STATUS at Classical:NEXT 2025: Sharing Signals, Shaping Futures

At Classical:NEXT 2025 in Berlin, the STATUS network hosted the session “Trends & Friends: Signals from the Nordic Countries.” Instead of a traditional panel, we invited participants to take part in our signal-sharing method – a way of capturing early signs of change in the art music field and reflecting on their wider impact.

After a short introduction by Regin Petersen (Art Music Denmark) and a demonstration with Tuuli Elo (Music Finland) and Signý Leifsdóttir (Iceland Music), the floor was opened to the audience. Using the online tool Mentimeter, colleagues from across Europe contributed signals from their own contexts.

Signals from the field

The signals covered a wide range of artistic, social, and structural issues, including:

• Funding & economy: Local funding challenges, austerity, the rise of crowdfunding, and precarious social security for artists.

• Visibility & infrastructure: Art music’s lack of professional support networks (managers, agents, export offices), and short planning cycles driven by last-minute audiences.

• Politics & society: The struggle to articulate the value of arts and culture in the shadow of war, defence spending, and political shifts (Putin/Trump), as well as the role of music as a cultural “megaphone.”

• Artistic practice & audiences: How music can raise questions rather than answers, the lack of new works responding to current conflicts, and the pressures on musicians to master multiple digital skills.

• Innovation & future directions: AI in the music industry, climate concerns (streaming vs. physical formats), and rethinking definitions of “classical music” itself.

The discussion revealed both shared challenges and new possibilities for collaboration. By pooling signals across borders, STATUS highlighted how local developments interconnect with broader cultural, economic, and political trends.

Looking ahead

The session at Classical:NEXT reaffirmed STATUS’s role as a platform for collective reflection and exchange, offering a space where music professionals can share insights

and identify emerging opportunities for contemporary art music in the Nordics and beyond.