Netherlands

In 2008 the Gaudeamus Foundation and Donemus merged into Music Center the Netherlands (MCN). Music Center the Netherlands serves as the knowledge and promotion centre for the professional music world. Home to many different partners active in the music sector, MCN is a unifier in the chain of supply and demand. Moreover, it also serves as the nerve centre and a memory bank in the music sector. THE MCN's mission is to propagate and enhance the position of Dutch musical life, both nationally and internationally. MCN plays a coordinating and stimulating role within the national and international music arena by supporting, communicating, and most importantly, by initiating activities.

MCN also supports and organizes contemporary music concerts and festivals in numerous countries. Our special projects include courses on and by composers, master classes, lectures, festivals, and exchange programs. We also advise international organizations on new developments in contemporary music as well as facilitate the attendance of Dutch composers and ensembles at leading festivals.

To provide current information and to preserve the history of Dutch music, MCN will use, maintain and expand its contemporary, jazz, and pop archives, which were developed by its predecessors. The evaluation and cataloguing of the collection is based on a balanced archival and documentation policy. Given the size and complexity of the music field, MCN also envisions a key role for itself as a neutral umbrella organization with an overview of the music sector, dedicated to fine-tuning and coordination.

Music Information Center (MIC) is a documentation center for contemporary music in the Netherlands, with a unique collection of rock, jazz, and contemporary music. It is open to the general public, from school students to musicologists, from music lovers to professional musicians.

MIC offers information, audio recordings, and an extensive collection of contemporary sheet music. MIC publishes the magazines Fret and Jazzbulletin, and maintains a digital music encyclopaedia. Its unique collection will be presented through innovative exhibitions in a central place in the MCN building, through CD releases and contribution to CDs and magazines, and through an Internet site with catalogues, documentation on composers and musicians, photos and sound samples.