International Cities of Advanced Sound is a global network of independent non-profit organizations dedicated to advancing sound cultures, music and related arts.

All members of ICAS have spent years crafting unique festivals and events, each with its own identity grounded in strong local connections and context. ICAS and its members uphold the cultural
value of music and sound creation in both an absolute sense, and in the multifarious forms that meld music and sound with other cultural practices.

Unlike the standards of the entertainment industry, ICAS members adopt an alternative set of criteria rooted in arts & culture to measure the success of their endeavors, which favors quality, critical reflection, innovation and exchange over profit.

ICAS members aim to raise awareness and support for experimental and experiential sound and music cultures. We are informed by aesthetic and the social impact of contemporary sound creation, while influenced by the transformation processes induced by digital technology.

ICAS members understand their curatorial and organizational activities as a creative force that engage in a constant dialogue with artists, producers, critics, audience and other cultural practices – constructively contributing to the development of artistically independent music and sound creation.

Using a palette of transdisciplinary approaches, ICAS organizations actively engage in building bridges between art disciplines, cultural fields, scenes and genres with a special eye on fostering exchange
between geographical regions through the exchange of academic musical traditions, experimental music and pop (sub) cultures, and between the arts and technology.
THE NETWORK

The ICAS network is an open structure that welcomes the participation of new members through criteria and context that shares defining aspects of the ICAS network as a whole. ICAS is strategic and selective about membership, yet open to and evolving with new organizations.

It aims to spark dialogue, knowledge exchange and mutual support amongst international organizations engaged with experimental sound cultures and related practices. Thus it fosters community and collaboration instead of competition between cultural entrepreneurs.

ICAS functions as a creative platform for self-reflection and learning on a global level, calling on its members to constantly reinvent, question, inspire and challenge each other. Its greater aim is to support its members in building-up sustainable infrastructures to facilitate, promote and sponsor experimental and critical sound cultures within their specific localities and contexts.

ICAS is about consciously linking these structures and places to build a positive form of globalization that accords local contexts and emerging talent greater value within an international framework.

It seeks to realize the value of shared experience and knowledge, to develop collectively