How to get more than 12 people to your Luxembourg gig

Article by Adam Walder

Before we start a little disclaimer: None of what you are about to read guarantees that you fill a venue, but more of a guide to help you publicise your gig in places you may not have thought of, especially outside social media where many new bands fail to tread.

Congrats! You’ve survived the rehearsals, booked the venue, and now you’ve got a confirmed date on the calendar. But in a small, busy country like Luxembourg, how do you make sure people actually show up?

Luxembourg’s music scene is tight-knit, but promoting a show here isn’t as simple as posting on Instagram or TikTok and hoping for the best. The real trick is knowing where to list your event so it spreads across the country’s surprisingly interconnected platforms.

Publicising a gig in the Grand Duchy is all about hitting the right "feeders." Because our media landscape is so centralised, a few smart moves can get you into the most popular apps and media in the country, well most of them.

Here is your step-by-step guide to help fill a room:

You might not have even heard of echo.lu or Supermiro.lu, but these two platforms are the invisible engines driving part of the Luxembourgish event scene. They both work behind the scenes with the biggest media houses in the country, they just happen to feed different ones.

The big institutional one: echo.lu

Think of echo.lu as the official cultural backbone of the country. It is supported by the Agence Luxembourgeoise d'Action Culturelle (ALAC) and is the primary source for traditional and official media:

• The City of Luxembourg’s Brain: The City of Luxembourg (VDL) relies exclusively on echo.lu for its official listings. Everything that appears on its events pages are sourced through echo.lu.

• The "Wort" network: Probably most importantly, Echo.lu feeds the agenda automatically for one of Luxembourg’s biggest media Luxemburger Wort as well as its sister sites Virgule.lu (French), Contacto.lu (Portuguese), and Luxembourg Times (English). So with one event post you’ve hit four sections/cultures of the Luxembourg population – make sure your content/language reflects this.

• Print Media: This is your ticket into the City Magazine, the monthly print guide found in EVERY mailbox across the capital. You need to think well in advance for a chance of being listed here.

• Official Websites: By posting here, your gig appears on vdl.lu (if in or around the capital) and the official cityapp – VDL.

The lifestyle hub: Supermiro.lu

While Echo handles the official side, Supermiro.lu focuses on lifestyle, food, and entertainment. It is the go-to for the "what are we doing tonight?" crowd and the expat community.

• The RTL Connection: Supermiro is a big partner for the country’s biggest media group. Supermiro actually feeds all RTL websites, meaning your gig will show up on RTL.lu (Luxembourgish), RTL Infos (French), RTL Today (English) and Eldoradio.

• Bold Magazine: Supermiro feeds the Bold Magazine agenda.

• Professional Reach: If your gig has a networking or business-friendly vibe, Supermiro automatically syncs it with Helloboss.lu, their B2B sister site.

• Social and curation: Their editorial team hand-picks events to feature in their newsletters and on their Instagram/Facebook stories to over 100,000 followers.

  
  

For both echo.lu and Supermiro.lu you’ll need to set up accounts but it will be worth it for future gigs too, and it is totally free.

The Editpress exception: Direct contact required

It is important to note that while the "Big Two" handle a lot of the heavy lifting, the Editpress group operates differently. For some reason, none of the media under the Editpress umbrella, so Le Quotidien, Tageblatt, Revue, and even the popular L’essentiel, have automatic event feeds from external databases. This means that simply posting on Echo or Supermiro won't get you into their pages. If you want these outlets to know about your gig, you will have to reach out to them directly (the 4 links above are to contact pages) with a personal message or press release to their culture desks.

Make your listing pop (in every language!)

In a crowded digital landscape, the "what" and "where" are just the bare minimum, your listing needs to sell the experience. A bare-bones post is a missed opportunity, so treat your event description as your virtual stage presence. Be crystal clear about the date, time, and exact location, but don't stop there; include the entry cost, whether you’re playing a solo intimate set or sharing the bill with another act, and a vivid description of what the audience will feel when they’re in the room. Since we are in Luxembourg, inclusivity is your best friend: writing your bio or event summary in a mix of English, French, Luxembourgish, or German ensures no one feels left out. Most importantly, never post without an attractive, high-quality photo, ideally an action shot of you performing or a professionally designed event poster. A listing with a great visual and a multilingual "story" doesn't just inform, it builds the hype that turns a "maybe" into a ticket sale.

Team up with the venue

Don’t forget that you and the venue are a team. A packed house is just as much a win for them as it is for you. Make sure to coordinate with their marketing person to ensure they are promoting the gig on their own social media channels, website, and physical posters. Ask if they can include you in their newsletter or tag you in their Instagram stories. Since they have a built-in audience of regulars who trust their programming, their "stamp of approval" is often the nudge someone needs to check out a new artist. If a paid event, why not ask if you can have a few free tickets to give away in your promotion in the run up to the event.

 Get on the airwaves: Radio stations to contact

While digital listings are the backbone of your promotion, nothing beats the reach of a radio shout-out. Luxembourg’s radio landscape is diverse, with stations catering to specific languages and musical niches. Don't be shy, send them your gig details and even a track:

• Eldoradio: This is the go-to station for a younger, Luxembourgish-speaking audience. You can submit your event by email to eventnavigator@eldoradio.lu for a chance to have it announced on-air and musek@eldo.lu is also a good contact email to send to.

• Radio ARA / Graffiti: As the country’s only independent community station, Radio ARA is a big champion of local, alternative, and underground music. Contact music@ara.lu to get your gig advertised and drop a track or 2 for their rotation, or reach out to the youth-focused Graffiti team  info@graffiti.lu.

• ARA  City Radio, the English part of ARA broadcasting weekdays from 6am to 1pm, is great to get you gig advertised with a couple of possibilities. Contact the morning show host Charles who is a musician himself. And Jon who produces a gig guide a part of his “Alternative Hangout” show. A general contact email is: aracity@ara.lu

• Radio 100,7: Luxembourg's public radio for culture and information. They have a great cultural agenda and often feature in depth interviews with local artists. If your music has a strong artistic or experimental angle, this is a fab place for a serious feature. Good email contacts: redaktioun@100komma7.lu  info@100komma7.lu

• RTL Today Radio:  RTL's English-language radio station is a great place for local guests to talk about the music scene. Daily presenters like the morning show guy Sam Steen and Stephen ‘Steps’ Lowe are always interested in musical goings-on in Luxembourg. Contact both the radio station and the website via their contact form, you can also upload files here.

• Radio Latina: A massive player for the Portuguese-speaking community. They are big on interactivity and community proximity and great for promoting local music. You can reach them at radiolatina@radiolatina.lu or contact their journalists to get on their radar. Ana Cristina Gonçalves hosts a live "Showcases" for local artists. Don't worry if your Portuguese is not up to it if you end up on a show, English and French work well as Ana is a master a simulatious live translation!

• L'Essentiel Radio: Targeted at the French-speaking commuter crowd, this station is high-energy and hits a large daily audience. Like their newspaper counterpart, they appreciate professional communication, radio-ready singles, but admittedly this is the hardest nut to crack of the radio bunch. Get in touch with them via their contact form.
  

Other outlets

• Luxembourg Times does a separate manual What’s On guide for weekends which is quite well read. If you want a chance (not guaranteed) to appear in that, write to the journalist that puts it together Tracy Heindrichs.

• RTL Today also has a seperate manual What's On? guide, get in touch via their contact form.

• Chronicle.lu has an events section. Best idea is to complete and submit your event in their contact form.

• LuxToday: Another site that has an events listed, submit via their events submission page.

• Also check out Letzlife.lu or platforms like Eventbrite and Shotgun for additional niche reach.

Contact the local commune office: If your gig is in a specific town (like Esch, Dudelange, or Diekirch), let their local tourism/culture office know. They often promote events happening in their backyard via their local newsletters, but do this as early as possible.

Facebook Groups: Join groups like Musicians in Luxembourg, Events in Luxembourg and Support Local Artists Luxembourg and make attractive posts for them.

The most important thing of all!

How on earth did we get this far in the article without mentioning the site you are reading this on? 🤦‍♂️ Get your gig on scene.lu of course. It goes without saying, EVERY Luxembourg event submitted gets published in the events section. Even though it is the last thing mentioned in the article, make it the first thing you do! 🥇 Submit to the scene.lu event form link.

Of course if you have any other advise, suggestions and ideas about gig promotion, don't hesitate to contact scene.lu and let us know!