Rudolf Berends (NL)
Director general, Paradiso AmsterdamLider european în politici pentru venue-uri
Ruud Berends is a music industry professional with over 40 years of international experience in live music, artist development, and conference programming. He is the founder of Networking Music International AB and currently serves as Co-founder and Head of Agenda at the International Festival Forum (IFF) in London, President of the Board of The Bridge Conference in Croatia, and Advisor to the SoAlive Music Conference in Bulgaria.
From 2002 to 2023, Ruud held senior roles at Buma Cultuur and Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS), including Head of Conference, co-architect of ETEP/ESNS Exchange, and CEETEP—high-impact European talent development programs co-financed by the EU. He also led Dutch music export projects and produced Dutch Impact Parties / showcases worldwide.
Earlier in his career, he co-founded the influential European booking Agency Paperclip Agency, broke the new and alternative scene into the eye of the mainstream throughout the 80's and early 90's till 2000. The agency took loads of bands on tour all over Europe, too many to mention - but Soundgarden, Nirvana and Mudhoney and their contemporaries were all part of the hustle. He was also active in the grassroots scene as co-founder and promoter of Débarak venue in Zutphen, The Netherlands
In January 2024, Ruud received the Lifetime Achievement Award at Yourope’s European Festival Awards, honoring his contributions to the European live music industry.