TMW has successfully concluded the three year project period in cooperation with Enterprise Estonia (EAS). EAS supported the Estonian music and city culture festival with 200 000 euros in total for a span of three festival years (2017, 2018, 2019). The goal of the grant was to increase the recognition of Estonia in the foreign markets and attract more foreign tourists to Tallinn. The grant was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
The initial prognoses were excelled, as the number of recurring visitors and accommodation establishments was exceeded, and the festival generated more positive mentions of Estonia in foreign publications than was expected.
For three festival years (2017, 2018, 2019) the grant’s sum total was 200 000 euros, approximately 12 per cent of the festival’s three-year budget. It was used mostly to cover the expenses related to the festival’s international marketing, incl. inviting foreign press delegations to TMW and arranging marketing events abroad.
TMW exceeded the objectives specified in the application, bringing 5105 foreign guests to Estonia that spent the sum total of 10370 nights in the local accommodation establishments, and were served by 69 local enterprises in the course of the three years. As a result of the TMW’s press activities, Estonia was highlighted as an attractive tourist destination in 565 international articles – from blogs to TV reports and editorials. According to the impact research conducted by the Conjuncture Institute of Estonia, a foreign guest attending TMW averagely spent 434.3 euros in Estonia, which means that 5105 visitors brought revenue of almost 2.22 million euros that was mostly spent in accommodation and dining enterprises of Tallinn.
TMW’s strategic partner is the music industry development centre and export office Music Estonia (ME). The membership of both TMW and ME in the European talent exchange network ETEP has enabled at least two Estonian artists to perform at the acclaimed Eurosonic Noorderslag festival every year. The Songwriting Camp, launched in collaboration between TMW, ME and Estonian national ESC selection Eesti Laul has fostered the collaboration of Estonian and international artists and producers as well as providing a fertile ground for developing international-level songwriting in Estonia. As part of the Finnish-Estonian export project Finest Sounds (2016 – 2019), several Estonian artists have been showcased in Japan, and Japanese music industry delegates have taught their trade at TMW seminars and workshops.
Some of the noteworthy international achievements of Estonian artists that have performed at TMW during the past few years are the cross-continental tours and gigs at prominent world-music festivals WOMEX and WOMAD by folk acts Mari Kalkun, Maarja Nuut and Trad.Attack!. Maarja Nuut & Ruum have signed a record deal with TMW’s collaborator, British imprint 13070. Mari Kalkun’s album Ilmamõtsan (2018) was featured in The Guardian’s world-music albums top ten list, and Mart Avi’s album OtherWorld (2018) was also featured in several international album of the year lists as well as in MOJO’s Rising feature. I Wear* Experiment have toured in China, South Korea, and Singapore, and NOËP has not just performed at the Finnish high-level international festival Flow but his singles have charted in several European countries. Erki Pärnoja has taken the stage at the biggest jazz festivals in the UK, and Holy Motors have signed a contract with the US indie label Wharf Cat Records and performed at the acclaimed SXSW festival. Several projects by Kadri Voorand have been featured at the most notable jazz festivals across Europe and the USA, and her collaborative album with Mihkel Mälgand is scheduled to be released under the German major label ACT.
The aforementioned Estonian artists are just a fraction of the TMW performers, whose success has increased the interest of international music professionals in Estonia as an exciting emerging market. TMW has also boosted the talent-import to domestic market as numerous Estonian festivals, such as Jazzkaar, Intsikurmu, Manka Boutique Pop Festival, Station Narva and Mägede Hääl, have booked foreign artists spotted at TMW like Shortparis, Glintshake and Lucidvox from Russia, alyona alyona from Ukraine, Molchat Doma and Super Besse from Belarus, MOJA from Japan and Iris Gold from Denmark.
TMW has been acknowledged for its bold and diverse mix of music and different art forms, societal endeavours and city development. The festival has been recognized as one of the best festivals of the world by The Guardian and The Observer, and one of the most exciting cultural events in the world in the New York Times editorial. Forbes has introduced the TMW festival centre Telliskivi Creative City as the new burgeoning arts hub, and The Quietus has published a series of articles on both Estonian and Russian experimental music and acknowledged TMW for “promoting leftfield adventurous artists”.
After the 10-year run as one of the fastest-growing talent festivals and creative industry conventions in Europe, the 2019 edition of the festival marked the beginning of the new phase in TMW’s development with the goal not to grow in numbers, but in content, quality, user-friendliness, and sustainability.
The twelfth edition of TMW will take place from 25 – 28 March 2020.
Comparative statistics of TMW’s development over the years:
2009
68 artists from 3 countries
4000 festival visitors
290 делегатов на конференции, из них 97 из других стран
2017
250 artists from 30 countries
36823 festival visitors
1193 conference delegates, 879 from other countries
132 foreign journalists
2018
262 artists from 31 countries
34 170 festival visitors
1330 conference delegates, 870 from other countries
150 foreign journalists
2019
170 artists from 28 countries
22 587 festival visitors
956 conference delegates, 453 from other countries
100 foreign journalists