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Despite the ongoing war and financial uncertainty, 2025 became a record-breaking year for Music Export Ukraine — supporting 117 artists, delivering 14 international projects, and placing Ukrainian music on stages from Glastonbury to Iceland Airwaves.
Hello from Music Export Ukraine! 👋 As the year comes to a close, we want to take a moment to reflect on everything we've achieved together in 2025, share some inspiring stories making international headlines, and look ahead to what's coming in 2026. Thank you for staying connected to Ukrainian music and for amplifying the voices that matter — especially in times when being heard is an act of resilience.
2025: a record-breaking year for Music Export Ukraine
It has been another challenging year. Like many NGOs, we faced ongoing financial instability — investing 100% of our resources directly into the projects we run. Yet these challenges are nothing compared to what Ukrainian artists and managers live through every day: working during blackouts and power outages, under air-raid sirens and missile attacks, collecting endless documents and spending dozens of hours simply to reach an international event.
Many artists have been forced to pause their creative careers entirely — serving in the Armed Forces, volunteering, and protecting all of us. We are endlessly grateful to them for their courage, their sacrifice, and for allowing us to be inspired by and work alongside such powerful Ukrainian talent.
Despite the uncertainty, 2025 became a record-breaking year in MEU's history. Together, we made Ukrainian music heard on stages we once only dreamed of. Here's what we achieved:
- Supported Ukrainian artists and managers with 7,946,019 UAH (approx. €170,000)
- Delivered 14 international projects
- Supported 117 artists through performances, collaborations, and promotion in Europe and the UK
- Engaged 141 participants in business education and international networking
- Ensured Ukrainian presence at 24 international events
- Supported artists performing at Glastonbury (UK), Iceland Airwaves (IS), and across a dozen other countries
- Achieved 100+ international media mentions with a total reach of 1M+
We sincerely thank all our partners, funders, and supporters who stood with us this year. Together, we are making a meaningful investment in the future — through the power of art. And above all, thank you to Ukrainian artists and managers — for your strength, resilience, and courage to keep creating.
Wrapping up OpenMuse: three years of international music research
We are also closing out our work on OpenMuse, a three-year international research project supported by the Horizon Europe programme. Last month, we attended the final partners' meeting at Linecheck — one of Italy's leading music business events — where we reflected on the project's findings, discussed the current state of the music industry, and explored future roadmaps for more sustainable music ecosystems.
As part of the programme, we hosted public panels on OpenMuse insights and on what truly makes a city a music city, drawing on experiences from across Europe and Ukraine. We were especially glad to bring Taras Demko (Lviv Organ Hall & Solomiya Krushelnytska Music Memorial Museum) to the discussions, alongside project partners including Martin Cloonan (University of Turku, Finland).
OpenMuse also spotlighted how Ukraine's live music sector adapts under wartime conditions — from resilience during blackouts to community-driven survival strategies in cities like Lviv — and featured reflections from MEU co-founder Alona Dmukhovska in a dedicated podcast episode.
"Carol of the Bells" and Ukraine's enduring cultural legacy
As the holiday season unfolds, a powerful story about Ukraine's cultural heritage is gaining international attention. The globally beloved Christmas melody "Carol of the Bells" — known in Ukraine as Shchedryk — has deep roots in Ukrainian musical tradition and is closely tied to the war-torn eastern city of Pokrovsk. Originally composed by Mykola Leontovych more than a century ago, the song has become a symbol of resilience: even as the city's historic music institutions lie in ruins and choirs have been reduced to just a few singers, the melody continues to be performed as an act of cultural resistance and remembrance of home.
Read The New York Times article to learn more about how this iconic tune — familiar to audiences around the world — resonates in Ukraine today and what it means for communities enduring the Russian invasion.
See you at ESNS 2026!
First thing in the new year, we look forward to seeing many of you at Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) in Groningen. Our Head, Alona Dmukhovska, will take part in the panel "Uniting Nations", focusing on international cultural cooperation and solidarity in challenging times. Our Operations Director, Tanya Stadnyk, will also be at ESNS, wrapping up one of our most beloved projects — the Eastern European Music Academy — within the "Artist Storytelling" panel.
If you'd like to meet while in Groningen, drop us a message — we'd love to chat.
MEU playlist 2025: Best Ukrainian Music 🌟
Before you go — have a listen to our tailor-made selection of the best Ukrainian music of 2025. It's the perfect way to close out the year and discover (or rediscover) the sounds that defined it. 🎧
