SOUTH KOREA: Sound City has announced that it has won a grant to expand on its overseas business and live music activity under the International Showcasing Scheme funded by Arts Council England and The British Council.
Sound City will be working with Zandari Festival in Seoul to develop the international business content for their conference as well as offering funding for artists and bands from England to take part in the showcase festival.
Zandari takes place every October and forms the gateway to the exciting and rapidly developing Korean music market. It is the biggest and most important city centre event of its kind in Korea, annually showcasing the best in emerging talent from South Korea and Asia. This is delivered alongside a two day music and digital business conference.
Zandari Festival Director, Yoon-Young Kong stated: “This is a very exciting partnership with Sound City. It allows us to build a wider international audience for our festival and conference. We have worked with Sound City for the past three years sending artists to their world-class event in Liverpool. It is fantastic that we are now able to work on both sides in a wider and more strategic manner.”
Sound City CEO, David Pichilingi added: “South Korea is a very exciting emerging music market. We have worked with Yoon and Zandari for several years. This kind of initiative will now allow us to put together a firm partner deal that will allow us to expand our international reach as a brand as well as for all the artists and businesses we work with. This takes us to the next logical step in our business growth.”
Alison Clark, Director North, Arts Council England said: “Our International Showcasing fund has been set up to help England’s artists and cultural organisations find new markets and audiences abroad. Liverpool Sound City’s programme will give artists the chance to perform in Korea and to develop a career in Asia – it is great to see this Liverpool organisation developing such strong international markets for music.”
The UK’s leading development agency, Generator and Yorkshire based label and development agency DMF Digital will assist Sound City in working with artists and businesses attending Sound City Korea and Zandari.
Sound City is the largest and most significant event of its kind in the UK. Since 2008 they have delivered large-scale music festivals and conferences in Dubai, Norway, and Australia. Since 2012 they have delivered an annual boutique version of Sound City in Brooklyn, New York. Their festivals and business initiatives have generated over £16 million for the UK business economy.
For more information on Sound City, check out its official website.
