Futures Forum unveils first dozen speakers for 2025
ILMC Futures Forum, the leading conference for the next generation of live music industry leaders, has confirmed the first dozen speakers and moderators for 2025.
The fifth annual instalment of the gathering will again take place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on 28 February 2025 – the final day of its renowned parent event, the International Live Music Conference (ILMC).
ASM Global’s programming director Europe Anna Sjölund is among the first raft of speaker confirmations. She joins previously announced chair Jess Kinn of One Fiinix Live on Rob My Job, a session centred on the journies of industry professionals and advice they can impart to the next class of leaders.
The ‘Real’ World Tour session will see AEG Presents’ VP/GM of international touring Connie Shao take the helm, where she’ll lead panellists through several financially viable international markets where the business looks to expand.
Caroline Reason, director of London-based MATA Agency, will lead Show Me The Money: Alternative Revenue Streams. The session will bring together executives from left-of-live fields like concert films, corporate events, VIP (meet & greets), and the brand space.
Passes are available for the next edition of ILMC Futures Forum
Goodlive Artists’ booker Kedist Bezabih joins chair Julia Frank, Wizard Live head of booking, on Festival Forum: New Booking Strategies. Panellists will cover the many considerations when booking festival lineups, and how to stay competitive in the global marketplace.
And on the opening session Meet The New Bosses: Class of 2025, MOJO Concerts’ booker and promoter Gerbine Ulehake and Primary Talent International agent Dotun Bolaji join chair Matt Hanner founder and booker Runway Artists. The annual session sees the latest class of New Bosses reflect on their journeys, including breakthrough moments, career highlights, and invaluable mentors.
Previously announced chairs include Maz Tappuni (Communion ONE) on The Venue Evolution, leading the discussion on how venues will transform in the near future; Meera Patel (WME) on Tour Marketing: The Industry’s Secret Weapon, where tour marketers demystify their roles; and Alice Hogg (ATC Live) for Now That’s What I Call 2025, the music-sharing session where executives reveal what acts they’ve got their money on.
Passes are available for the next edition of ILMC Futures Forum here, with group discounts available.
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The New Bosses: Introducing the class of 2024
The 17th edition of IQ Magazine‘s New Bosses can now be revealed, highlighting 20 of the most promising 30-and-unders in the international live music business.
As usual, hundreds of people around the world took the time to submit names during the nominations process. The final 20 comprises executives working across agencies, promoters, ticketing companies, festivals, logistic services and venues from around the world.
So here, in association with Futures Forum, we proudly present our New Bosses alumni for 2024:
Austin Sarich, Live Nation
Cerys Vaughan, ATC Live
Chloe Cura, AEG Presents UK
Dotun Bolaji, Primary Talent International
Eli Gelernter, Wasserman Music
Emilia Backhaus, Karsten Jahnke Konzertdirektion
Filip Kostalek, Colours of Ostrava festival
Gerbine Ulehake, MOJO Concerts
James Aiken, Aiken Promotions
Joshua McGuane, Ticketmaster
Louise Smit, Pieter Smit Group
Maria Costa, Rock in Rio Lisboa
Meera Patel, WME
Nikoline Skaarup, Down The Drain Concerts
Raven Twigg, ASM Global
Sandro Thalmann, Mainland Music
Snorri Ástráðsson, Garcia Events
Tom Matthews, UTA
Triin Kalmu, Piletilevi Group
Yasi Agahnia, CAA
Subscribers can read shortened profiles of each of the 2024 New Bosses in issue 129 of IQ Magazine, which is out now. Full-length Q&As will appear on IQ in the coming days and weeks.
Click here to subscribe – or check out what you’re missing out on with the limited preview below:
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Futures Forum and MMF host artist development workshop
ILMC’s Futures Forum (FF) and the Music Managers Forum (MMF) joined forces this week for an event that saw emerging live music executives and artist managers discuss the future of artist development.
The workshop and networking drinks took place on Tuesday night (28 May) at The Garage in London, hosted by FF’s Lisa Henderson and MMF’s Svi Dethekar, with support from AEG Europe, AXS, The O2 and ILMC.
Attendees from companies including Runway Artists, ATC Live, X-Ray Touring, Royal Albert Hall, Live Nation, Red Light Management, Wildlife Mgmt, East City Management, AEG Presents and CAA attended the free admission event.
The 75-minute hosted debate saw the executives discuss barriers to developing and growing a fanbase in live music, strategies and innovative approaches to ensure a successful tour, and solutions to ensure the next-generation headliners rise to the top.
Discussing key considerations for developing an emerging act’s live career, one exec said: “Artists need to put in their 10,000 hours to be at a professional level. Patience is important – from both artists and managers – especially when you’re looking to build.”
Another exec added: “We need to help emerging artists understand that initially, they need to take ownership of their live career. It’s important that they have mentors and guidance on how the live music business works and how you can get paid – whether that’s via ticket sales or PRS. They also need an understanding of how the industry is changing.”
According to attendees, the biggest barriers to artist development include a lack of government funding, high audience expectations, venue availability, converting online fans to ticket buyers and the cost of touring.
“There was an awful lot of knowledge and passion in the room, especially around areas like grassroots and mid-level touring”
The latter was a major talking point for attendees when sharing their strategies and innovative approaches for a successful tour.
“You’ve got to be creative,” one attendee said. “Think about brands subsidising the costs of a tour, or using influencer marketing to reach new audiences.”
Other execs warned that artists should choose wisely when to go on tour and ensure that every show counts.
“Think about collaborations and providing something special for a fanbase,” said one attendee. “Think about your marketing campaigns, creating interesting assets, and think about data capture to help plan future events.”
Exploring solutions to the aforementioned issues, attendees said they would like to see a UK ticket levy introduced to support grassroots touring. Execs also called for more transparency about where fees go and revenues flow.
“As Futures Forum continues to build out a year-round programme for its community of young live music professionals, the evening truly showed how creative the various sectors of the live business can be when they get together to collaborate,” says Greg Parmley, head of ILMC.
“We would especially like to thank Futures Forum’s annual partners AEG Europe, The O2 and AXS, for making unique moments like this possible.”
Manasvi Dethekar, membership secretary, MMF, added: “Working with Futures Forum was a really exciting collaboration for the MMF. Importantly, it was also an opportunity to capture views from a wide diversity of upcoming managers, booking agents, venues and others who are dedicated to building the live careers of artists. There was an awful lot of knowledge and passion in the room, especially around areas like grassroots and mid-level touring. We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who participated, and we’ll be using all the feedback we gained to inform some of the MMF’s upcoming projects.”
Futures Forum is a year-round platform for the next generation of live music industry leaders to forge relationships and exchange ideas.
The organisation hosts a one-day conference discussion and networking event in London each spring, on the final day of its renowned parent event, the International Live Music Conference (ILMC).
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Young execs place bets on 2024’s breaking acts
Young and emerging executives shared their predictions for 2024’s breaking acts, during last week’s Futures Forum.
Gurj Summan (Live Nation, UK), Kerem Turgut (All Things Live, UAE), Niklas Magedanz (Goodlive Artists, DE) and Caitlin-Finn Ballard (ATC Live, UK) swapped artist tips during the increasingly popular session, Now That’s What I Call 2024.
The panel, moderated by Midnight Mango’s Louise McGovern, shared three tracks each with the audience, as well as information on the artists’ journey, live careers and more. See a full breakdown below.
Double Back – Coco Jones
Gurj Summan, Live Nation, said: “I loved her voice. She came up through Disney and signed to Def Jam in 2022. This year she got nominated for five Grammy Awards and won Best R&B Performance over the likes of SZA and Victoria Monet, so she’s having a great year. We promoted a show for her at KOKO in Camden last year and it sold out.”
Poolside – Gia Ford
Caitlin-Finn Ballard, ATC Live, said: “I started working with Gia this year and she signed to Chrysalis a few months ago. That song is an allegorical story about a pool boy working in the Hollywood Hills and building up resentment against the people he works for… She’s taken a very cinematic direction, it’s very dark and broody. She’s an amazing live vocalist and is about to go on tour supporting Marika Hackman.”
Ainda Bern – Marisa Monte
Kerem Turgut, All Things Live, said: “In the UAE, we have over 200 nationalities and the Brazilian population is around 10,000. So we decided to book [Brazilian singer and composed] Marisa Monte. She’s going to play in Dubai at the end of November for two days because we are very confident she could sell over 2,000 tickets.”
www she hot – UCHE YARA
Niklas Magedanz, Goodlive Artists, said: “She is 20 years old, we started working with her when she was 19. She’s a talent that I have rarely seen… such an aura on stage and a unique sound. I describe her sound as Little Simz meets King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. We’re doing the Germany shows for her first headline tour, this spring all across Europe. The best is yet to come.”
N.L.S (Nach Le Soniye) – Raf Saperra
Gurj Summan, Live Nation, said: “He is UK-born, from Lewisham. British-Asian and represents the culture. He has had an enormous trajectory in the last year. We had a sold-out tour and he recently got signed to Mass Appeal which is Nas’s imprint. Releasing a new album next week. He’s a mixture of two worlds, hip hop and Bhangra. In the Asian scene, he’s one of the most exciting acts to come out of the UK, selling out shows pretty much everywhere; America, Canada and Australia.”
Candyman – Loverman
Caitlin-Finn Ballard, ATC Live, said: “This is one of my newest signings, an Anglo-Belgium artist. I got a tip from Live Nation Belgium, they told me he was selling out his first tour after releasing his debut album. He had two sold-out ABs in Brussels and they invited me along to one of them. I completely forgot I was there for work, I had hairs standing up on the back of my arms… he’s got one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.”
The City Holds My Heart – Ghostly Kisses
Kerem Turgut, All Things Live, said: “She’s from Canada and I had a chance to work with her in 2019 before Covid in Istanbul. She sold almost 1,000 tickets in Turkey and 2,000 tickets in Egypt. In 2022, we brought her to Dubai Opera House and sold over 1,300 tickets which is an amazing number for this kind of emerging act. The following year, she visited Bahrain and Kuwait and did very well. In 2024, she’ll come back to the region again.”
Follow Don’t Follow – orbit
Niklas Magedanz, Goodlive Artists, said: “We are all very excited about him in our office. He’s a special and introverted artist who makes music with his childhood friends. All that started to develop well during the pandemic, he gained millions of streams on his first singles and did a DIY tour in people’s backyards all over Europe. We have him on 1,000-capacity level in Germany. His debut album hasn’t even been released yet. He has a very active and strong fanbase and makes electronic music for indie kids and vice verse. He currently doesn’t have an international agent in place!”
Normal – Skrapz
Gurj Summan, Live Nation, said: “Skrapz has been around for a while but he’s a solid rapper. We just announced his headline show a few weeks ago and it sold out pretty much on the day. His album is out today (Friday 1 March), it’s called Reflections. He’s signed to UTA and he’s doing really well… really excited future ahead.”
Backseat Baby – Cosmorat
Caitlin-Finn Ballard, ATC Live, said: “It’s the first single they’ve released. They’re two introverted, nerdy sound engineers who are geniuses when it comes to recording and writing. It’s been a heartening experience working with them; I’ve realised that word of mouth is still so powerful because they had no team or money behind them. Attention has picked up bit by bit to the point that we’re now doing a big festival summer. Now, they’ve got a team in place and we’ve got some fun shows lined up for their EP launch.”
Pasoori – Shae Gill, Ali Sethi
Kerem Turgut, All Things Live, said: “This video has more than 700 million views on YouTube. The artist is from Pakistan but he lives in New York. We had the chance to host him in 2023 in Dubai, which sold over 2,000 tickets. In Dubai, we have almost two million Indians, and one million Pakistanis, so the South Asian community is very strong. And then we put him on our programme and the show was great. We are going to bring him to the region again in January 2025. I think he’s a great artist and he’s very strong in our market.
Aspiration – Zaho de Sagazan
Niklas Magedanz, Goodlive Artists, said: “We booked her to Reeperbahn festival in Hamburg last fall and I have never received so many festival offers for an artist in the first year, especially in Germany. In France, it’s going even better for her. She’s playing the Zenith in Paris already. We really hope that this great potential comes over to Germany sometime soon.”
See the full playlist for Now That’s What I Call 2024 below.
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Kilimanjaro Live trio hold court at Futures Forum
The team behind DEAG-owned UK promoter Kilimanjaro Live offered a few pearls of wisdom to the next generation in a keynote interview at Futures Forum.
The conference for young and emerging live music executives returned to London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel on Friday (1 March) to conclude the 2024 International Live Music Conference (ILMC).
The FF programme spanned the agency business, artist development, sustainability, the evolution of festivals and more, with speakers including Connie Shao (AEG Presents), Beckie Sugden (CAA), Louisa Robinson (FORM), Caroline Simionescu-Marin (WME), Lottie Bradshaw (TEG Live Europe), Sally Dunstone (Primary Talent) and Jess Kinn (One Fiinix Live).
Rounding off the event, three of Kilimanjaro Live’s principals – Stuart Galbraith, San Phillips and Alan Day – were quizzed by IQ‘s Lisa Henderson about building a modern music company, what they’ve learned on the journey, and how they see both their company and the broader business developing.
Formed in 2008, the London-based firm currently works with artists including Simply Red, Ed Sheeran, Andrea Bocelli, Hans Zimmer, Stereophonics and Don Broco. Here is a selection of key talking points from the session…
“The ability to make a living out of music is getting more and more difficult”
Diversifying the business…
Stuart Galbraith: “The ability to make a living out of music is getting more and more difficult. As a promoter, the risk versus return ratio is atrocious. If you talk to accountants who come into audit our books, they look at you as if you’re mad: ‘You risk this much money to make this much money?’ And if you look at us as a margin business by comparison to any other sector, it just doesn’t make sense – particularly as the world has become smaller and global deals are coming to play, those margins are even more tight.
“So we’ve deliberately in the last seven years diversified [into] more businesses where there is a better market. There is less risk. And it enables us to then justify running a concert promoting business that, to be quite frank, as a standalone business is suspect. However, the fact that you can send an email and say that we promote Ed Sheeran, or we promoted Live 8, or we work with Andrea Bocelli, opens so many doors, and it’s still a very, very crucial part of our business.”
Artist development…
Alan Day: “Some of our biggest acts we met at the very bottom. One of our colleagues, Steve Tilley, met Ed Sheeran supporting Just Jack at Shepherd’s Bush Empire.”
SG: “Which lost £3,500.”
AD: “Sabaton, the metal band, I met at South by Southwest. There were 40 people there [and I] gave them my number. Their first show I did in London was at the Garage, then Electric Ballroom, then Koko… While She Sleeps played Ally Pally recently, first gig Borderline. Don Broco, I met in a bar at a festival where they were playing to 50 people and now we’re in arenas. So that’s how we get there from the get-go.”
“It’s a way of life rather than just a nine-to-five job, seven days a week”
Work-life balance…
San Phillips: “Something that I say to people new to the industry and to the company is that gigs happen at the evenings and weekends. So maybe what do you want when you’re 20, aren’t things you want to be doing when you’re 40, so be mindful of the kind of goals that you want in life. We do what we need to do to get it done. But we love going to gigs. We go to a lot together and that’s what it’s about. You’re not going to necessarily work regular hours, and obviously when you’re launching something, of course it’s time consuming. I’m not going to lie about that. You can’t teach people stamina and I think stamina is one of the things that you really need.”
SG: “Promoting was one of the few jobs where quite literally the more hours you put in, the more successful you’re potentially going to be. And if you look at Alan or Steve, it’s a way of life rather than just a nine-to-five job seven days a week. And if you’re going to go on holiday, the manager still wants to talk to you.”
Challenges for the year ahead…
AD: “Rising costs – from PAs, to security, to crews, riggers, trucking…”
SG: “As a promoter we’re invariably a function of the bottom line, we’re a percentage of what’s left. And those rising costs are unfortunately, as we predicted during Covid, being met by increased ticket prices. So we’re seeing huge escalation in ticket prices that are way beyond anything that we would have expected two years ago. That’s fine if we’re on an indoor tour where we’re working in a finite environment, but when you then come to outdoors and you’ve booked either festivals or small outdoor shows, it becomes very, very scary.
“We run the festival in Scotland called Belladrum, which is now Scotland’s biggest camping festival and our costs at Belladrum in three years have increased by a million pounds. And I just can’t put the ticket price up to match that. With Belladrum, we’ve been able to get a margin increase in capacity, which has helped offset that cost, but we’re having to accept that that festival now can’t be as profitable as it used to be.”
“If we had a discussion, we probably would have avoided making the biggest mistake in Kili’s history”
Biggest career lesson…
SG: “I think our biggest lesson was making sure that within your opinion, because it can be absolutely crucial. When we took Kili private in 2012, within a week, we launched Sonisphere at Knebworth. Within three days, it became very evident that we’d made a huge mistake, and when we took a final decision to cancel it, Alan came up with the line which was, ‘I knew it wouldn’t work. I didn’t think it was a good idea.’
“From that day on, we said, ‘Well, if you have an opinion, then you must express it – particularly in a team environment, because Alan’s viewpoint was absolutely correct. And if we had had a discussion, then we probably would have avoided making what was then the biggest mistake in Kili’s history.
“It was a mistake because we were ahead of our time because we booked Queen with Adam Lambert as the lead singer and Queen fans had not embraced Adam Lambert at that point in time. Now, Queen sell more tickets with Adam Lambert as the lead singer that they used to with Freddie Mercury. But in that particular year, no one wanted to buy the tickets – and Alan knew that.”
SP: “Everybody gets their voice heard. Anybody can come up to you, whatever their position in the company, and say, ‘Oh no, what were you doing that for? Why haven’t we chosen to do this?’ And they’re not told off… Everybody in the company is a [music] fan, and we encourage them to say things.”
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Team Kilimanjaro Live for Futures Forum keynote
Futures Forum has announced a keynote interview with the team behind Kilimanjaro Live, one of the most successful live music promoters in the UK.
The conference for young and emerging live music executives will return to the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Friday 1 March 2024 as part of the International Live Music Conference (ILMC).
For the final session of the day, three of Kilimanjaro Live’s principals – Stuart Galbraith, San Phillips and Alan Day – will take to the stage to discuss building a modern music company, what they’ve learned on the journey, and how they see both their company and the broader business developing.
Formed in 2008, the London-based firm currently works with artists including Simply Red, Ed Sheeran, Andrea Bocelli, Hans Zimmer, Stereophonics and Don Broco.
Three of Kilimanjaro Live’s principals will take to the stage to discuss building a modern music company
With the Kili team now setting the bar in comedy, spoken word, theatre and exhibitions, the company’s growth and development have been seismic.
Just yesterday (22 February), the firm launched a new parent company to support its “major expansion”. The company’s 16 live entertainment brands will now operate under the new umbrella company KMJ Entertainment, owned by parent group DEAG.
News of the keynote comes days after Futures Forum unveiled the full speaker lineup for panels, which will span the agency business, artist development, sustainability, the evolution of festivals and more.
Speakers include Connie Shao (AEG Presents), Beckie Sugden (CAA), Maddie Arnold (Live Nation), Louisa Robinson (FORM), Caroline Simionescu-Marin (WME), Lottie Bradshaw (TEG Live Europe), Sally Dunstone (Primary Talent) and Jess Kinn (One Fiinix Live).
Limited passes are available for Futures Forum for just £125+VAT, which includes all of the above, a five-star lunch, refreshments, drinks, and networking opportunities. For more information or to purchase passes, click here.
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Futures Forum 2024 agenda ramps up
Futures Forum, the leading conference for the next generation of live music industry leaders, has unveiled the full speaker lineup for panels.
The fourth annual instalment of the gathering will again take place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on 1 March 2024 – the final day of its renowned parent event, the International Live Music Conference (ILMC).
The Agents vs Bookers panel is completed by CAA’s Beckie Sugden and Aimée Kearsley who will go head-to-head alongside Wasserman Music’s Alex Hardee and Holly Rowland, with Marc Saunders (The O2) set to lead the charge.
Joining the A&R in 2024: Unchartered Territory session are Maddie Arnold (Live Nation), Louisa Robinson (FORM), Caroline Simionescu-Marin (WME) and Lottie Bradshaw (TEG Live Europe). Sally Dunstone (Primary Talent) will spearhead the session.
A Greener Future: The Case Studies will see Nikoline Skaarup (DTD Concerts) discuss NorthSide Festival’s journey to going meat-free and Mark Stevenson (CUR8) explain The 1975’s carbon-removal shows at The O2. In addition, Mickey Curbishley will discuss how Solotech’s sustainability approach was redefined through their work on a Jonas Brothers concert. AEG Presents and Live Nation will also appear in this session.
CAA’s Beckie Sugden and Aimée Kearsley will go head-to-head alongside Wasserman Music’s Alex Hardee and Holly Rowland
Elsewhere, the Evolution of the Music Festival panel has gained Jamie Tagg (Mighty Hoopla), Daniel Lawson (GALA Festival/TOGETHERZERO), Jess Shields (Live Nation) and Bee Grzegorzek (Attitude Is Everything). The join moderator Ross Patel (Whole Entertainment/MMF Board).
Meet The New Bosses: Class of 2024 is now a full house, with Connie Shao (AEG Presents) in the moderator’s seat. Speakers are: Chloé Abrahams-Duperry (Ticketmaster), Vlad Yaremchuk (Atlas Festival), Jamie Shaughnessy (CAA) and Katja Thalerová (LALA Slovak Music Export).
Forming the speaker lineup for Now That’s What I Call 2024 is Melanie Eselevsky (Move Concerts), Niklas Magedanz (Goodlive Artists), Kerem Turgut (All Things Live) and Gurj Sumann (Live Nation), with Louise McGovern (Midnight Mango) at the helm.
Soapbox Sessions and the hotly anticipated Futures Forum Keynote will be announced soon.
Passes for the 1 March 2024 event are available for just £125+VAT, which includes all of the above, a five-star lunch, refreshments, drinks, and networking opportunities. For more information on Futures Forum 2024 or to purchase passes, click here.
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ILMC 36: Maria May, Robbie Balfour and more confirmed
A raft of moderators and partners for the 36th edition of the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) have been unveiled.
The three-day conference will welcome over 1,400 of the world’s top live music professionals from over 50 countries when it returns to the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London between 27 Feb and 1 March.
On the opening day, CAA’s Maria May hosts The Open Forum, while cultural disruptor Cliff Fluet from Eleven leads a discussion on the practical applications of AI for live music in Artificial Intelligence: Moving at light speed.
And on 29 February, The O2’s Robbie Balfour asks the pressing questions in Marketing: Planet-ing new ideas.
The Friday of ILMC (1 March) will once again be dedicated to the next generation of live music industry leaders, with the fourth edition of Futures Forum.
On the opening day, CAA’s Maria May hosts The Open Forum alongside a soon-to-be-announced panel of VIPs
Connie Shao from AEG Presents hosts the opening session, Meet the New Bosses: Class of 2024; Marc Saunders from The O2 dives into the details of working relationships in Agents vs Bookers, and AGF’s Claire O’Neill leads a deep dive into tried-and-tested practices and innovative solutions in A Greener Future: The case studies.
Also on Friday, Touring Entertainment LIVE (TEL) will see Tom Zaller from Imagine Exhibitions kick off proceedings in The State of The Nation whilst TEO’s Manon Delaury hosts Quick-Fire Sessions presenting the best up-and-coming productions available to book.
And finally, Semmel Concerts’ Christoph Scholz takes the helm in Standing Out in a Crowded Market, to examine how promoters and producers are finding unique paths to success; and Jonathan Shank from Terrapin Station Entertainment chairs We’ve got 99 problems & here’s how we solve them, to ask how the sector can work more collectively.
TEL is supported by TEO, Fever, and Semmel Exhibitions. The ILMC Production Meeting (on 29 February) has also announced a wave of partners including Freight Minds, eps, and Solotech.
Full information about ILMC 2024, The Arthur Awards, Futures Forum or TEL, visit 36.ilmc.com.
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ILMC’s 2024 mission to be ‘Out of This World!’
The 36th International Live Music Conference (ILMC) is welcoming a raft of industry supporters and launching a new dedicated satellite event for its 2024 edition, which takes place from 27 Feb-1 March 2024.
The three-day conference will welcome over 1,400 of the world’s top live music professionals from over 50 countries when it returns to the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. The 2024 event sees live music professionals invited on a mission to explore new frontiers, topics and markets across the business.
Mission partners this year include Co-op Live, Manchester’s new arena which opens its doors in April 2024. Gary Roden, Executive Director and General Manager, Co-op Live said: “We’re over the moon to be supporting this year’s ILMC. We are putting the finishing touches on Co-op Live as we speak, locking in a series of incredible shows including multi-night and exclusives, and invite you to join us for lift off in April 2024.”
Also platinum partners for ILMC 36 are Live Nation and Ticketmaster, and John Reid, president EMEA at Live Nation said: “Live Nation and Ticketmaster are delighted to once again sponsor ILMC where in-depth discussions and the evening socials bring us all together. We are proud to continue to promote the industry and it is always an important opportunity early in the year for the business. We look forward to seeing everyone.”
“With an expanded schedule of events and such fantastic support from our stellar industry partners, ILMC 2024 looks like it will be truly out of this world!”
Other principal supporters on the 2024 conference include gold partners ASM Global and CTS Eventim, and silver partners AXS, DEAG and Showsec. ASM Global will also support ILMC’s Alia Dann Swift Bursary Scheme, which offers a complimentary conference pass and mentoring opportunities to 30 young professionals.
In addition to ILMC’s schedule of debates, workshops, keynotes and events, the conference also sees a new one-day satellite event, Touring Entertainment LIVE, dedicated to the global business of big brand live entertainment, exhibitions and touring family shows on Friday 1 March. Meanwhile, ILMC’s Central London showcase event, London Calling, takes place in additional venues across Soho for its sophomore edition on Weds 28 Feb.
On Thursday 29 Feb, The Arthur Awards – the international live music industry’s Oscar-equivalents – will be presented in front of 450 guests during a ceremony compered by CAA’s London co-head Emma Banks. And the following day sees Futures Forum take place, the one-day event for young live music professionals with all ILMC delegates encouraged to attend.
“We are proud to continue to promote the industry and it is always an important opportunity early in the year for the business.”
“Over 2,000 professionals now attend an ILMC event during the conference week,” says ILMC head Greg Parmley, “And with more meeting space that ever, an expanded schedule of events, and such fantastic support from our stellar industry partners, ILMC 2024 looks like it will be truly out of this world!”
The 2023 edition of ILMC welcomed speakers including Marty Diamond (Wasserman Music), Doc McGhee (McGhee Ent.), Maria May (CAA), Phil Bowdery (Live Nation), Jessica Koravos (Oak View Group), Obi Asika (UTA), Marie Lindqvist (ASM Global Europe) & Detlef Kornett (DEAG).
Full information about ILMC 2024, The Arthur Awards, Futures Forum, London Calling and the new Touring Entertainment LIVE day is at 36.ilmc.com.
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ILMC’s Futures Forum to return in 2024
Futures Forum, the one-day discussion and networking event for the next generation of live music industry leaders, is returning next year.
The fourth instalment of the gathering will again take place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on 1 March 2024 – the final day of its renowned parent event, the International Live Music Conference (ILMC).
The meeting of the two events will bring together the people who currently define the business and more than 200 emerging execs who are driving its evolution.
The announcement of the flagship event follows last night’s sold-out Futures Forum 2024 launch party at Oslo in Hackney, London. The party was sponsored by AEG Europe, AXS and The O2, who are supporting a planned expansion of Futures Forum activity across the next 12 months.
“On behalf of everyone at The O2, AEG Europe, and AXS, we’re really super proud to be supporting Futures Forum 2024,” said Marc Saunders, senior programming manager at The O2, at the event. “It’s an honour standing here today and meeting so many ambitious and hard-working individuals like yourselves – we really do believe in nurturing young talent.”
“We’re really excited to be involved with the initiative because, at the end of the day, it’s supporting the next generation of live, which is all of you in this room.”
The announcement of the flagship event follows last night’s sold-out Futures Forum 2024 launch party
Futures Forum has taken place in 2019, 2020 and 2023, featuring keynote interviews with Dua Lipa and her father Dugi, Team Mumford & Sons (Lucy Dickins, Ben Lovett and Adam Tudhope), and Wasserman Music’s Marty Diamond, respectively.
As with previous editions, the 2024 edition will experiment with non-traditional conference formats, mixing connected discussions with immersive workshops, peer-to-peer networking and TED-style ‘Soapbox’ presentations by thought leaders.
The agenda will again be steered by a council made up of some of the most exciting young executives in the industry, alongside affiliated associations, the ILMC agenda team and the IQ editorial team.
The 2024 event capitalises on the success of Futures Forum’s new online platform and newsletter, which connects the international community via essential content and exclusive events.
Passes for the one-day event start from £125 + VAT. For more information or to buy tickets, click here.
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