Professional section – conference 29.8.2025 from 9:30-16
Programme:
9:30 Coffee and Opening
10:00 Panel discussion: The Lifeblood of Live Music – What Needs to be Fixed? Stuba Nikula moderates
11:00 Talk: Tallinn Music Week, Eva Lepikov and Tapio Korjus
12:00 Networking Lunch
13:00 Panel discussion: Artistry and Activism. Moderated by Mikko Meriläinen
14:00 Keynote: Mika Christoffersen, Roskilde, Autopsy of Festival Visitors
15:00 Panel discussion: Brand, Budget and Bands. Moderated by Jari Väyliö
15:50 Closing Remarks
16:00 Gigs start, gigs listed below
9:30
Coffee and Opening
10:00
Panel discussion: The Lifeblood of Live Music – What Should Be Fixed?
The Finnish live music industry is a form of culture based on passion and entrepreneurship that has been severely affected by rising costs in recent years. Higher technical costs, space rents, the share of ticketing services and the increase in VAT have reduced the profitability of the sector.
Yet what the sector needs is not subsidies, but a more reasonable and predictable environment. Concrete measures such as lowering age limits, harmonising licensing practices, reducing ticketing costs and introducing flexibility in the Teosto fees could significantly improve the situation. Live music is a socially important industry that needs opportunities – not barriers – to flourish.
Panelists: Panu Hattunen, Katja Vauhkonen, Emilia Mikkola, Janne Laurila
Moderator: Stuba Nikula (Helsinki Events Foundation)
Stuba Nikula (Helsinki Events Foundation)
Stuba Nikula is the CEO of the Helsinki Events Foundation. The foundation produces Helsinki Festival and the City of Helsinki’s own major public events such as Lux Helsinki, Helsinki Day, Helsinki New Year’s Eve, Helsinki Baltic Herring Market and Helsinki Christmas Market. Prior to his current position, he worked as Head of Cultural Services and Director of Culture for the City of Helsinki and as Managing Director of Kaapelitehdas and Suvilahti cultural centres for the city-owned real estate company. He served a full six-year term on the Board of Trans Europe Halles, the European network of cultural centres. Prior to joining Kiinteistö Oy Kaapelitalo, he headed Finnish Metal Events Oy, responsible for the development and welfare of the Tuska Festival. He has sustained his training as a teacher of computer science and mathematics by visiting the faculty in cultural production schools. Mr Stuba sits and has sat on the boards of numerous cultural companies, associations, academies and foundations. To complement his education, he completed a master’s degree in service design.
Panu Hattunen (Joensuu Pop musicians)
Promoter of Ilosaarirock Festival and programme manager of Restaurant Kerubi. Member of the board of LiveFIN, a live music advocacy organisation, and member of the board of the Kansanahontie road committee.
Katja Vauhkonen (Backbone Management)
Katja Vauhkonen is a music industry all-rounder: she is an artist manager and PR professional, as well as the Executive Director of IndieCon. On the management side, her artist roster includes Stam1na, Stoned Statues and Block Of Flats. Katja founded her own company K. Vauhkosen Musiikit ja Meiningit in 2021, preceded by 10 years at Sony Music and 7 years at Fullsteam Management and Fullsteam Records. Vauhkonen joined management forces with Backbone Management (e.g. VV, The Rasmus, Swallow The Sun, Blind Channel) in autumn 2024. Katja has served as Executive Director of IndieCo, the lobby group for independent record labels, since 2021. Through IndieCo, Katja also sits on the boards of IFPI and Impala, Music Finland and MES Foundation for the Promotion of Music. On the PR side, Vauhkonen is responsible for Century Media and Sakara Records publications in Finland. Vauhkonen has been awarded as Marketing and Promotion Manager of the Year at the Industry Awards in 2014 & 2015 and Manager of the Year in 2019 at the same gala.
Emilia Mikkola (Kulttuuritalo)
Emilia Mikkola is the CEO of Kulttuuritalo and represents ASM Global. ASM Global is the world’s leading venue operation and management company and entered the Finnish market in 2023 when it started as the operator of the Helsinki Culture House.
Emilia Mikkola has been working in the events industry for 17 years, holding several festival management positions.
Janne Laurila (Tampereen Kulttuurikamari)
Janne Laurila is the program manager for Tampereen Kulttuurikamari Oy, which operates Tavara-asema, and for Carneval Oy, responsible for Kulttuuritalo Telakka. Tampereen Kulttuurikamari Oy also managed Tullikamari until the end of 2024, when extensive renovations of the building began. Janne is also a musician.
11:00
Talk: Tallinn Music Week – Eva Lepikov, interview with Tapio Korjus
TMW builds a great roster year after year, taking risks, but always trusting its own safe choices. What values, issues and facts are taken into account when building a list of performers? What kind of work is it? In Finland, we have Music X Media in Tampere and MARS in Seinäjoki. They are quite strongly linked to the genre. Should we learn from TMW about building a professional event performer list? But at what risks?
Eva Johanna Lepikov is the executive producer of Tallinn Music Week (TMW). TMW is tomorrow’s festival of music, art and ideas. TMW is a platform for showcasing new and emerging talent from Estonia and around the world, and an important meeting place for the Nordic, Baltic and wider European music industry. Eva Lepikov has worked with TMW for more than five years, from assistant to marketing manager and now to executive producer. Alongside TMW, she is responsible for the marketing of sister festival Station Narva and projects for the organising Shiftworks.
Tapio Korjus (Rockadillo) is a record company mogul, agent, manager and music influencer with decades of experience, credited with working with artists from Wigwam to Wimme. He is currently running the Womex world music event for the second time in his hometown of Tampere.
At 12:00
Networking lunch
13:00
Panel discussion: Artistry and Activism
What happens when an artist takes to the stage – not to promote his art, but to defend life?
This debate asks directly what it costs to combine art and activism. What are the risks for an artist who uses the visibility that comes with their art to make a statement about social ills?
And on the other hand – what happens if no one dares to say anything at all?
The panelists are artists who make active choices: they take a visible stand for human dignity, peace and the environment – even though they know that such visibility can also close doors. The panel will discuss the role of the artist in society, but also the responsibility of the music industry. The choices made by promoters have a direct impact on the conditions under which activist voices can be heard. How are decisions made in a situation where the opinion of sponsors or audiences can drive programming policy more than the content of the art? And where is the line between courage and risk?
Panelists: Elsi Sloan, Eeva Rajakangas and Pessi Jouste
Moderator: Mikko Meriläinen
Mikko Meriläinen is an expert in societal discussions. He has been editor-in-chief of music magazine Soundi for many years and is an experienced music journalist and record company professional with a thorough understanding of the media and the music industry.
Elsi Sloan is an artist, actor and activist known for the bold originality and social relevance of their art. Sloan’s debut album, “Pakko muuttua” (Forced to Change), released in 2023, deals with the constant change in society and the presence of serious crises. As an actor Elsi came to the public’s attention with their leading role in the film “Sydänpeto” (Heartbreaker, 2022) directed by Aino Suni, for which she also received a Jussi (Finnish Oscar Award) nomination. She has also starred in the YLE youth series “Outo kesä” (Strange Summer). Currently, they can be seen in the series “Naapurin poika” (Neighbour’s Boy), which has just been released on YLE Areena. They will also play the lead role in the Helsinki City Theatre’s production of “Kuningatarnäytelmä”, which will premiere in August. Elsi Sloan’s versatile talent and passion for art and social issues make them an influential voice on the Finnish cultural scene.
Eeva Rajakangas is an activist, soloist in the band Vimma, filmmaker and theatre student.
“At the time of the beginning of the climate movements and the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [2018-19], we experienced an existential shake-up among the young members of Vimma – should we stop all the things we have practiced since childhood? But if you’ve already climbed halfway up a mountain, there’s no point going back. You’d rather climb the same mountain, but use that trip for something. Little by little, the idea was born that this trip could be a voice for activism and difficult emotions about the climate.”
Just as there are love songs, because love touches us all, so the ecological crisis touches us all.
Pessi Jouste is an activist and violinist who is largely responsible for Vimma’s compositions.
“Artivism is an activity in between art and activism. Artivism is sometimes seen as activism using artistic means, sometimes as art with political aims. In times of ecological crisis, artivism is seen as indispensable: the arts must also do their part in the ecological reconstruction of society.”
At 14:00
Keynote: Autopsy of Festival Visitors
Mika Christoffersen (Roskilde Festival)
Mika Christoffersen is Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) and Behaviour Manager in the Roskilde Festival team. She works closely with security staff to ensure that a more diverse range of people can participate and thrive at live events and festivals. Mika leads Roskilde’s social sustainability work, which focuses on diversity leadership and equal accessibility. She does consultancy work with other festivals, venues and live events to ensure youth inclusion and well-being in the cultural sector. Mika Christoffersen has a background in behavioural design, event management and teaching leadership and communication.
Interviewer Maiju Talvisto (Executive Director, Our Festival / Deputy Director shesaid.so Finland)
Maiju Talvisto is an experienced Finnish live music artist. She is also a writer and DEI advocate with over 15 years of experience. She has worked with artists at leading Finnish events such as Flow Festival and Pori Jazz, served as co-director of shesaid.so Finland and is the author of Backstage – Artist Liaison’s Handbook (2022). She currently runs the award-winning chamber music event Our Festival near Lake Tuusulanjärvi. She has been awarded Professional of the Year in the Arts (TAKU, 2019) and Production Manager of the Year by Women in Live Music (2019) and MusicxMedia (2022).
15:00
Panel discussion: Brand, Budget and Bands – Options for Festivals
Many festivals rely on big stars to attract audiences, but this strategy entails financial risks and can lead to a one-sided programme. Other events focus instead on personality and alternative, creating a strong identity without expensive performers. Balancing between these two approaches raises important questions about audience expectations, programme relevance and the value choices of event production. What kind of culture do we want to create – and for whom?
Moderator: Jari Väyliö (SoldOut Management)
Leads a new Finnish live event management and production company Soldout Management. Previously founder of a Ohjelmatoimisto Rocktalo, a Finnish booking agency. Long-term member of the board of the Finnish Programme Offices and Agents (SOA).
Panellists:
Simo Heino (Festival Auringonlaskun festivaali)
A long-standing event influencer from Rauma: involved in the birth of RMJ Festival in the 90s, created the Independent Jussi Festival in Turku and most recently this year the Auringonlaskun Festivaali in Rauma.
Foto Järvinen (Rock Festival Naamat)
Now after 26 years a pro bono festival director. Over the years, he has seen the live music scene from at least the buyer’s, seller’s and performer’s point of view. And, for example, taking indie bands to the Baltic gig circuit with their fans.
Marianne Haapoja (Työväen Musiikkitapahtuma)
Director of a music festival held in Valkeakoski since the early 1970s, serving in the role since 1997.
Altti Uhlenius (Krapin Paja & Krapin Puistokonsertit & Krapin Puistojuhlat)
Host to a great cultural venue: clubs all year round, park concerts in the summer and, to top it all off, another sold-out festival Puistojuhla.
15:50
Closing remarks and evening programme begins
After the conference, the evening will continue with music, good and surprising, whatever the genre.
Nightlore Festival from 16-01, Korjaamon Piha, Korjaamon Kulma and Vaunusali.
16:00 hannaeerika
16:30 Anne-Mari Kivimäki Ensemble
17:00 Leija Lautamaja
17:30 Saarisalo solo
18:15 Vimma
19:00 Tuuletar
19:45 Liisa Akimof & Yökerho
20:30 Moontwins
21:15 Puuluup (EE)
22:00 Kitty Florentine (EE)
22:45 Suistamon Sähkö
23:45 Oopus (EE)
00:30 Event ends
The event is produced by
Saura Booking Agency, Piikkikasvi Agency and Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamo.
The event is supported by Cultural Endowment Of Estonia and Music Finland.