written by Patrizio Ruviglioni, journalist La Repubblica

Stadiums, which before the pandemic were the prerogative of a few veterans, are now frequented en masse by the new generation of artists (so the live music business has grown up). Charts are ‘made in Italy’; listening to Italian music has never been so cool. And the Festival di Sanremo has returned to the centre of millennial and Gen Z tastes, with the majors now pushing to send their best artists there.

So, what’s wrong? Some people talk about a bubble of streaming and fake-sold out, but the truth is: in a market like this, it’s difficult to stand out.

There are still those who stay out of this assembly line of artists dominated by rappers, who, thanks to streaming, have devoured the market and imposed their aesthetic on melodic pop, now oriented towards more urban sounds mixed with hip hop.

Artists performing at ESNS 2025 are outsiders to the clichés of the scene, and to the Italian musical landscape in general: they are all refreshingly original and have an international scope.

Among these artists are Daniela Pes, perhaps the greatest talent of the Italian alternative music scene in recent years, with an independent project of ethnic music from Sardinia, where she was born, with electronic sounds and singing in a language she invented. Where Italian musicians have always been appreciated, but in a somewhat detached way, her success abroad shows the way: to combine tradition with an international language.

The same could happen to Post Nebbia and their psych-pop sounds, founded on the imagination of their region, Veneto. They’re the last heirs of an outsider scene that ten years ago was thriving, but today suffers from the massive closure of small clubs, after the pandemic.

Naples, on the other hand, is the most international Italian city, it never goes out of fashion and is now experiencing a sort of new cultural renaissance, with prospects both in the rediscovery of 70s funk (Bassolino) and in a blend of Mediterranean urban (La Niña).

Further south, in Salento, there’s Mauro Durante, who has taken up the traditional music of the region and together with the former guitarist of Robert Plant, Justin Adams, has combined it with blues and African music, with the duo reaching an audience all over the world. Songwriters have always been a pillar of Italian music and lately are discovering their most hallucinatory drifts in the folk music of James Jonathan Clancy.

For the rest, the market has two crucial junctions. The first is Sanremo Music Festival, in February. The second is the all-important summer hit, to be released from June to September. Due to a sort of FOMO, Italian artists at all levels are called to participate in both moments in the year, which means using the same producers and authors, and in general aligning themselves with the rules of an industry that, especially on communication, insists on celebrating numbers and certifications.

This is why those who propose original projects within this circle are so interesting. Like Ele A, a rapper from Italian-Switzerland inspired by the old school hip hop of Sangue Misto, pioneers of Italian rap in the 90s. Or BigMama, who emerged from the last Sanremo, bringing themes such as body positivity and queerness, which were also represented by the dark-pop of R.Y.F., which shows how the industry is starting to catch up in terms of gender equality and representation of minorities.

Drummer Evita Polidoro, who ranges from jazz to pop, highlighted how many musicians in Italy know how to move between chart pop - where they work for others - and the underground as solo artists.

Among them is okgiorgio, a producer of hits for big pop stars and at the same time a creator of lo-fi electronics himself. The cerebral electronics of Indian Wells, on the other hand, have been among the most international in Italy for years, while the danceable electronics of Kharfi are linked to a tradition of disco parties that seemed, here too, in crisis.

And then there are subcultures that have been renewed thanks to the blend of punk (Comrad) and reggae (España Circo Este), or radical innovation projects such as the one that unites industrial and spoken word in Kyoto.

In short, Italian music is full of interesting projects: the problem is finding them on mainstream stages and venues. Luckily, now, there is the ESNS 2025 one.