Iceland Airwaves
Iceland Airwaves is a 25+ year-old annual music festival and industry conference held in Reykjav\u00edk, showcasing 100+ performances across downtown venues, serving general festival attendees, music industry professionals, and corporate sponsors through tiered ticketing, Icelandair-bundled travel packages, and an Airwaves Pro conference component.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersKópavogur, Iceland
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
Iceland Airwaves firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Iceland Airwaves
- Legal name
- Iceland Airwaves ehf.
- Website
- https://icelandairwaves.is
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Iceland Airwaves is a 25+ year-old annual music festival and industry conference held in Reykjav\u00edk, showcasing 100+ performances across downtown venues, serving general festival attendees, music industry professionals, and corporate sponsors through tiered ticketing, Icelandair-bundled travel packages, and an Airwaves Pro conference component.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Iceland Airwaves industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Music Festival & Live Entertainment
- NAICS
- Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (71131)
- SIC
- Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Concerts & Music Festivals (THAJAFAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Professional & Association Conferences (MPAGAGAB)
Keywords
Where Iceland Airwaves is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Kópavogur
- HQ country
- Iceland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Iceland Airwaves business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Festival Tickets: The festival generates primary revenue from selling festival passes (3-day and 1-day), special event tickets (Shygirl, Daði Freyr & Iceland Symphony Orchestra, The Streets performances), and conference passes.
- Travel Packages: Icelandair travel packages combining flights with festival passes, optional hotels and airport transfers, generating revenue from bundled travel and accommodation sales.
- Sponsorships: Revenue from founding sponsor Icelandair, principal sponsors (City of Reykjavik, Sky Lagoon, Iceland Parliament Hotel, Klaki, RJC, Tonlistarsjodur), supporting sponsors, media partners, and conference partners.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | 3-day Festival Pass (Early Bird) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | 1-day Festival Pass (Early Bird) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Shygirl Special Event |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Daði Freyr & The Iceland Symphony Orchestra |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | The Streets Special Event |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Pro Pass |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Conference Pass |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Conference Day Pass |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Airwaves Plus Upgrade |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | US Travel Package |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | UK Travel Package |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Germany Travel Package |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels9 records
Iceland Airwaves product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Iceland Airwaves is an annual multi-venue live music festival and industry conference held in downtown Reykjavik, Iceland each November, featuring 100+ performances from emerging and established artists across dozens of venues. The organization sells tiered festival passes (3-day, 1-day), separately ticketed special events, conference passes (Pro, Conference, Conference Day), and bundled Icelandair travel packages, alongside securing corporate sponsorships from Icelandair, City of Reykjavik, Sky Lagoon, and other partners.
Product overview
Iceland Airwaves operates as a music festival and industry conference offering a tiered product portfolio. The core offering consists of Festival Passes and Day Passes granting access to multi-venue performances across downtown Reykjavík. The Pro Pass bundles full festival access with a two-day industry conference, delegate database, and Airwaves Plus priority upgrade. Airwaves Plus functions as a standalone ticket upgrade offering venue front-of-line access and discount benefits. Travel Packages integrate flight booking via Icelandair with festival passes and optional hotel/transfer add-ons. The portfolio also includes separately ticketed Special Events such as Shygirl, Daði Freyr with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and The Streets with Úlfur Úlfur. The festival's associated conference features industry panels, keynotes, and networking sessions held at NASA at Parliament Hotel.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Festival Pass
Companies that use Iceland Airwaves
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Iceland Airwaves technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Iceland Airwaves partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, principal and supporting.
- IcelandaircoreFounding sponsor and national airline of Iceland. Provides travel packages combining flights with festival passes, making Iceland accessible to international attendees. Partnership enables bundled booking experience for festival-goers from multiple countries worldwide.
- City of ReykjavikcorePrincipal sponsor and host city. Provides municipal support and cooperation for festival operations across downtown Reykjavik venues.
- Sky LagoonprincipalPrincipal sponsor providing experiential partnership. Discounts and access for festival attendees to their geothermal spa experience.
- Iceland Parliament HotelprincipalPrincipal sponsor and venue partner. Hosts conference at NASA venue within the hotel, providing accommodation and event space.
- Iceland MusiccoreConference collaboration partner representing Iceland's music industry association. Helps connect festival with international music industry professionals and supports Icelandic artist programming.
- Reykjavik Music CitycoreConference collaboration partner working on panels and industry programming. Focuses on music city development and night economy topics.
- Business IcelandcoreConference collaboration partner supporting industry programming and international promotion of Icelandic music and tourism.
- Sena LivecoreConcert company that promotes and produces Iceland Airwaves festival. Handles all operational aspects of festival production and promotion.
- Flybus / IcelandiasupportingSupporting sponsor and airport transfer provider. Offers transportation services to festival attendees arriving at Keflavik airport.
- Holdur Car Rental / EuropcarsupportingSupporting sponsor providing car rental services for festival attendees wishing to explore Iceland independently.
- TixcoreOfficial ticketing platform provider for all festival tickets, passes, and special event sales.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Iceland Airwaves competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- SXSW (South by Southwest): Iconic Austin-based festival and conference combining music, film, and technology programming. Comparable as a festival + industry conference hybrid at much larger scale; represents a benchmark for the upper end of Iceland Airwaves' addressable trajectory.
- Roskilde Festival: Denmark's largest music festival and one of Europe's biggest, operated by a non-profit. Comparable as a major Nordic-region music festival with established brand, but operating at materially larger scale and broader demographic than Iceland Airwaves.
- Primavera Sound: Major Barcelona-based music festival with a strong editorial reputation for programming diversity and headline talent. Comparable as a leading European destination festival but at substantially larger scale and with broader commercial positioning.
- A2IM Indie Week: US-based independent music industry conference focused on label, distribution, and rights discussions. Comparable as an industry-facing music business event complementing showcase programming, but not a multi-venue festival.
Direct peers
- Eurosonic Noorderslag: European showcase festival held in Groningen combining live music programming with a music industry conference and platform for emerging European artists. Closest peer in explicitly fusing showcase curation with B2B conference programming.
- By:Larm: Oslo-based showcase festival and music industry conference explicitly combining live performances with industry programming. Highly comparable to Iceland Airwaves in both Nordic setting and showcase-plus-conference format.
- Flow Festival: Helsinki-based music festival with curated multi-genre lineup across multiple venues in a former industrial area. Closest geographic and atmospheric peer to Iceland Airwaves as a Nordic city-based, multi-venue curated festival.
- The Great Escape: Annual new-music showcase festival in Brighton, UK combining multi-venue performances with an industry conference (TGE Conference). Most direct comparable as a European showcase-format festival targeting discovery, industry delegates, and international press — overlapping directly with Iceland Airwaves' festival + conference hybrid model.
- Way Out West: Leading Scandinavian music festival held in Gothenburg, Sweden, known for curated multi-genre programming and sustainability focus. Comparable as a Nordic-region destination festival with strong editorial positioning and broad genre mix.
- Reeperbahn Festival: Hamburg-based music festival explicitly bundling live showcases with a conference program for the international music industry. Directly comparable as a European city-based showcase + conference hybrid targeting industry professionals and delegates.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Iceland Airwaves social profiles
Digital presenceIceland Airwaves financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Iceland Airwaves leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Iceland Airwaves funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Iceland Airwaves M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Iceland Airwaves
What does Iceland Airwaves do?
Iceland Airwaves is an annual multi-venue live music festival and industry conference held in downtown Reykjavik, Iceland each November, featuring 100+ performances from emerging and established artists across dozens of venues. The organization sells tiered festival passes (3-day, 1-day), separately ticketed special events, conference passes (Pro, Conference, Conference Day), and bundled Icelandair travel packages, alongside securing corporate sponsorships from Icelandair, City of Reykjavik, Sky Lagoon, and other partners.
Is Iceland Airwaves a public or private company?
Iceland Airwaves is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Iceland Airwaves founded?
Iceland Airwaves was founded in 1999. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Iceland Airwaves based?
Iceland Airwaves is headquartered in Kópavogur, Iceland, in the Europe region.
How does Iceland Airwaves make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Festival Tickets are the primary driver. The others are travel Packages and sponsorships.
Who are Iceland Airwaves's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are SXSW (South by Southwest), Roskilde Festival, Primavera Sound and A2IM Indie Week. Direct peers are Eurosonic Noorderslag, By:Larm, Flow Festival, The Great Escape, Way Out West and Reeperbahn Festival.
Does Iceland Airwaves have an API?
No public API is recorded for Iceland Airwaves.
What industry is Iceland Airwaves in?
Iceland Airwaves's product category is Music Festival & Live Entertainment. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAJAFAA, Concerts & Music Festivals, with a secondary code of MPAGAGAB, Professional & Association Conferences. Its NAICS code is 71131 and its SIC code is 7990.