Shoot Music’s leadership team have spoken about the increasing global opportunities for combining artist campaigns and sport.
The UK sport music promotion specialists have expanded into Europe with the Shoot Music Benelux strategic partnership led from Amsterdam by Diederik Van Zessen. It promotes new releases through sports media, live events and club channels in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Following the launch of the European operation, Shoot Music will be making a big push at this month’s Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), where it will focus on driving opportunities for electronic music within the European sport scene.
“Our business has become more and more global, from working with Formula 1, the Premier League and sport brands,” said CEOTom Roberts. “We’ve been able to plug and promote to audiences that are becoming global, effectively.”
The agency works with artists and labels to reach fans via playlists at stadiums on match days, as well as performances, TV & radio and socials.
“We’ve been plugging those stadiums for many years,” said Tom Roberts. “We work very closely with all the [UK] clubs, but that hasn’t been happening as much in Benelux. We see that opportunity and we’re getting a good reaction and reception to offering that service to those stadiums.”
A commentator at AFC Ajax and KNVB, Van Zessen previously worked as music director at Dutch national radio station NPO 3FM. Observing the fan experience in the UK powered by Shoot Music led him to formalise a music policy at Ajax.
“We still have a long way to go [in the Benelux region] and these clubs don’t realise that it’s also part of the brand identity – it’s a way for fans to connect,” said Van Zessen.
“We are trying to get new music as the lifeblood of match day and of sport – as it has become in the UK,” added Roberts.
With the client base now expanding with more European acts, Roberts said the UEFA Champions League will be a “bigger target for us now”.
Following high-profile music performances at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, attention will turn to the UEFA Euros across the UK and Ireland in 2028.
Roberts highlighted the positive reaction to entertainment across the World Cup, including performances and DJ sets at the fan zones.
“The fans zones were bigger than I’ve ever seen,” he said “And because there was a bigger pool of countries this time, we were able to plug records from all over the world.”
We are looking to be more active on the ground in Amsterdam this year with as many collaborations and promotion opportunities as possible
Tom Roberts
It remains to be seen if the 2026 World Cup Final half-time show – with Madonna, Shakira, Burna Boy, BTS, Justin Bieber and Coldplay – becomes a regular fixture.
“It was a landmark World Cup,” said Roberts. “There are also learnings from it because we still want football to have its integrity. So the UK can learn from that, and in two years’ time we can have the most awesome football event with the right balance of entertainment.”
Shoot Music’s plugging of tracks included the official World Cup anthem, Dai Dai by Shakira & Burna Boy, which peaked at No.1 on both the UK and Europe Radiomonitor airplay charts.
“We’ve had all the World Cup activity, but we’ve seen so much momentum with [Dai Dai],” said Roberts. “Shakira has always been very good at this – she’s got these songs that are on repeat on World Cup playlists and stadium playlists. We think it will be a key anthem for the 2026-27 season.”
Dai Dai is one of the first projects where Shoot Music has teamed with Sony Music’s UK and Benelux offices.
The agency also worked with Polydor on amplifying Sam Fender & Olivia Dean’s mega-hit Rein Me In on sports-based social media across the UK and Europe.
“It was the first global project that we were able to work collectively on,” said Roberts. “We have been part of a trend on global sport channels, as well as all the other things we do with that song – sync and other activity.”
International clubs were permitted to use performance footage of Dean and Fender on TikTok and Instagram, combined with video of key sporting moments featuring team legends.
“The best thing about this trend for the artists was that it started with the performance itself,” said Van Zessen. “Shoot Music, together with the label, made it possible for clubs to use this without it being taken off the platform.”
The agency is broadening its sports clients with placements across darts as well as Super League rugby and a focus on women’s sport.
Meanwhile, dance music is getting a bigger push following impactful moments, including Dimitri Vegas as headline performer at the EuroLeague Basketball finals in Athens in May.
Shoot Music Benelux will return to ADE next month to underline opportunities for the genre.
“Amsterdam Dance Event brings a lot of DJ and production talent, and these are artists that also have tracks that work really well in a stadium,” said Van Zessen.
Success stories to highlight include work with Warner Music dance act Blasterjaxx.
“We are looking to be more active on the ground in Amsterdam this year with as many collaborations and promotion opportunities as possible,” said Roberts.
PHOTO: (L-R) Tom Roberts, Diederik Van Zessen and Grayson Repp (FIFA World Cup DJ)
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