Tom HallThe capital’s first ever specialist dance gathering, the London Music Conference, is set to take place across multiple venues from 11-13 October.
With the aim of educating and engaging with the current scene, and next generation, on a range of vital issues, the event will feature world class brands, panels, masterclasses, hosts, workshops and events featuring DJs like NCT and Sinisa Tamamovic, Alex Ferrer and T & Sugah.
Venues include Oval Space, Pickle Factory, UNDR Hackney, Moustache Bar, Birthdays and VFD. Night time fun will occur at Egg London, Ministry of Sound and The Hospital Club.
What inspired the event?
London Music Conference was born from a desire to create a solution for international artists to better access and understand the challenging UK industry space. For years we watched our music agency clients struggle to get a foothold the London live music market and we felt it was time something was done to remedy this issue, not only to support overseas artists but also to help bring new business opportunities to UK firms and venues. We were also inspired to create a conference event that was as unique and dynamic as London’s club scene.
We really wanted to move away from the traditional boardroom style format of other conference events. Key to this was accessing live music spaces as conference event venues. Rather than hiring a stale conference facility, we set about using the very same music venues in which our artists performed as the location(s) for, and backbone of the conference as a whole. This has an added benefit in that it helps nurture and support the venues that are the lifeblood of the music business.
What are the key challenges facing the live music industry?
The loss of venue spaces is probably the biggest problem facing the live music sector right now, nowhere is this more apparent than in our own backyard of inner east London where institutional venues like Bedroom Bar and Plastic People have gone under in recent times.
We developed an ecosystem style approach to creating an array of conference events in these spaces and then tapped into the London industry network to bring top calibre speakers to the event to talk about tangible, ingenious solutions to help music businesses grow. The result is an unconventional, but real life and practical event that we hope represents our vision honestly.
How did your experience in the industry prepare you for creating this event?
I’ve been a music booking agent for most of my professional life, principally working with clients from America, Western Europe and Asia. I moved to London from Australia about 8 years ago to set up shop and faced immense challenges as a new business attempting to enter and access the UK market. In parallel, I watched our clients, all of who were from overseas territories, try (and in several cases fail) to access the competitive UK market space, both the live music (touring) sector and in the media space.
What are your long-term plans for the event?
The aim is to create a community that is built around the annual event London Music Conference, but that in addition provides and facilitates knowledge transfer, exchange and sharing. This is the mid-term view though, we’re very excited to see where the journey will take us in 5 years from now.
Programme Highlights:
- Panel 1 (Conference panel):
-
- Title: Secrets to Success: Accessing And Understanding The London Club Scene
-
- Description: An in-depth analysis of what makes the London club scene one of the most vibrant election music hotbeds on earth. Understand how to navigate it, how to exploit it, where its strengths and weakness lie and what is being done to safeguard it against an uncertain future.
-
- Day: Friday, 12th October
-
- Time: 10.30 – 11.30
-
- Venue: Oval Space
-
- Panellists:
-
-
- Moderator: Duncan Dick (Mixmag)
-
-
-
- Mark Newton (Broadwick Live)
-
-
-
- Miguel Estevez (UNDR – formerly The Nest)
-
-
-
- Nikki Gordon (Ministry of Sound)
-
-
-
- Alan Miller (Night Time Industries Association)
-
- Panel 2 (Conference Panel):
-
- Title: Secrets To Success: Next Level Strategies For Awesome Artist Management
-
- Description: Secrets To Success: Next Level Strategies For Artist Management, in conversation with Mike Gillespie (Underworld), Nick Halkes (Liam Howlett / The Prodigy) and Owyn Sidwell (Your Army Management). Expect an incisive analysis of high level artist management strategy from 3 of the UK’s top managers as they compare and contrast their individual management strategies and examine how their approach to management has expanded and evolved through and in response to the internet streaming revolution.
-
- Day: Thursday, 11th October
-
- Time: 10.30 – 11.30
-
- Venue: Oval Space
-
- Panellists:
-
-
- Mike Gillespie (The Sunday Club, Underworld)
-
-
-
- Owyn Sidwell (Your Army)
-
-
-
- Nick Halkes (XL Recordings)
-
- Panel 3 (Showcase):
-
- Title: THE LMC TEN Showcase
-
- Description: 10 Labels – 5 Rooms – 1 Night
-
- Day: Thursday, 11th October
-
- Time: 22.00 – 06.00
-
- Venue: Ministry of Sound
-
- Labels involved:
-
-
- Deeplomatic
-
-
-
- Syncopate Afterhours
-
-
-
- Parquet
-
-
-
- Chapter 24
-
-
-
- High Tea
-
-
-
- Fokuz Recordings
-
-
-
- Saucy Music
-
-
-
- No Tomorrow
-
-
-
- Ignition
-
-
-
- Crownsnest Audio
-
- Panel 4 (Conference Panel):
-
- Title: Using Brand Partnerships To Power Music
-
- Description: 10 years ago the notion of involving global brands in music projects was uncool and taboo. Today artists and managers are engaging global brands as partners in the creation of music and video on an undreat of scale. A panel of the UK’s leading minds from the sponsored content space discuss how to access this exciting market space and the rules of engagement that artists need to be aware of when seeking investment from corporate partners for music projects.
-
- Day: Thursday, 11th October
-
- Time: 10.30 – 11.30
-
- Venue: The Pickle Factory
-
- Panellists:
-
-
- Paul Nickeas (Midem)
-
-
-
- Tom Carson (Mast-Jägermeister UK)
-
-
-
- Meena Ysanne (Meena’s Tribute Orchestra)
-
-
-
- Inder Phull (KRPT)
-
- Panel 5 (Masterclass):
-
- Title: Workshop with Mad Professor in Dub Mixing
-
- Description: In his masterclass you can expect to learn more about the history of Mad Professor and Ariwa, Dub and Reggae in the UK as well as future changes and new technologies.
-
- Day: Saturday, 13th October
-
- Time: 14.00 – 15.00
-
- Venue: The Pickle Factory
-
- Panellist: Mad Professor
- Panel 6 (Conference panel):
-
- Title: VR, AR, MR: The Next Great Hype Or The Future Of Music & Entertainment?
-
- Description: Immersive technology like Virtual and Augmented Reality has the power to completely reshape the music industry and redefine what live performance is. A hand picked selection of high level experts from the immersive technology space discuss some of most exciting new technologies impacting the music industry and examine how to use immersive technology to reach fans and extend creative potential.
-
- Day: Thursday, 11th October
-
- Time: 15.30 – 16.30
-
- Venue: The Pickle Factory
-
- Panellists:
-
-
- Greg Ivanov (Google Daydream)
-
-
-
- Philip Mackenzie (Reality Decks)
-
-
-
- Shamsher Walia (Floss Creaties)
-
-
-
- Tom Szirtes (Mbryonic / Amplify VR)
-
- Panel 7 (Showcase):
-
- Title: Night Light Records Showcase
-
- Description: Sinisa Tamamovic and Mladen Tomic present
-
- Day: Thursday, 11th October
-
- Time: 19.00 – 04.00
-
- Venue: UNDR Hackney (formerly The Nest)
-
- Line-up:
-
-
- Anthony Castaldo
-
-
-
- Juliet Fox
-
-
-
- Melody’s Enemy
-
-
-
- Mladen Tomic
-
-
-
- Paride Saraceni
-
-
-
- Sinisa Tamamovic
-
-
-
- Transcode
-
-
-
- Vinicius Honorario
-
- Panel 8 (Masterclass):
-
- Title: 50:HERTZ and Make Your Transition Production Workshops
-
- Description: 2 days filled with production masterclasses in Techno and House, presented by Paul Nolan, Mitch de Klein and a special guest!
-
- Day: Friday, 12th October + Saturday, 13th October
-
- Time: 10.30 – 16.30
-
- Venue: Birthdays
-
- Panellists:
-
-
- Mitch de Klein (50:HERTZ)
-
-
-
- Paul Nolan (Make Your Transition)
-
- Panel 9 (Conference panel):
-
- Title: Equality in Dance Music
-
- Description:
-
- Day: Friday, 12th October
-
- Time: 15:30 – 16:30
-
- Venue: The Pickle Factory
-
- Panellists:
-
-
- DESNA
-
-
-
- CHILLY MOX
-
-
-
- Georgia Girl
-
-
-
- Sara Simonit
-
- Panel 10 (Masterclass):
-
- Title: Production Masterclass with: Sample Tools (Cr2 Records)
-
- Description: Sample Tools by Cr2 is the world’s leading sample pack music production company, dedicated to providing high quality, royalty free sample libraries. The subsidiary of world-renowned dance music record label Cr2 gives you the tools and tuition you need to succeed!
-
- Day: Saturday, 13th October
-
- Time: 10.30 – 11.30
-
- Venue: Oval Space
-
- Panellist: Larry Holcombe (Sample Tools)
Speaker List (in alphabetical order):
Aaron Hornibrook (Hold it down)
Aiden Jude (CROWD)
Alan Miller (Night Time Industries Association)
Alex Donald (EGG London)
Alex Jukes (Jukebox PR)
Amie Evans (Ihartpr)
André Marmot (Wormfood)
Ant Wilson (Chicago Loop)
Becky Ayres (Sound City)
Ben Durrenberger (Signum Audio)
Bradley Gunn Raver
Carly Wilford
Chantal Epp (Clicknclear)
Charlotte Cijffers (DJ Mag)
CHILLY MOX (Risky Business)
Danjeli Schembri (Signum Audio)
Dave Alcock (Arcade Talent)
David Oyston (Air London / The Bassic Agency)
Declan McGlynn (DJ Mag)
Derek Martin (Electronic Edinburgh)
DESNA (Risky Business)
Duncan Dick (Mixmag)
Elmar van Eijk (Korsakov)
Emma Zillmann (From the fields)
Faroukh Hasham ( Minitech Project )
Georgia Girl
Giacomo Cavadini
Grahame Farmer (Data Transmission)
Greg Ivanov (Google Daydream)
Harry Willis (I AM POP)
Hauswerks
Inder Phull (KRPT)
Irene Zumbo (The Brand Garage)
Javier Lopez (Midem)
Kai Cant (Abode)
Kathi Longinus (London Music Conference)
Lucinda Runham (Decked Out!)
Lucy Blair (Spotify)
Luke Curtis (Portrait, Editorial & Music Photographer)
Mad Professor (Ariwa Sounds)
Mark Newton (Broadwick Live)
Matt Digby (Beatport)
Meena Ysanne (Meena’s Tribute Orchestra)
Miguel Estevez (UNDR Hackney – formerly NEST)
Mike Gillespie (The Sunday Club, Underworld)
Mitch de Klein (50:HERTZ)
Nick Halkes (XL Recordings)
Nick Sadler (The Label Machine)
Nikki Gordon (Ministry of Sound)
Oliver Wilson (10,000 Hours)
Otto Orlandi (O Music Recordings / O Music Management)
Owen Norton (CROWD)
Owyn Sidwell (Your Army Management)
Paul Nickeas (Midem)
Paul Nolan (Make Your Transition)
Paul Sawyer (Frisky Radio, Krafted)
Pete Downes (Jukebox PR)
Philip Mackenzie (Reality Decks)
Phutek
Rens van Nellestijn (Full On Funk)
Rob Starr (Eastern Electrics)
Rob Chadwick (Catch Recordings)
Robert Yilmaz (Lock ‘N’ Load Events)
Ru Hollier (Guild of Music Supervisors)
Ryan Keary (Dirty Box Promotions)
Sam Mooney (Ministry of Sound)
Sam Speaight (Virtual Reality Jam)
Sara Simonit (Risky Business)
Saranne Reid (Sample Clearance Services, Reids Media Law)
Scarlett Pares Landells (Defected Records)
Shamsher Walia (Floss Creatives)
Siebe Gerbranda (Glownet)
Simon Hills (Axtone)
Sinisa Tamamovic (Night Light Records)
Stefan Baumschlager (Sendmate)
Steve Stimpson (Concrete Promo / Evermix)
Stuart Knight (Toolroom Records)
Teresa Moore (A Greener Festival)
Tom Carson (Mast-Jägermeister UK)
Tom Cathcart (Last Resort Records)
Tom Riley (OWSLA)
Tom Szirtes (Mbryonic / Amplify VR)
Tony Allen ( No Excuses Records )
Victoria Nicole Smith (Toolroom Records)