No Popprijs ceremony during Eurosonic Noorderslag | NOW

No Popprijs will be awarded this year during the Groningen festival Eurosonic Noorderslag, organizers Ntb and Buma Cultuur have decided. The organization finds it inappropriate to award the prize now that the sector has been hit so hard by the corona crisis.

With this decision, the organizers call for more attention to “the dire situation in which the cultural sector is currently in”.

According to Frank Helmink, director of Buma Cultuur, it was not an easy decision. “The large number of redundancies, composers and musicians who have largely lost their income, events and festivals that cannot take place, organizations and companies that consume their hard-won reserves and can barely survive, are not the right setting for this. an award ceremony. “

The amount of money associated with the prize does not remain in the till. The full 10,000 euros will go to composers, lyricists and performing musicians who are struggling during the corona crisis.

The Popprijs has been awarded at the Groningen festival since 1986. It is considered one of the most important prizes in Dutch pop culture. Floor Jansen, Ronnie Flex, Kensington, Martin Garrix and New Wave, among others, have already taken the prize home. For the latter, a rap formation consisting of Lil ‘Kleine, Jonna Fraser and Ronnie Flex, among others, the award marked the start of a great career.