The Great Escape organisers have announced its line-up of industry collaborators for their 2025 conference, along with the topics they will delve into at the event, exploring the trends and issues shaping the future of music.
Introduced last year as part of a reimagination of The Great Escape conference, the collaborators all represent vital areas of the music industry ranging from artist management to live, production, streaming, emerging talent and digital innovation. Using their vast networks of experts, they will shape and elevate the programming of the event.
This year The Council of Music Makers (MMF, MPG, FAC, Ivors Academy and the MU), Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), BBC Introducing LIVE and Youth Music all return as collaborators. After hosting some sessions in 2024, long term TGE supporters The Association of Independent Music (AIM) join as an official collaborator to further immerse independent labels and rightsholders into the event.
On Thursday 15th May, The Council of Music Makers and AIM will kick things off with a focus on ‘The Changing Shape of the Music Market in 2025’, exploring market trends in music, policy’s role in sustaining the future of the industry, the role of labels in a changing market, and international touring.
The NTIA will bring the unique concerns of venues, live entertainment and the night time economy to the fore on Friday 16th May with ‘Collaborative Dialogues – the Future of Music, Identity, and Community’. Sessions will cover ‘Decentralising Music: How Local Scenes Empower Global Change’, ‘Intersectional Activism: Music as a Vehicle for Social Change’ and ‘Diversity on Stage and Behind the Scenes’.
Curated by BBC Introducing and Youth Music, Saturday 17th May will centre on professional development for emerging artists and music entrepreneurs. Established professionals who have successfully navigated the industry’s challenges will cover crucial information like how to make it on the live scene, how to decide whether a manager or label is right for you, and how to pitch your work to press.
The collaborators will look to build on the high calibre speakers who took part in the reinvigorated conference last year, including the likes of CHVRCHES singer Lauren Mayberry, the Chairs of the BPI and Ivors Academy – YolanDa Brown OBE and Tom Gray, British singer-songwriter Sam Tompkins, and Colin Newman and Malka Spigel-Newman of famed post-punk band Wire.
The conference will once again host Elevate, the professional development programme for early-career music business executives, entrepreneurs and aspiring music-makers, supported by Arts Council England.
As part of this programme, The Great Escape invites a team of ‘Super Delegates’ to attend the festival and conference, each of whom receives a subsidised and curated TGE conference experience. This is a unique opportunity to build robust professional networks by connecting with each other, Elevate alumni, industry mentors and the wider music industry via a personally tailored conference programme. 20 super delegates will take part this year, selected from nominations submitted by 20 organisations across the industry and country.
Meanwhile, BIMM returns as the event’s Lead Education Partner.
