Ticketmaster is excited to continue to work closely with The Great Escape. TGE has announced the line-up for the 2024 Conference, which will take place from Wednesday 15th to Saturday 18th May at the Leonardo Royal Waterfront Hotel in Brighton.
The Conference:
The TGE Conference is the programme of events presented especially for the 4000 music industry professionals that attend The Great Escape each year. It includes insightful panels and discussions lead by key industry collaborators, keynote conversations, the Partner Programme, and more. New for 2024, TGE introduces a transformation of its UK-leading conference with the introduction of new expert collaborators from across the music industry who will shape and elevate the programming of the event.
Reaching fans with TikTok – converting a captive audience into ticket sales:
Critical to the careers of artists is their success on the road, and thanks to a ground-breaking partnership between Ticketmaster and TikTok artists can now speak directly to their audience and sell more tickets while doing so. Michael Kummerle, TikTok’s Global Music Partnership Development Lead, and Ticketmaster’s Dan Armstrong will be joined by an artist to explore strategies on how to effectively utilise TikTok to promote music, boost ticket sales, and reach new audiences.
The Line-up:
The Great Escape has announced a raft of music legends and industry leaders as keynote speakers for its newly revamped conference, including Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, Warner Music UK EVP Darcus Beese OBE, and Tom Gray and YolanDa Brown OBE DL, Chairs of the Ivors Academy and BPI respectively.
Jarvis Cocker will present ‘Biophobia’, a special climate-themed talk about getting to grips with nature. Taking place on Saturday 18th May, the session will be presented by EarthPercent – the charity founded by Brian Eno to help the music industry support the most impactful organisations addressing the climate emergency.
Giving the conference’s opening keynote conversation on Wednesday 15 May, Darcus Beese OBE will reflect on an incredible career as the UK’s first black record company CEO and one of the greatest A&Rs of his generation, having signed and nurtured venerated artists like Amy Winehouse, U2 and Florence and the Machine. This conversation will come soon after the publication of his upcoming memoir ‘Rebel With A Cause’.
Providing one of the keynote conversations on Thursday 16th May, which is curated by conference collaborator The Council of Music Makers, will be Tom Gray, Chair of the Ivors Academy and Labour Party PPC for Brighton Pavilion, and YolanDa Brown OBE DL, musician, broadcaster and Chair of the BPI. Representing songwriters and record labels across the UK music industry, both are also successful artists in their own right. The session is set cover what the industry needs to do to protect music copyright and culture on a legislative level.
They join two previously announced keynote speakers: Lauren Mayberry, the lead singer of CHVRCHES, and Sacha Lord, Chair of the NTIA, co-creator of Parklife Festival and the Warehouse Project and Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester.
Also announced today, The Association of Independent Music (AIM) joins as the revamped conference’s newest industry collaborator, representing the independent music sector with three sessions taking place on the beach on the opening day, Wednesday 15th May.
Dozens more speakers are joining the event’s packed schedule, which will feature experts from EarthPercent, Music Support, BBC Asian Network, BBC Introducing, PPL, PRS for Music, AIM, NTE Advisor Bristol, Kuvo, DJ Monitor, GAY Times, Inferno, THE FUTURE IS, AudioActive, AWAL and many more.
Voices on The Great Escape Conference:
“From cultural icons to industry legends, our revamped conference has truly been supercharged with the calibre of these keynote speakers. Without a doubt, this is set to be an unmissable event for the UK industry.”
Rory Bett, CEO, MAMA Festivals
“AIM are delighted to partner with The Great Escape this year, kicking off the conference programming on Wednesday. As a key element of AIM’s 25th Anniversary campaign, we’re excited to be bringing the Big Conversation, with a host of expert discussions and conversations looking at the State of Independence, past present and future. We look forward to being joined by AIM members, partners and industry friends for informative and thought-provoking discussions at one of the UK’s key annual events.”
Silvia Montello, CEO, The Association of Independent Music
Delegate tickets and conference-only tickets are available now: https://greatescapefestival.com/buy-delegate-passes/
