Industry news & advice blog

The Great Escape from May 8th-10th, the UK’s biggest music trade convention, is just 3 weeks away from opening its doors for 2014 and today the remaining convention line-up is announced. 

The ‘In Conversation’ programme returns to the festival this year with leading artists and music business players discussing their work, careers and views on the evolving world of music business. Diverse as ever, this year’s topics range from a 50th anniversary celebration of Pirate Radio, to a one-year review at the progress of a ground-breaking Arts Council England initiative launched at TGE 2013, to a frank look at the relationship between the music industry and the charitable sector, to a true insider’s account of what it is like to have 1,000,000+ video views before the age of 20.  Of the 10+ In Conversation sessions, highlights include:

The Pirates Music Learned To Love - As pirate radio in the UK celebrates its 50th anniversary, TGE brings together the founders and key players from some of the most seminal pirate stations of the past, in a special celebratory event. Speakers include Gordon Mac founder of Kiss, Stephen Taverner an original presenter with Q102 and Xfm, and more.

PRS for Music presents Chloe Howl In Conversation - Nineteen year-old Chlöe Howl will track her rapid rise to prominence, charting her journey in the music industry which began last year with her free download ‘Rumour’ EP, a three-song set that rode the buzz blogs to Hypemachine chart glory and beyond. 

Warchild presents ‘Getting The Most From Charity Partnerships’ Ben Knowles Director Of Music at TGE’s official charity War Child, Muse manager Alex Wall, Cake CEO Mike Mathieson and Xfm Managing Editor Chris Baughen question the future of music doing amazing things to change the world, and discuss how partnerships between charities and the music community could and should work.

PRS for Music Foundation presents ‘The Momentum Music Fund One Year On’ Arts Council England CEO Alan Davey, will attend TGE2014 to discuss the year that followed the launch of Arts Council England’s ground-breaking Momentum Music Fund at TGE2013, talks about the artist funding initiative’s first year. Joining the conversation is Vanessa Reed of the PRS for Music Foundation, which manages the Fund and some key industry supports, Deezer’s James Foley and Julian Deane, manager of beneficiary band The Wytches

This programme joins the six core strands of the TGE convention: Building A Fan Business, Maximising Music Rights, The Festival Business, New Product Strategies, Global Digital Markets and Blurred Lines, as well as Blueprint*, a mini-conference which focuses on creativity in tech and will host the first ever ‘Sampleathon’ staged by WhoSampled, the world’s largest database documenting sampled music, in association with music publisher Boosey & Hawkes. The popular DIY programme* which today sees the addition of Robert Luis, founder of Brighton label Tru Thoughts, who turn 15 this year, who will discuss the journey of a label that remains 100% independent.

Over 3,000 delegates from 35 different countries will come together for the 3-day conference, with insight sessions, panels, conversations networking and parties. The finalised schedule is available here, allowing delegates to map out a busy three days in Brighton.

Access to all of the convention events above is obtained with The Great Escape 2014 Delegate pass. With just weeks to go, it is now the last chance to purchase discounted delegate passes at a Saver Rate. This rate will expire on Friday. 

2014 Festival Delegates who have already secured their 3-day pass for this year’s event are able to sign up for the expanded networking programme via www.greatescapefestival.com website until April 26.

As one of the final collective pit stops for the industry before a summer spent in fields,  The Great Escape Convention will host the YMCAS* (Yearly Music Conference Awards) to round-off another brilliant year of music business events and conferences, with a special afternoon reception held during the festival. The YMCAs will take a look back at the year past and give out awards in categories including ‘Best Delegate Bag’ and ‘Best Export Office’. Details of how to nominate will be available on the TGE website soon, but tickets can be bought in advance now.

Delegates also have priority access to The Great Escape’s music programme. The festival, now in its 9th year, is Europe’s leading festival for new music, and will present over 400 exciting new artists and bands in over 30 venues across Brighton. The line-up for 2014 is now complete and features artists from across the globe. For the complete 2014 line up see the link below.

The Great Escape is supported by public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England’s Grants for the arts programme. Having launched Arts Council England’s Momentum Music Fund at TGE 2013, CEO Alan Davey returns this year to take part in a conversation about the first year of the innovative funding programme. Meanwhile Arts Council England support enables the TGE:DIY programme on the Saturday of our convention, educating and inspiring music and music business talent of the future, and ensures we are able to once again expand the range of artists playing within the festival.

 

Related Links

http://www.greatescapefestival.com/line-up

http://greatescapefestival.com/convention-planner/

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the great escape, music industry convention, music industry conference, music business, music industry panels, music industry professionals