About Today

Press release in German, French + English | PDF Download

Background
Since 2017, we’ve been supporting the music scene as a booking collective, bringing national and international artists to local venues and festivals. As an agency rooted on both sides of the Swiss Röstigraben and extending across the Gotthard, we prioritize local music creation. We strongly believe that grassroots music venues and festivals play a vital role in fostering and promoting cultural development.

Current situation
The independent music scene is facing mounting pressures – and so are we as a collective. Over the years, the strain on independent booking agencies has grown to an alarming and unsustainable level. We see ourselves as cultural mediators, with a strong understanding of the importance of music clubs and festivals for the promotion and development of the local scene. Yet unlike other cultural service providers, we receive no public funding. Authorities classify our work as an economic service, not a cultural one. For example, we’re required to obtain employment service permits from the Canton’s Office of Economy and Labour and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs due to our cross-border activities.

Our work involves supporting musicians, advising and promoting them, and connecting them with clubs, festivals, and other institutions. This process demands significant time, energy, and an extensive network. While essential for building careers and promoting music, this work is poorly compensated, with no state or national funding to support our efforts. We book not just commercially viable acts but also niche, innovative artists who uphold high creative and quality standards. Artistic integrity and diversity must not be overshadowed by the sole pursuit of profit.

We do what we do because we believe it’s essential for nurturing domestic music creation and reflecting the diversity of our society. We firmly oppose the monopolization of the music industry, where large international agencies increasingly dictate what music gets promoted. Their financial power creates barriers for independent promoters, making it too risky to support lesser-known artists.

This creates a vicious circle that is becoming increasingly difficult to break.

Who books a band that is hardly known when you need to rely on the income?
Who goes to concerts by bands that are unheard?
How does an unknown band become better known when they have no means of attracting attention?

We wanted to formulate these questions in a positive way, but we find it difficult.

The financial strain on small labels, booking agencies, clubs, and festivals has become overwhelming. Performance opportunities for independent artists are diminished, leaving musicians unheard and agencies unable to sustain their work. This puts the musicians, but also us as an agency, in a difficult position, because they get fewer performance opportunities and thus are not heard, and we can no longer pay our bills and we are running out of steam.

This is by no means the end of the story, but it is a start. We are not saying that we are better than others, but we are right in the middle of it and acknowledge that we are part of the problem ourselves. However, we don’t want to just leave it at that and accept it, but we want people to talk about it and start a discourse about what music promotion could look like in the future and what it would take to navigate this crisis and develop sustainable solutions.

Bogen F in Zurich is an important anchor for the local music scene and has been promoting local creativity since the beginning. Its team is also aware of the difficult situation and is feeling the effects. We would like to thank Bogen F, which is offering us a platform with the Glad We Met Night on 13 December 2024 to show our work to the public with the three acts 222Rn, Disco Doom and Pyrit to make the challenges of our scene visible – and is even leaving us with all the evening’s earnings to give us the opportunity to continue our work in the future. A big <3 to everyone who supports us on this night.

https://www.bogenf.ch/konzerte/glad-we-met-night

Glad We Met
Since its founding in 2017, the booking agency Glad We Met has had the privilege of collaborating with some of the most exciting and innovative national and international artists and bands. Proudly straddling both sides of the Röstigraben, we are deeply committed to supporting the local music scene. We recognize the significant cultural and social responsibility that grassroots music venues and festivals hold, and we celebrate the vital role they play in enriching communities. Our passion lies in embracing the diversity of musical styles, both onstage and behind the scenes.

1515 (FR), 222Rn (CH), 777 Christos (CH), A.M.A.K. (CH), A Place To Bury Strangers (US), Acid Arab (FR), Ada Oda (BE), Adieu Gary Cooper (CH), Albertine Sarges (DE), Alma Catin (CH), Amami (CH), B77 (CH), BabySolo33 (FR), Beurre (CH), Bitter Moon (CH), Büşra Kayıkçı (TR), Buvette (CH), Camilla Sparksss (CH), Catastrophe (FR), Cerys Hafana (UK) Chassol (FR), Citron Citron (CH), Darius (CH), Dimension Bonus (FR), Disco Doom (CH), Douglas Dare (GB), Dummy (US), Elvis Aloys (CH), Film 2 (CH), Florist (US), Fomies (CH), François & The Atlas Mountains (FR), Gisbert zu Knyphausen (DE), Glaascats (CH), Hana Streton (AUS), Housepainters (NL), Husten (DE), Ichiko Aoba (JP), Ilajan (CH), Irene Dresel (FR), Isolation Berlin (DE), Jerusalem In My Heart (CA), J&L Defer (CH), Jon Hood (CH), Junee (CH), La Luz (US), Lael Neale (US), Lord Kesseli & The Drums (CH), Meril Wubslin (CH), Moictani (CH), Mortòri (CH), Musique Chienne (FR), Nadja Zela (CH), Nalan (DE), Nathalie Froehlich (CH), Nayana (CH), Nonante (CH), Odd Beholder (CH), One Sentence. Supervisor (CH), Otoboke Beaver (JP), OY (DE), Peter Kernel (CH), Pyrit (CH), Quentin Sauvé (FR), Rebeka Warrior (FR), Rozi Plain (GB), Screaming Females (US), Sessa (BR), Snapped Ankles (GB), Sofi Paez (CR), Spill Gold (NL), Stahlberger (CH), Tam Bor (CH), This Is The Kit (GB), VRVN (CH), Yara Asmar (LB)
and many more artists and bands.

Support Your Local Music Scene – it’s what we love, and it’s what fuels cultural vibrancy.

Take care,
Glad We Met Collective
Fabian Mösch, Laure-Anne Cossu, Martina Kull, Nadia Mitic, Nik Fischer, Séléna Bühler