South By South West (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, is possibly the largest and most renowned pop & rock showcase convention in the world. Over 2000 groups perform in front of an audience of tens of thousands of talent scouts, journalists and programme directors.

This year twelve Dutch acts were selected for the official programme. Five of the twelve were part of MusicXport.nl (www.musicxport.nl), the international promotion programme of Music Center the Netherlands:
• Go Back to the Zoo (www.gobacktothezoo.nl)
• De Staat (www.destaat.net)
• Laura Jansen (www.laurajansen.com)
• Death Letters (www.deathletters.net)
• The Black Atlantic (www.theblackatlantic.com)

MusicXport.nl organised a special ‘Dutch Impact Party’ in Brush Park, in the centre of the city, right opposite the convention centre. These five groups performed here in front of almost one thousand international ‘professionals’ and performaed at multiple venues in Austin during SXSW.

The managers of all of the five groups have informed us that it has led to promising new contacts, various international bookings and a substantial increase in media attention and airplay. In the coming months MCN will chart the actual results.

If you want to get in touch with one or more of the above groups or want to learn more about MusicXport.nl, please contact Ruud Berends at ruud2@remove-this.mcn.nl.