It is wrong when talent becomes a question of age

Artistic careers do not follow a straight timeline. Yet talent, potential for development and access to career-advancing opportunities are linked to age in several places within both the media and music industries. GAFFA's new Talent 50 is the latest example. The criticism is now backed by Minister for Culture Zenia Stampe.

By Julie Westh Nielsen

Talent doesn't have an expiry date. That is why it is a problem when age is used as a measure of who has artistic potential and deserves the industry's attention.

That is the opinion of the Danish Musicians' Union, after GAFFA's new Talent 50 list has put the focus on ageism in the media and music industries.

“A career in music shouldn't be a sprint that you have to finish before you're 30,”
says Sara Indrio, chairperson of the Danish Artists' Union, in an interview with DR News.

On GAFFA's list, solo artists must be under 30 years of age. For bands, the average age of the members must be under 30. Only then does the editorial staff evaluate, among other things, artistic quality, originality, and developmental potential.

Selected as a talent… until the age had to be verified

The age limit had a very concrete consequence for the artist Alice AI, whose civil name is Julie Schmidt Nielsen.

According to DR News Var Alice AI has only just been selected for the list. DR has seen correspondence in which GAFFA writes to her manager that she has been chosen, but that the editorial team wants confirmation that she is under 30 years old.

When GAFFA was informed that she had turned 30 in January, according to the correspondence she fell outside the target audience. Alice AI tells DR that, in her opinion, the process speaks into a structural problem because talent and development potential are linked to age.

Also Emma Lillelund Saaugaard, who under the artist name Hun Sagde is featured on Talent 50, criticises the criterion. She tells DR that she turns 30 herself next year, and that the limit leaves her with a feeling of having only a short time to break through.

For the Danish Artists' Union, the problem is bigger than the individual list. It is about a perception in parts of the industry that what is new and interesting must also be young.

The Culture Minister calls it a “redo”

Culture Minister Zenia Stampe has also joined in the criticism of the age limit.

In a Facebook post she calls GAFFA’s decision “a do-over” and writes that talent is not about age, but about having potential that can develop into something great.

She also points out that people have different life and career paths, and that the idea of a narrow window for success can create pressure on young people to achieve their breakthrough early.

“Let’s just give each other a bit of time and space, so we can dream, grow and flourish throughout life,”
writes Minister for Culture Zenia Stampe.

The Culture Minister also stresses that the criticism is not about talking down young talent, but that development and breakthroughs must also be able to happen later in life.

The artists of music are found in all ages

Figures from Gramex shows that the music scene does not stop at the age of 30. On the contrary, performing artists exist across generations and throughout their working lives.

In 2025, only 1,271 out of 22,520 Danish performing members were between 18 and 29 years old. 3,208 were between 30 and 39 years old, 4,574 between 40 and 49 years old, and 5,081 between 50 and 59 years old. Gramex also has thousands of members in their 60s and 70s.

When talent, newsworthiness and development potential are closely linked to youth anyway, the media and industry players therefore risk taking too narrow a view of who is worth taking an interest in.

“And it is also very much the media that help to sustain that myth,”
says Sara Indrio to DR News.

Publicity and visibility help to generate audiences, gigs and income. Therefore, it affects artists' working lives if the notion of the new simultaneously becomes a notion of the young.

Focus on young people is not the problem

The Danish Musicians' Union is not opposed to talent development programmes or other initiatives specifically designed to give young people better opportunities.

But there is a difference between creating an offer for young people and using youth as a measure of talent and artistic potential.

An artist can begin late, change direction, start a new project or get their breakthrough after many years in the industry. That does not make the potential any less.

A sustainable life in the arts therefore requires room for different paths and different times for breakthroughs and development. If the media and music industries want to make room for talent, there must also be room for talent to develop over the course of a whole working life.

Danish Artist Association has contacted GAFFA with questions regarding, amongst other things, the background to the 30-year age limit and the criticism of the criterion. GAFFA had not replied by the time the article was published.