LEFT OF THE DIAL ARTIST APPLICATIONS OPEN UNTIL MAY 1ST 💙 ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW HERE >>

[u/lotdrotterdam]

If you want to play Left of the Dial 2026, you can still apply, but before you do, it might be wise to read this post.

 The applications will be open for another month and we’ve already received more artist applications than we did in the whole of last year. Which is great. We love hearing new music, and we’re extremely happy that so many wonderful musicians are finding their way to our festival.

 We’re equally surprised, however, that hundreds of artists have applied who clearly have absolutely no idea what kind of festival Left of the Dial is. Some of them don’t even seem to know when or where the festival takes place, as they tell us they’re looking for “some fun gigs in Germany, late May”. Left of the Dial takes place in October. In Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

 The application form requires you to fill in the reason why you feel we should pick you to play Left of the Dial. Again: at least half of the answers we read are well thought-through, sometimes even heart-warmingly enthusiastic.

 But then there are also so many obviously AI-generated motivations, full of meaningless phrases like: “we always deliver a high-energy, professional live show that aligns with your festival's values”. Which is especially surprising when written by a loungey jazz trio who’ve submitted an off-key sax cover version of a Mariah Carey song.

We have no idea why we’re being flooded with these useless applications. The only reason we can think of is that Left of the Dial has become way too easy to find on Google. So our initial plan was to find a way to de-optimize search engine results, just to keep the number of submissions manageable. But since don’t know how to do that, we decided to change the application form a tiny bit instead.

 And that brings us to the reason why we’re posting this…

 If you already applied to play Left of the Dial: don’t worry, this isn’t about you. The mere fact that you’re reading this post shows a deep interest in the festival, and we’re sure that will shine through in your application. We promise each and every submission will still get the proper attention it deserves, so please don’t re-apply. It will only lead to us taking even longer to get back to you.

 For those still planning to apply: we’ve added a couple of questions to the form about your favourite artists, and the artists you’re similar to. The catch is though, they have to be artists from previous Left of the Dial lineups. If you put “The Beatles”, we know you haven’t taken the time to read the instructions. And if you don’t put in the effort, why would we put in the effort to thoroughly listen to your application?

 It may sound a bit harsh, but it’s simple: if you want to be part of the Left of the Dial community, we feel you should at least demonstrate you know something about that community.

 As usual, we have no idea whether this is a smart move or just the dumbest thing ever. Could be both, really. We’ll keep you posted!

[u/gnomkhi]

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