1 200 venues mapped in the Nordic region

The Tourbus Pilot emerged from Dr. Farnsworth’s own research into how experimental music organisers are diversifying their programming by trying to have a better gender balance, more international artists, and broader definitions of experimental music. Given Art Music Denmark’s extensive work with data and statistics about Danish music, Farnsworth began developing the pilot project further in collaboration with our organisation.

The pilot used automated data collection to analyse hundreds of public websites from venues, artists, and festivals. This ‘bottom-up’ method created a comprehensive map of live music activity, identifying approximately 1 200 venues across the Nordic region, including everything from major concert halls to small churches, obscure bars, and rural community centers to create a detailed map of where music happens. By analysing who performs with whom, the Tourbus Pilot creates a ‘social graph’ that maps connections between artists and venues, revealing how musical communities form and connect across borders.

The data now allows Art Music Denmark to measure artist flows, identifying underserved regions, and making more informed decisions about where we focus our internationalisation efforts.

Report underlines Copenhagen’s importance for touring musicians 

The comprehensive mapping found that Copenhagen, with around 147 venues, had the highest concentration in the Nordics, underscoring its position as an important hub for live music culture. But it is far from the only place where music happens: the project also found a large spread of venues in smaller towns and cities that other approaches to mapping live music tend to overlook.

For artists, we intend to use these findings to help improve how Art Music Denmark and others advise artists travelling abroad and planning tours. Farnsworth and Art Music Denmark are now working on the next version of the pilot that will help artists discover venues that match artists’ specific genres in cities where you have no contacts yet, and that make both economic and environmental sense.

The full Tourbus Pilot report, “Network Analysis of Live Music Ecosystems Using Automated Data Collection”, is available now at Art Music Denmarks website. Read the report HERE, and read more about Tourbus HERE.

Tourbus was generously supported by Culture Moves Europe, Augustinus Foundation and LU Innovation.