Sound City+ Conference Second Announcement!

Sound City are delighted to add to their intensive conference programme with international speakers, TED-Style talks, debates, workshops and the acclaimed Sound City+ marketplace, that will feature the cream of the UK’s and international independent record labels.

Sponsored by Skiddle, Sound City+ returns 27^th May at the Titanic Hotel and will bring together industry experts, artists, students and business professionals from around the globe.

Kicking off Sound City+, will be a full programme of sync opportunities featuring some of the industry’s leading experts. These are the people who source music for some of the worlds leading channels including BBC, HBO, Fox, BT Sport, BSkyB and many more.

Sound City+ Marketplace will also feature the Indie Label Market which will showcase some of the finest independent record labels from around the world including Bella Union, 4AD, Domino, Modern Sky and more. Plus, there will be many opportunities to meet leading figures within the industry and entertainment business with a series of sessions aimed at emerging artists.

If you want to learn from the best in the business, Sound City will be hosting over 100 industry experts, including Simon Raymonde (CEO, Bella Union), Li Hui Shen (CEO Modern Sky Entertainment), Wally Van Middendorp (Senior Vice President, International, Roadrunner Records), Sammy Andrews(Sabotage New Media).

Throughout the day a series of incisive and insightful TED-Style talks will engage delegates on key topics affecting today’s industry. These include Matt Parsons, founder of Ditto Music, looking at how artists can start a label and distribute their own music without the backing of a major label and legendary Creation Records founder Alan McGee, discussing his incredible career and his new nationwide campaign – Musicians Against Homelessness.

Alan McGee said: “Sound City have a great history of championing emerging artists and I’m delighted to be there this year at the time I’m launching Musicians Against Homelessness, a campaign which we hope will raise a lot of money for Crisis and at the same time, give lots of new artists the chance to play and to shine.”

Simon Parkes, who famously bought Brixton Academy for £1, will provide a fascinating insight on why it’s now more than important than ever to support independent venues. Believe Digital’s head of UK Marketing James Farrelly and Head of Video Gideon Mountford will discuss how, with streaming fast becoming the future of music consumption, artists can make the most of the changing market.

Hosted by the MU and the AIF, who in 2015 teamed up to create the ‘Fair Play for Festivals’ agreement for emerging artists, the how to ‘get on’ at Festivals presentation will allow delegates to hear first-hand about current opportunities, application procedures and the benefits of using festivals to grow a fanbase.

Sound City+ official conference ticketing partner Skiddle will host ‘Ticket To Ride’ – the key issues and opportunities of 21st century ticket marketing – a topic which is more consistently debated than ever before, with serious ramifications for the music industry.

UK Music will present “Music is more valuable than coal or steel (Apparently)” – How data and research has given music a powerful collective voice to directly influence Government, and why you should be a part of it.” while the Music Publishers Association will host an in-depth look at the role of the modern music publisher.

Throughout the day, delegates will be able to take part in a host of one-to-one sessions with Festivals including Coachella, Outlook and Dimensions, Kendal Calling, music supervisors from BBC, Lime Pictures, BT Sport, JWT, Big Sync Music and promoters including Sound Control, Harvest Sun, Islington Mill and Leadmill.

Tammy Tinawi, music supervisor at global music services agency, Big Sync Music, said:  “This is a really dynamic approach to music industry networking. Ten minutes is just enough for a proper chat but fast enough to add some urgency and energy into the mix.  It will definitely be intense but isn’t that when some of the most promising conversations happen?  I hope that while I’m offering insights into the world of sync, and discussing how Big Sync works with some of the biggest brands worldwide from Unilever to Samsung, I’ll also be inspired and learn something new.  I’m very intrigued to know who I’ll be meeting!”

To round off the day, Sound City are hosting the Delegate Party, sponsored by Mailchimp, at Constellations, Greenland St, Liverpool with a drinks reception and live programme featuring Clean Cut Kid, Samm Henshaw, Mahalia and Blick Bassy.

Delegate passes for the conference are available from Skiddle for just £50 deposit with the Sound City+ payment plan and grant access to all conference content and Sound City Music Festival on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 May.