Shiftworks is a music and creative industries company that uses creative tools to achieve positive change in society.
The company, founded in 2009, specializes in international music and culture events production, social campaigns, marketing and communication projects, city development initiatives through culture, as well as creative sector strategy development – initiating creative industry delegations, networking events and international collaborations across sectors and disciplines.
Shiftworks owns and runs two international festival brands: internationally renown showcase festival and music industry convention Tallinn Music Week (TMW) and music and city culture festival Station Narva at the city of Narva at the EU’s Eastern border.
Having established itself as one of the region’s most innovative promoters of culture events, Shiftworks also offers service to clients across public and private sectors in achieving strategic goals through positive image building and top quality cultural content creation.
Shiftworks’ key competence lies in deep knowledge and experience in music and culture sectors, as well as event based communication through cultural content creation – resulting in sustainable change in the engagement, awareness and attitudes for diverse target groups.
The company’s service portfolio includes various B2B and B2C projects – conferences, business delegations, client events, communication strategies as well as creative concepts, both in international, national and regional scale.
Deep understanding on cultural content creation, in combination with production experience and international communication skills, makes Shiftworks one of the most unique creative companies in the Nordic-Baltic region.
Mission
Improving quality of life through culture. Contributing to society through creative thinking, collaboration and value based action.
Vision
Positive impact on society through talent development, cross-sectoral collaboration and joint action.
Values
Creativity
Out of the box solutions, inspiring cultural environments and experiences, helping people imagine alternative futures.
Collaboration
Joint action across sectors, disciplines, views, neighborhoods, regions and countries. In societies, built to function in silos, Shiftworks brings together teams and sectors, that usually do not collaborate.
Diversity
Accepting and honoring freedom of thought and expression in all its forms is the basis of creativity. We stand for more women to lead, we stand for more voices to be heard.
Business Model
Expertise
Experience design and event production, environments and spaces, social campaigns, creative concepts and communication, brand communication, pop culture studies, mixing disciplines, creating and implementing strategies and international collaborations.
Fields of Impact
Music, arts, design, cultural and entrepreneurial thinking, innovation, meaningful spaces, value-based brand collaboration, talent export, Sustainable Development Goals, lifelong learning, human rights and equality.
Sales networks
B2B: Participation in international networking events, national and international associations and working groups, 15 years of network development of global collaborations, clients and sponsors.
B2C: Company owned websites and social media channels with a working promotion and sales network to broad client groups.
Social media followers (November 2023)
Shiftworks Facebook: 2900+
TMW Facebook: 26 000+; Instagram: 10 800+; Twitter: 2900+; LinkedIn: 700+; TikTok: 200+
Station Narva Facebook: 3600+; Instagram: 1400+
Partners
Among our international and national partners are ministries and other public sector organizations, creative enterprises, cultural institutions, NGOs, development organizations, international funds, telecommunication and IT-companies, airlines, hotel chains, engineering and rental companies.
Competitive Advantage
Shiftworks combines a unique mix of creative and communicative expertise as well as a broadly diverse, international network of partners and collaborators that is unusual for any company in the Baltics operating in analogous fields. Being an innovator and initiator of novel concepts in the region, the company’s capacity to deliver is still in its early development phase and its potential is yet to be fulfilled.
Brands and Projects
Tallinn Music Week (TMW)
Held each spring in Tallinn, Estonia since 2009, TMW is an international new music and city culture festival. In addition to a diverse music programme that is open to both established and emerging artists from all over the world, the festival addresses the effects of creativity and innovation in the society. Besides the showcase festival, TMW offers the Creative Impact conference, free City Stage concerts, public talks and various urban space projects. The festival has established itself as the essential annual industry event for Eastern, Western and Central European creative communities and has received accolades from both the industry professionals and international press. Visit tmw.ee for more details.
TMWs strategic partner in the music sector is the Estonian music export and development center Music Estonia.
TMW is a founding member of the Federation of Music Conferences, joining together international industry conventions, as well as a partner and member of the European Talent Exchange programme ESNS, international gender equality initiative Keychange and European world music platform UPBEAT.
Development projects in Narva and East Estonia
Narva 2024
Leading the candidacy of Narva, Estonia’s Easternmost city between EU and Russia in its journey to become European Capital of Culture. Shiftworks was in charge of initiating the project, handling international communication and putting together the final application, including the artistic concept, international partnerships, Narva’s cultural strategy, as well as organizing the candidacy events. Visit narva2024.ee for more.
Station Narva
Music and city culture festival Station Narva in Narva, founded by Shiftworks in cooperation with Narva partners to create a dynamic tool for development in the Ida-Viru region of Estonia. Station Narva hosts a top quality music and arts programme with an international line-up, but is also a tool for integration in a 96% Russian spoken Estonian city. Festival’s broader goal is to connect Narva closer to the rest of Estonia and Europe, helping to create a better integrated joint info space and to promote entrepreneurship and city space development through culture, creative thinking and citizens’ inclusion. Visit stationnarva.ee for more details.
Ida-Viru Creative Cluster
Shiftworks is one of the founders of the Ida-Viru Creative Cluster, run by Ida-Viru Business Centre. The goal of the cluster is to promote entrepreneurship and support creative industries in East Estonia. Visit loomeklaster.ee for more.
Other projects
- Promoting concerts: Patti Smith, Feist, Efterklang, Swans, Laibach, SUNN O))), GusGus, José González, Morrissey, Tricky, Nils Frahm etc.
- Creating a green rider and guidelines for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals for the music sector in cooperation with UNESCO City of Music Tallinn. The project focuses on promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly cultural management and tourism in Estonia (2023)
- Conference “20 years for youth” and Estonian Youth Work Centre’s 20th anniversary party at Kultuurikatel and Proto (2019)
- Reopening of the Vabamu museum (2018)
- Official opening of the new building of Estonian Art Academy (2018)
- Curating and producing the official opening concert of the EU presidency on Tallinn Freedom Square (2017)
- Networking trips for Estonian creative industry companies to Stockholm and Narva, led by Estonian Ministry of Culture in collaboration with EAS and Narva City (2017)
- The Cultural Heritage Conference in the Estonian National Museum (2017)
- The EU Presidency Youth Conference in Tallinn Creative Hub (2017)
- “I care” campaign to promote UN Sustainable Development Goals in Estonia, in collaboration with the State Office, European Commission, Swedish Embassy and Telia Estonia (2017 ja 2018).
- The conception and production of the official opening party “Enter e-Estonia” at the biggest Nordic tech conference Slush in Helsinki, Finland (2016)
- Music and arts festival Kumu ÖÖ at Kumu Art Museum (2006-2011)
- Curating the national holidays themed playlists for the Ministry of Social Affairs
- One of the founders and strategic partners to Music Estonia alongside with Estonian music export strategy.
More info: shiftworks.ee/projects
Future
Shiftworks started to expand its activities from primarily music-centered events promotion, evolving into the initiator, producer and service provider for multi-disciplinary events and communication projects. Shiftworks will continue to focus more on inventing and implementing high-level creative concepts that strive for societal impact by incorporating elements of events production, artistic content curation, consulting, marketing and communication in cooperation with versatile creative teams.
Shiftworks offers impact as a service, in accordance with its values, as well as initiating various mixed-discipline projects feasible for the company. The company’s vision is achieving a positive impact in the society.
Business goals 2023-2026
Starting from 2020 Shiftworks’ activities have been disturbed both by the pandemic, as well as war in Ukraine. Our international client base shrinked and in 2022 we lost one of our growing export markets, Russia altogether. Starting from 2023 our goal is to gain back the revenue of 2017 and 2018 and within the next five years, to maintain the level of public funding and at the same time increase business revenue 25%.
As of 2022 we are among three tender partners to Estonian State Office in communication services and as of 2023 we are a tender partner to European Commission’s Creative Europe programme together with the Federation of Music Conferences, to carry out a 4-year music policy programme “Music Move Europe”.
Articles:
17.01.2023 The European Commission strengthens the dialogue with the music sector
11.01.2023 Music Moves Europe Dialogues