The fifth edition of the ReConnect Conference & BATCH Festival – one of the key events for the music industry in Central Europe – took place in Brno, Czech Republic from 2 to 4 October 2025. The Bulgarian Music Association (BMA) took an active part as part of the strategic project “Export and Sustainable Positioning of the Bulgarian Music Scene on the International Market”, implemented and financed by the European Union through the Next Generation EU instrument.

ReConnect is a professional conference aimed specifically at artist managers, concert halls, clubs and other music spaces – a format that aims to create a real environment for the exchange of experience and partnerships between key participants in the live music ecosystem. At the same time, the city festival BATCH, held in parallel in various clubs in Brno, integrates the showcase program of the conference, turning the city into a living stage for discovering new artists.

This year’s official showcase program featured two Bulgarian bands, Pistamashina and The Essential Funk Trombone (T.E.F.T.), who performed their sets in front of an international audience and music industry representatives from all over Europe. Their concerts took place on October 3 at Art Bar and Music Club Brno and were met with great interest by the audience and professional guests of the event.

BMA Vice President Mila Georgieva took part in the panel “More Than a Feeling: Smart Branding of Clubs and Artists”, which took place on October 3 at Fleda. The discussion, moderated by Czech journalist Kristina Kratochvilova, also included Emilia Dimitrova (Coca-Cola HBC), Marek Vohralik (Let It Roll, Prague Music Week) and marketing expert Peter Pap (British American Tobacco). The conversation focused on the search for effective models for partnership between the music industry and major commercial brands.

In her speech, Mila Georgieva emphasized that “we often get lost in translation between the music industry and the corporate world.” She highlighted the discrepancy between the two sectors’ understanding of the value of partnerships: “Big brands have focused on clicks and reach, at a time when the trend is clearly shifting towards building a value-based relationship between brand and consumer. At the same time, our industry, especially outside of the event space, often still operates within the old image model, where putting a logo next to an artist’s name was perceived as a sufficient offer for partnership.”

This perspective opened a constructive conversation about how the music sector can communicate more successfully with its corporate partners and how to build more long-term, mutually sustainable relationships.

The BMA’s participation in ReConnect and BATCH confirms the organization’s commitment to positioning the Bulgarian music scene as an active and competitive player in the European ecosystem, promoting dialogue, professionalization and new opportunities for the development of artists and managers from the country.

This publication has been produced with the financial support of the European Union – Next GenerationEU. The sole responsibility for the content of the document lies with the “BULGARIAN MUSIC ASSOCIATION Association” and under no circumstances can it be assumed that this document reflects the official position of the European Union.