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Following the previously announced line up of speakers that included South by South West’s Brent Grulke, the BPI’s Julian Wall and PRS for Music’s Myles Keller, we are pleased to announce further high-profile music industry movers and shakers who will be sharing their considerable experience with delegates at the inaugural conference held at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai on the 5th and 6th of November.
As well as a series of incisive and probing debates there will be two special keynote speeches held at the end of the day’s sessions from two of the global industries most forward thinking players. Thursday 5th November’s keynote speech will come from Universal Japan’s Kimitaka Kato. After studying law at Keio University in Tokyo Kimitaka joined one of the Japan's major banks before joining the International Marketing Division of Polygram (currently Universal Music). In April 2005, he was promoted to be the Manager of the International Marketing Division of Universal Music and was then appointed Managing Director just two years later.
ATC Management and Polyphonic’s Brian Message will be making Friday 6th November’s keynote speech. Together with his partners, Brian manages and invests in a number of artists including Band of Skulls, Faithless, Hadouken, Kate Nash, Radiohead, The Rifles and Supergrass. As chairman of the UK Music Managers Forum, an organisation of over 300 managers he is campaigning to drive significant structural change within the music business and is also a member of the advisory committee of the Featured Artist Coalition. He is also a founding partner of Polyphonic, the artist investment vehicle designed to provide funding for those artists with potential to build a long-term business.
Further panellists adding their weight of knowledge to proceedings at the inaugural Dubai Sound City Music Conference will include ReverbNation’s Lou Plaia a music industry veteran, who has handled marketing for artists such as Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker, Skindred, and many others. Grooveshark’s Sam Tarantino a musician, an entrepreneur, and a visionary, Jake Larsen, Nokia’s Head of Music for the Middle East and Africa, Creativeman’s Naoki Shimizu, who was instrumental in arranging the first Japanese tours for Radiohead, Green Day and Beastie Boys, Viva Entertainment’s Anuj Talukder , who has pioneered the Indian Music & Film market in the Middle East, Rudy Chung from Hit The Ground Running a leading boutique music supervision company based in Los Angeles, Activision Publishing, Inc’s Vice president of Music Affairs Tim Riley who has brought established acts such The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Eminem, Green Day, Michael Jackson, JAY-Z, Taylor Swift, No Doubt, Jimi Hendrix and countless others to Activision’s games, Chugg Entertainment’s Michael Chugg who with over 45 years of industry experience has built a formidable reputation not solely on his career as a successful promoter, but equally as a committed philanthropist and humanitarian and Arjun Sankalia head of Marketing at Sony in India .
With eight panels across two days, session on the November 5th will be:-
Communication Breakdown: Which looks at the faddish marketplace of the social media networks. Which ones are really key to connecting with audiences and what about the mobile phone? Could it be the knight in shining armour for the music business?
All Around The World: Looking at the trials and tribulations of touring outside your own backyard. Who treats you the best? Where should we avoid? What are the new emerging places for touring? All will be revealed.
Publishing As We Know It: Publishing is a dark art, but it doesn’t come darker than in the Middle East. With a lack of copyright law, not even a mirage of a collection society in sight, how do the Middle East publishers compare to music publishers from around the world?
All You Need is Cash – Money Can Buy You Love: Looking to the many weird and wonderful ways for artists to raise finance. And what about the labels themselves - are venture capitalists the way to go, is it better to go cap in hand to the bank, or are there better ways to throw out the rule book and raise cold hard cash?
On the 6th of November the conference will continue with:-
The Secret and Dark World of the Agent: In a time where live music becomes ever more popular there couldn’t be a better time to go on the road. We all know how the artist fits into this and we have a good idea of the risks the promoter takes. Just what is it the agent actually does again?
Dubai & India – The Titans of the Middle East & Asia: Can Dubai, UAE and India be serious contenders for a new emerging market with the West? With over 50% of India’s 1.2 billion population under 25, is this the key market for music in the future?
Synch licensing – Saving The Industry One Artist At A Time? With the bottom falling out of recorded sales and touring fees not what they used to be, is the only way to make serious money through syncs?
MUSIC IS FREE: Once the music industry accepts that music is free maybe it can move on and try to make some of sense for the future. Should it accept this? Can it be turned around?
With a series of networking opportunities and lengthy brunches Dubai Sound City promises to dissect the current industry and divulge its future.
Alan Wills (Deltasonic Records) / Bobby Talwar (Only Much Louder) / Brent Grulke (SxSW) / Brian Nielsen (SKANDINAVIAN) / Geoff Meall (The Agency Group) / Hussain Spek Yoosuf (Fairwood Music Arabia) / Iain Bennett (NWDA) / Julian Wall (BPI) / Jeff Blue (A&R Linkin Park / Macy Gray) / Jens-Markus Wegener (AMV-Talpa) / Matt Bates (Primary Talent) / Mazher Ramzanali (21 Tigers) / Myles Keller (PRS for Music) / Nic Harcourt (KCRW) / Shun Mori (Fujipacific)
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