What is Fonds Pop Over Zee (FPOZ)?

The The Hague Music Export Fund was created in 2008 by the municipality of the Hague and the The Hague Pop Center to financially support regional bands, acts and DJ’s who are looking to perform across the border. The fund is specifically intended as a supplement to the logistical costs made by the artists during their international adventure. The municipality of The Hague has reserved €75.000 (over $102.000!) for this fund, to be spent before the end of 2010.

The Hague: International Pop Music City!
The city of The Hague is filled to the brim with musical talent. Visitors to this city by the sea will be surprised at the variety of stages, festivals and bands that the city has to offer. From large commercial stages like Paard van Troje, to smaller underground stages like Bazart, there is always new music to discover within the city limits. Besides that, The Hague annually hosts ParkPop: the largest free outdoor festival in Europe, which attracts up to 350.000 people from all over Europe each year! But that’s not all! The Hague offers a variety of free outdoor and indoor festivals, such as PleinOpen, KadeRock, Vlietpop, The Hague Popweek, BeatStad, and not to forget: the annual celebration of our previous Queens’ Birthday: QueensNight, where all the city streets are filled with stages, music, dancing and celebration. It’s what you expected the millennium celebration to be like, except we do it every April!

…But we would be selfish to keep all this musical talent to ourselves! And that is exactly the reason for the creation of this fund: to give the rest of the world a chance to enjoy the variety of talent that this city produces and to show the world: The Hague is Music City #1!

Organisation behind FPOZ

The creation of FPOZ is the result of a collaboration between the municipality of The Hague and the The Hague Pop Center (HPC). HPC is a non-profit organisation that supports and promotes popmusic in and from The Hague. Not only does the organisation provide education in pop music, they also offer a dozen fully equipped practise rooms for rent and a small stage for starting bands. The HPC projects and events office is responsible for organizing several festivals in The Hague, such as The Hague PopWeek and the Queen's Night Band Contest. Finally, they serve as a source of information for musicians and organisations who are looking to become more actively involved in the lively The Hague music scene.

FPOZ is available to all The Hague bands, acts and DJ’s!

All bands, acts and DJ’s from The Hague are eligible for funding. To keep the fund accessible to all performers, the request procedure is kept as simple as possible. The conditions are simple and stem from the concept that the performer in question must be a convincing “ambassador for The Hague pop music”. Many bands have already requested and received financial support from FPOZ, and still funds remain to send even more The Hague performers abroad!

Requirements
Some of the requirements that must be met in order to be eligible for funding:

• the majority of the artists / band members must be from the region of The Hague.
• An application form and estimated budget must be submitted to the organisation.
• The band/act/DJ must write a motivational letter explaining why performances abroad are important to the act and to The Hague as Pop City. The level of the music must be representative of the quality of The Hague pop music and “ambassador-worthy”.
• The band/artist/DJ’s affairs regarding marketing and promotion must be in order!
  

Sorry! The full list of requirements and application forms are only available in Dutch.

FPOZ is technically only available for The Hague bands, but...the organisation is flexible and open to discussion. For questions or more information, do not hesitate to contact the organisation!

Bands on Tour

FPOZ has already sent more than 30 bands abroad! With the financial support of FPOZ, The Hague bands have travelled to the United States, Germany, France, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Serbia, Canada and the U.K.

Some bands that have previously been supported by FPOZ include: Bagga Bownz, NiCad, The Blues Junkies, 2562, John Dear Mowing Club, Charly and Gallus, Starcatcher, Orange Grove, Headlife and Venus Flytrap.

Check all the artists who have gone abroad with the help of FPOZ here

Attention all international bookers!

Looking to book a band from The Hague at your club or festival? FPOZ can help with the logistical costs! Although the band must apply for funding themselves, it's useful to know that the funds are available.

Here's what you can do:

1. Direct the performer(s) in question to the FPOZ website
2. Have them download the application forms under the tab "aanmelden"
3. Ask the performer(s) to fill out all the necessary forms, send them in to the organisation and wait for a response. The organisation will accept or deny the application as soon as possible.

For questions or more information, contact us!

Contact FPOZ

Stichting Haags Pop Centrum
department Fonds Pop Over Zee.
c/o Vico Sneep
Riviervismarkt 5
2513 AM Den Haag
T: 070-3457457
E: fondspopoverzee@haagspopcentrum.nl

Stay up to date on FPOZ with social media!

FPOZ (Fonds Pop Over Zee) is powered by the municipality of The Hague and The Hague Pop Center (HPC).

2562 with support of FPOZ

Venus Flytrap live with support of FPOZ

John Dear Mowing Club with support of FPOZ