kick off on Tuesday 6th April with a first digital workshop in partnership with Westway LAB, Portugal’s first showcase festival. Applications are now open! Interested music professionals can apply to the workshop by sending their CV and a short cover letter to contact@impalacampus.eu by March 28th. Results will be announced to applicants on March 30th.

The project comes at a critical time for the music sector, still in crisis and with little prospect of full European tours in the immediate future. A recent studyfrom EY underlined the impact of the crisis on music as well as other cultural sectors in Europe and called for key measures of support. The specificities of recovery in the music sector are the target of IMPALA’s second wave recommendations. 

Helen Smith, Executive Chair of IMPALA said: “Culture is recognised as a priority sector by the European Commission and providing training to music professionals at an early stage of their careers is vital. The music industry is still in crisis. We all owe it to artists and music professionals to show that they will have enough support from the EU and national governments to pursue their passion and contribute to Europe’s diversity and growth. This is why our second wave crisis recommendations are so important.”

Nuno Saraiva, co-founder of Westway LAB and president of AMAEI, the Portuguese independent music companies association, added: “Westway LAB and its PRO conference are delighted to partner with IMPALA on the first IMPALA Campus workshop and welcome participants to our own conference programme. Getting insider knowledge from industry experts and joining a network of aspiring and like-minded individuals at the start of one’s career is of great importance for any music professional. We can’t wait to kick off the Campus programme with IMPALA on April 6th! It’s also a great example to governments all across Europe of what they can do to support the sector.”

Find out more about the IMPALA Campus and the application process on the official IMPALA Campus website. 

This project is co-funded by the EU under the Music Moves Europe framework.

Website: https://impalacampus.eu/
First workshop: https://impalacampus.eu/westwaylab/ 
Contact: contact@impalacampus.eu

About IMPALA
IMPALA was established in 2000 and now represents over 5000 independent music companies. 99% of Europe’s music companies are small, micro and medium businesses and self-releasing artists. Known as the independents, they are world leaders in terms of innovation and discovering new music and artists – they produce more than 80% of all new releases and account for 80% of the sector’s jobs. IMPALA’s mission is to grow the independent music sector sustainably, return more value to artists, promote diversity and entrepreneurship, improve political access, inspire change, and increase access to finance.