COSMOS: LGW’s Window Into the World’s Underground Music Communities

Music festivals around the world have become synonymous with massive line-ups of A-list celebrities and the world’s most sought-after artists. However, behind the staggering production and star-studded line-ups, the actual experience can sometimes feel underwhelming. The goal of many festivals has shifted to pure entertainment, often neglecting the cultural context of the music and the potential for broader initiatives. This is not the case with Le Guess Who?, a Dutch festival in Utrecht, the Netherlands, that consistently breaks conventions while making a significant impact on both the artists it invites to the festival and the attendees who are introduced to the world's underrecognized sounds.

Le Guess Who? stands out as a forward-thinking festival for several reasons. It staunchly upholds its ethos of representation and diversity, features artist-curated line-ups that bring together an eclectic mix of sounds, and spans the vibrant venues of Utrecht in a city-wide celebration. But perhaps its most ambitious undertaking is COSMOS, a hybrid platform connecting underground music scenes worldwide. COSMOS offers these scenes a stage to share their stories, engage with one another, and become part of Le Guess Who?’s global community of sounds.

Since its inception, COSMOS has commissioned over 30 independent actors from music scenes across the world to produce video documentaries that capture the experiences of local artists and communities. It has highlighted the movements occurring in these locations with editorial features and spread the inspiring sounds of each community through mixtapes and radio shows, broadcast via collaborating partners and the internet.

To gain a deeper understanding of COSMOS's multifaceted approach, SceneNoise spoke exclusively with the team managing the initiative…

How did COSMOS come to be?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Le Guess Who? initiated a pilot project called Le Guess Who? TV. The festival, which takes place in November, had some time to adapt compared to summer festivals affected earlier by the pandemic. With LGW TV, the festival started creating content, allowing artists to produce material beyond performances and the regular program. This initiative also launched a project called Reports from Other Continents, inviting people worldwide to document their local music scenes.

The success of LGW TV demonstrated that there was a significant audience and interest beyond the Dutch borders. Le Guess Who? has always been an international festival, with a large portion of its audience coming from outside the Netherlands. However, attending a music festival in the Netherlands each November is often limited to a privileged group who can afford to travel and buy tickets.

Driven by the festival’s mission and ethos, LGW TV evolved into COSMOS, a hybrid platform. The goal was to platform underrecognized sounds and scenes - those that lack the right attention or focus. COSMOS complements Le Guess Who? as a festival and also integrates with U?, a festival section focused on the local scene in the Netherlands, especially in Utrecht.

How do you spotlight scenes and artists around the world?

COSMOS covers a global spectrum, aiming to platform music scenes worldwide. It's an evolving project, becoming a global music community where we strive to give voice, space and visibility to these scenes rather than being the main actors ourselves. Our goal is to provide our audience with a broader experience that extends beyond the festival dates, offering in-depth information about the scenes and artists we represent from around the world.

It started with longer documentaries, allowing people to access and learn about these scenes in the best possible way, especially during COVID, when people could watch from the safety of their homes. Now, we see an opportunity to be a great partner to these communities throughout the year, not just during the festival. We can create announcement pieces, explain their ongoing activities and highlight key moments. For example, one of our partners, Santuri East Africa, organized the first-ever Electronic Music Summit in East Africa, and we made a piece about it.

We aim to make COSMOS a year-round editorial platform with ongoing features. With our new radio partnership, starting in July, we'll have a slot on Refuge Worldwide, featuring mixtapes and DJ mixes from our Embassy partners. This allows people to experience the sounds, ideas, and narratives through various formats, including films, mix tapes, and written articles.

During and post-COVID, we focused on live and video broadcasting to bring the visual and live experience online. As the project and society evolve, we're using different formats to reach our audience. We commission a series of short documentaries each year to present at the festival and circulate afterward. Mix tapes, radio pop-ups, co-broadcasts, and written articles provide in-depth information and context about the scenes we feature.

All these formats aim to amplify the voices of local players, writers, artists and organizations, ensuring we act as a platform rather than producers.

We’re not here to come into your city, impose our perspective and then relay our experience to others. That’s exactly what we aim to avoid. Instead, we strive to be a platform that empowers everyone to tell their own story in the best way possible, stepping aside to let their voices be heard. This, I believe, is the greatest strength of COSMOS: serving as a tool for artists to share their own narratives.

How has COSMOS adapted to the shift in content consumption seen around the world?

It’s a bit of a rat race. In music journalism, there’s always a rush to cover who is releasing what and capturing the moment. However, attention spans have drastically decreased, and it's challenging to keep up. I'm pleased that we are finding a way out of this cycle by creating a network of people who can tap into COSMOS whenever they want to spread awareness or signal boost in various forms.

This might be sending us a playlist, giving an interview on a timely topic or highlighting new releases. This approach allows us to be a long-term partner for them. For example, if we worked closely with someone three years ago and they have something new going on, we can help by signal boosting and pairing them with storytellers from our network, using our channels to amplify their message.

The beauty of this model is that we are not tied to any commercial release schedule or time-sensitive constraints. We have the flexibility to grow and be there for people whenever it makes sense for them. This independence from commercial pressures allows us to support and highlight important stories and releases on a timeline that works best for the artists and scenes we represent. It’s a beautiful idea that allows us to be a consistent and reliable partner for the global music community.

Tell me more about what it means to be a COSMOS ‘embassy’ and how that network has grown over the years.

A COSMOS Embassy is a partner located in various regions that serves as our eyes and ears on the ground. These Embassies can be venues, artist-run spaces, labels or collectives deeply rooted in their local scenes. We seek partners who can provide an independent perspective on what’s happening in their area, going beyond just what’s hot and trendy to offer genuine insights into the local music landscape.

Each year, we aim to establish around eight new Embassies. This number is manageable in terms of budget and programming, and it allows us to maintain a global perspective. If we were to have fewer Embassies, we might only cover a few continents, but with our current approach, we can explore new geographies and broaden our reach.

The partnership begins with commissioning these Embassies to produce short documentaries, editorial pieces and mixtapes. We also seek their insights to enrich the Le Guess Who? program. By including their perspectives, we address our blind spots and gain valuable input on historical and emerging artists, marginalized genres and noteworthy grassroots movements.

We refer to them as Embassies because they represent a mindset and ethos, embodying a way to discover and present music. We aim to treat all Embassies equally, fostering connections among them and encouraging mutual support. Instead of acting as middlemen, we facilitate their interactions through community-driven activities such as Embassy meetings, festival invitations and a dedicated Discord channel.

Ultimately, embassies provide honest, independent views of their scenes, helping us break stereotypes and present a more authentic representation of the music cultures they embody.

How do these communication channels lead to either online or on-ground activations?

While we help with public-facing aspects like signal boosting, some of the most exciting developments occur in our Discord channel or network meetings. These platforms allow people to connect directly and collaborate without our intervention.

For example, just this morning, we had a call with an Embassy from Melbourne, Australia. They are organizing a transnational group of Australian and Pacific regional acts to discuss and document their experiences as artists in their region. This initiative involves multiple Embassy partners and illustrates how our network fosters meaningful connections and collaborations.

Another example is an artist residency we organized in Goa, India. An Embassy representative from Slemani, Kurdistan, participated in the residency, which included performances and workshops. These on-ground activations often arise from proposals within our network when people connect and collaborate.

It’s rewarding to see how introductions and connections made through our platform lead to such productive and creative outcomes. Our goal is to facilitate these interactions and then step back, allowing the network to thrive and innovate on its own.

Tell me about COSMOS’ ventures into radio, and how that helps amplify the actors in the network?

We realized that we wanted to extend our reach beyond just premiering films at the festival. With over 30 countries now represented under the COSMOS banner, we sought ways to highlight our diverse community more effectively. We considered a mixtape series and DJ mixes, as many talented DJs and artists within our network excel at curating tracks.

The idea took shape when we had the opportunity to take over a radio booth during the festival, Studio Pandora. The success of this takeover led us to plan a more permanent solution. We decided to partner with Refuge Worldwide, our main partner this year, to co-broadcast and showcase DJ mixes from our Embassies.

Moving forward, we’ll present a variety of sounds each month. This approach keeps the content eclectic and artist-driven, with minimal editorial intervention from us, ensuring that the voices and sounds from our network are authentically amplified.

What new embassies are being added to COSMOS this year?

Every year, we strive to cover new scenes and regions. This year, we’re excited to introduce Embassies from various locations around the world.

In Detroit, we’re partnering with the Underground Music Academy, founded by Waajeed of Slum Village fame. The academy is a key player in shaping the future of music in Detroit, focusing on nurturing new talent and innovation in a city with a rich musical history.

In Nairobi, Santuri East Africa has recently established a base at a venue called The Mall, which includes the city's top club. They offer workshops and educational programs on electronic music, making it a vibrant hub for learning and creativity.

Marrakech’s LE 18 is a cultural venue celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. This female-led space highlights local music and hosts international guests and educational programs.

Seoul Community Radio is a major player in South Korea’s music scene, known for bringing together emerging sounds and fostering a sense of community.

In Vilnius, the Independent Community Radio Network (ICRN) connects community radios across the Baltics, Nordics, and even Berlin and Hungary. They share resources and collaborate on projects, making it a significant network for community-driven broadcasting.

Touching Bass is a renowned crew from southeast London, known for their bass-heavy music. They are also curating part of the LGW festival this year and will bring their unique sound and perspective as an Embassy.

Karachi’s Honiunhoni is a label run by a visionary based in Germany but originally from Karachi. The label focuses on contemporary interpretations of traditional folk music from Karachi, offering a fresh take on the city’s rich musical heritage.

We’re also including ‘U?’, our local festival initiative in Utrecht, which mirrors the global approach of COSMOS. This initiative allows us to showcase the local music scene and its impact while staying true to our global ethos.

Our selection of new Embassies is influenced by discussions within our programming team to identify regions that need more focus or areas where we can provide valuable context and information. Each new addition helps us expand our global perspective and address any blind spots in our program.

What are your plans for COSMOS at this year’s edition of Le Guess Who?

This year’s edition of Le Guess Who? will see several exciting COSMOS initiatives. For one, we’re taking over a theatre for a full day to showcase our COSMOS films. This will include a talks program featuring guests connected to our Embassies, who will provide context and insights into the films and the scenes they represent.

COSMOS Radio will be another highlight, in partnership with Refuge Worldwide. We’ll broadcast music every day of the festival, and this year, we’re making the experience more public-facing. DJs will perform live on outdoor podiums, allowing festival-goers to enjoy their sets as they pass by. We’re thrilled to collaborate with SceneNoise on this aspect of the festival.

Additionally, COSMOS will act as a guest curator for the festival, suggesting artists and performances from our network of Embassies to be featured. This will ensure that our diverse global network is well-represented in the festival’s lineup.

We’ll also shape the festival’s talks program by inviting guests and organising discussions about regional scenes. This will help ensure that the conversations at the festival reflect the diverse perspectives of our Embassies.

Beyond the festival grounds, our activities will extend to online and off-site experiences. We’re planning to host screenings in the cities of our Embassies, allowing local audiences to experience COSMOS content and connect with global scenes. The COSMOS radio broadcast and film premieres will also be available online, enabling a worldwide audience to engage with the festival content.