DJ Isis, band leader Kyteman and a number of leading lights from the Dutch music and dance scene were in parliament on Wednesday to discuss government policy towards the pop industry.

The government should give ten big pop venues, festivals or other big events protected status, pop and dance music organisers told MPs during the special hearing, the Volkskrant reported.

‘The Oosterpoort and Doornroosje [events] are established institutions, like the Rijksmuseum’, the NRC quotes dance party organiser ID&T’s Duncan Stutterheim as saying.

According to Stutterheim, the venues are instrumental in bringing about the next step in the careers of budding artists. ‘It’s important that artists can perform and acquire a fan base’, he said.

Music lessons

Musician Tim Knol said he wanted the government to stimulate children’s enthusiasm for music, possibly by making music lessons a compulsory part of the curriculum.

Festival organisers asked the MPs to ban the re-sale of festival tickets. The organisers complain the tickets are being sold on for large amounts of money none of which flows back into the music business.

The Netherlands is the only country in Europe without an export bureau for pop music, Nos television reported.

Economy

Last December, MPs agreed to include pop and dance music in the Netherlands’ top industrial sector focus, by officially adding it to the creative sector definition.

Dutch djs such as Armin van Buuren, Tiësto and Afrojack are among the best in the world and MPs agreed they are a ‘valuable addition’ to the Dutch economy and the Netherlands’ image abroad, news agency ANP reported at the time.

In October, the Parool reported that the Dutch dance scene booked turnover of €587m in 2011, with big festivals and events showing the fastest growth since 2002, when the first research was carried out.