Exploring how concerts and live sound experiences are evolving
About the network
The New Concert Formats Network is a professional knowledge network dedicated to exploring how concerts and live sound experiences are evolving.
The network brings together professionals from across the live music ecosystem, including artists, venues, festivals, managers, producers, and technology developers. The purpose is to share knowledge, discuss emerging practices, and explore new ways of creating meaningful live sound experiences.
What the network does
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Knowledge sharing on emerging concert formats
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Exchange of experiences across the live music ecosystem
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Professional talks and case presentations
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1–2 annual meetings hosted by Sonic College or partners
Meetings
The network meets once or twice a year.
One of the meetings takes place in connection with Sonic Days, providing an international context and access to leading practitioners and researchers in sound.
Partners
The network is initiated by Sonic College in collaboration with industry partners.
Current partners include:
Roskilde Festival is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic region. Held annually near the city of Roskilde, Denmark, the festival brings together music, art, activism, and community across an eight-day cultural event attended by more than 100,000 participants.
As one of Europe’s largest and most progressive music festivals, Roskilde functions as a large-scale testbed for new concert concepts.
The festival has long served as a platform where artists, technologists, and cultural organizations can experiment with how concerts are produced, staged, and experienced. By bringing together large audiences, international artists, and interdisciplinary projects, Roskilde provides an environment where new concert formats can be tested in real-world conditions.
In this way, Roskilde Festival contributes valuable insight into how live music events may evolve in the future—both artistically, technologically, and socially.
VEGA is one of Denmark’s leading live music venues, located in Copenhagen and internationally recognized for its strong programming and high-quality concert production. Alongside its larger halls, the venue operates Ideal Bar, an intimate stage dedicated to emerging artists and experimental concert formats.
In 2023, VEGA introduced an immersive sound installation in Ideal Bar, transforming the room into one of the first club-scale venues to offer immersive audio as a regular concert format. The system uses an array of 18 loudspeakers configured for spatial formats such as Dolby Atmos (9.1.6), allowing artists to position and move sound around the audience and create 360-degree listening experiences beyond traditional stereo concerts.
Through this installation, Ideal Bar serves as a living laboratory for new concert formats, where artists, producers, and sound designers can experiment with immersive and spatial audio performance in a live setting.
Godset is a regional music venue in Kolding, Denmark, known for presenting concerts across a wide range of genres including pop, rock, jazz, blues, hip-hop, and metal. Established in 2001, the venue is housed in a former freight terminal and has become an important cultural hub for rhythmic music in the region. With a capacity of around 700 standing or 350 seated guests, Godset hosts concerts, performances, and cultural events throughout the year.
Beyond its concert program, Godset also works to support local musicians and develop new talent, offering rehearsal facilities and opportunities for emerging artists to perform and collaborate. Through initiatives that explore innovative live experiences, the venue contributes to the development of new concert formats and audience-focused music events.
Godset is currently evaluating the feasibility of installing a permanent immersive speaker system to further enhance the venue’s capacity for innovative concert formats.
Meyer Sound is a U.S.-based professional audio manufacturer founded in 1979 by John and Helen Meyer and headquartered in Berkeley, California. The company develops advanced technologies for live sound reinforcement, spatial audio, active acoustics, and system design tools used in concerts, festivals, theatres, and large installations.
Tools such as Meyer Sound’s Spacemap spatial mixing platform allow sound designers to place and move sound sources around a venue in real time, enabling concerts that feel immersive rather than front-facing.
Their systems are widely used in concert touring, festivals, performing arts venues, and stadium shows, and the company frequently partners with major live events and institutions to advance sound system design.
Alfa Audio is a Danish company specializing in professional audio consultancy, system design, and distribution of high-end audio equipment for venues, theatres, recording facilities, and live productions. Founded in 2007 and based in Åbyhøj, Denmark, the company provides complete sound solutions—from system design and measurement to installation, tuning, and user training.
Owned by d&b audiotechnik, one of the world’s leading loudspeaker manufacturers, Alfa Audio works closely with venues, cultural institutions, and production teams to design reliable, high-quality sound systems tailored to specific spaces and performance needs.
Through its consultancy, technology partnerships, and training activities, Alfa Audio contributes to the development of innovative live sound environments and advanced audio production practices, supporting the technical foundations required for new concert formats and immersive listening experiences.
Sonic Days is an international conference and event dedicated to sound, audio technology, and creative audio practices. Held annually at Sonic College in Kolding, Denmark, the event brings together industry professionals, researchers, students, and technology developers to explore the future of sound across fields such as music production, film and TV audio, game audio, podcasting, and sound art.
Through lectures, workshops, demonstrations, and immersive performances, Sonic Days creates a platform for knowledge sharing, experimentation, and collaboration across the audio industry. The event connects emerging talent with established professionals and highlights new technologies and creative approaches shaping the next generation of sound experiences.
Sonic Days also features immersive installations and spatial audio performances, making it a space where new ideas about sound design, technology, and live listening experiences can be explored in practice.
