Located near Tampere railway station, the city centre, and Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland, Tavara-asema transforms from corporate and private events of all sizes into a live music venue hosting crowds of over a thousand people. The break and background music at Tavara-asema’s events comes from SOIVA’s carefully curated music library.
The historic Tavara-asema has operated as an event venue since early 2023. Known especially for live gigs and club nights, the venue has been awarded, among other honours, Event Venue of the Year 2023 and Cultural Achievement of the Year 2023.
Programme Manager Janne Laurila from Tampereen Kulttuurikamari Oy, which is responsible for Tavara-asema’s programming, says that thanks to SOIVA’s music selection and search tools, building diverse playlists is easy. During a typical week, several music styles are played at Tavara-asema, and the house playlists must seamlessly match the character of each event. For seasoned music enthusiasts, playlists need variety and exactly the right tracks.
“We host a huge number of genre-specific events. If we’re putting on, say, a goth event, the music has to be more than just the biggest hits. And with heavier music or rap gigs, the break music has to be spot on – there are so many subgenres. These events attract true enthusiasts, and if the break music doesn’t align with the artist’s or DJ’s style, the audience disconnects immediately.”
Laurila mentions a rule of thumb: people tend to feel comfortable if they hear a familiar song roughly every 20 minutes.
“More generic playlists do create some kind of atmosphere, but it’s the tailored playlists – along with how you communicate, how you design the space, and the overall vibe – that build a venue’s identity,” Laurila reflects. He adds that venues with a strong identity often have a longer lifespan compared to the average nightclub.
Programme Manager at Tavara-asema, Janne Laurila
Less repetition, more music
“I build the playlists at the beginning of the week. I look at how many events are coming up and what styles they are. I enjoy tweaking playlists by hand – probably because of my DJ background – but SOIVA’s dynamic playlists work really well too,” Laurila says. Tavara-asema’s technicians sometimes create dynamic playlists based on client requests, such as combinations of Britpop and ’80s music.
“Usually, just a few song requests or guidelines are enough to create a diverse playlist and a fitting atmosphere. Once, we even created a playlist for a political panel discussion,” Laurila recalls.
“In SOIVA Player, it’s easy to build extensive playlists for demanding and well-informed music enthusiasts in a way that prevents the same tracks from repeating too quickly. Across different genres, there’s a wealth of options. It’s never a good thing if customers can memorise the playlist,” he says.
SOIVA’s music library is carefully curated by knowledgeable music lovers with a strong sense of style. Cooperation with copyright organisations ensures that royalties are paid to songwriters and performers as they should be.
“SOIVA is an excellent tool when you want to build identity through background or intermission music as well. From a live venue’s perspective, it’s more usable than competing solutions, the music library is extensive, and it goes deep into different genres,” Laurila concludes.
