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| Photo by Lieke Vermeulen |
The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), the global industry meeting point and citywide festival for electronic music, is to go digital-first for its 2020 edition, which will take place from October 21st - 25th. This October's exceptional online edition of ADE Pro has set out to dive into the future of the global music industry after an unprecedented year, tackling strategies and new opportunities with key players in the industry, including CEOs, label representatives, musicians, mental health experts and other music professionals from around the globe. To ease your navigation through this year's extensive digital conference, we have rounded up the program items confirmed so far.
You have no doubt already heard about our most recent conference updates, including James Blake in conversation with Jennie Morton, a conversation between Femi Kuti & Robert Hood, The Outlaw Ocean Project with Pulitzer Prize winner Ian Urbina, Steve Rachmad and Vince Watson, and an in-depth workshop on what makes games, film and TV resonate featuring Deborah Mannis-Gardner.
Now, we are excited to have rounded up the first series of panels, conversations and interviews diving into the many aspects surrounding the future of the music industry after the heavy impact of the global pandemic on venues, events, artists, professionals and music enthusiasts alike:
Femi Kuti and Robert Hood in conversation about the politics in their music during ADE Pro
ADE Pro will be hosting a virtual conversation featuring two veteran musicians who are also famously not afraid to let their politics inform their musical output. Robert Hood, one of a trio of founding members of Underground Resistance, and Nigeria's Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti, known to most of us as Femi Kuti, will be discussing the delicate and highly personal way that politics and music are, and always have been, inseparable in their lives.
Kuti is the son of Afrobeat legend and activist Fela Kuti, and the grandson of political campaigner and women's rights activist Funmilayo Ransome Kuti. He showed his true political colours in September this year when he stated publicly that he would not join Nigeria's ruling party, the APC, when he refused to enter politics as he had yet to find a party that has the interest of Nigerians at heart.
Robert Hood famously first came to wider attention as a member of one of the most radical and politically progressive musical collectives, Underground Resistance, as the group's Minister of Information. Although since then he has generally been better known as one of the inventors of minimalist techno, his recent track The Struggle, featured an acid-influenced techno backing overlaid with a speech by the activist Tamika Mallory given just after the murder of George Floyd. The B-side, meanwhile, samples the comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory on Save The Children.
The two will be sharing the issues that matter most to them, how that passion filters through into their music, their plans for the coming months, and how the pandemic has impacted their need to fight for justice for all of us.
The Outlaw Ocean Music Project
The book is based on five years of reporting, much of it offshore, exploring lawlessness on the high seas. More recently Urbina has launched The Outlaw Ocean Project non-profit organisation, which engages in innovative storytelling practices on ocean issues, and also features The Outlaw Ocean Music Project, melding music by Steve Rachmad and Vince Watson with Urbina’s passionate and ground-breaking journalism. The trio will be discussing the joy and pain of creating music to accompany and compliment the dramatic storylines that make up this modern-day tale of cat and mouse, currently being played out on the world’s oceans.
New Opportunities for the Live Industry
Derek Debru (Co-founder, Nyege Nyege Festival), Nicolas Bonard (CEO, Montreux Jazz Festival), Tom Lally (Senior booking agent, Source Artists) and more
New Opportunities for the Live Industry tackles the strategies for coping with the huge impact of Covid-19 on everything from small venues and clubs through to large-scale open air and indoor events. This multi-part panel series will include discussions between representatives of the live scene, agents and managers, plus an audience Q&A, all dominated by one very big issue: what are the positive takeaways from the live shutdown, and what sort of live scene do we really want to see emerging in the years ahead?
How To Mentally Manage The Next 6 Months
Dr. Aida Vazin (GPS Counselor), Tamsin Embleton (Founder, Music Industry Therapist Collective), Tom Middleton (recording artist & co-chair, AFEM Health Group)
As the impact of Covid-19 working restrictions continues in the physical world, from closed offices and festivals to shut down conferences and clubs, the issue of looking after our mental health is paramount. Our panel of experts will be looking at the importance of sleep patterns and how to protect your physical and mental state. They'll also be sharing advice on what you can do to help protect the mental and physical health of those around you whilst partial and regional lockdowns continue.
New Opportunities for Labels and Artists
Bloody Mary (DJ & label owner, Dame-Music), Roland Leesker (DJ & managing director, Get Physical Music), Michael Ugwu (CEO, FreeMe Digital), Susan Gloy (Director of Industry Relations, Beatport) and more
The multi-part panel series New Opportunities for Labels and Artists takes an in-depth look at the question of how sociological and societal shifts created by the pandemic affect the world and the place, power and relevance of music within it. Because everything that was previously accepted as normal is now being examined and questioned in a very different light, which areas are the most promising in terms of a thoroughly fresh approach, and how might the post-Covid structure of the music business look?
How can technology help artists? How do you make virtual shows as engaging and satisfying as events in real life, and what other new, tech-led systems are helping artists to get paid properly for their work?
The Artist-Centric Future of Marketing
Charles Kirby-Welch (CEO, Kartel Music Group), Claudia de Wolff (VP Creative Content and Programming, Vevo), Michael Aneto (Chief Design Officer, SAI)
Welcome to the new reality where streaming rules and the traditional measures of artist success, such as radio and TV plays and, to a lesser degree, charts, are becoming less relevant. What used to be a relatively rapid process of radio play > TV appearance > chart position, has been replaced by an altogether more complicated chain of events. It's already very clear that a marketing focus around tracks is not enough, replaced by the need to sell the artists and everything about their creative world. What new skills do marketeers need, and how do you translate data into effective, engaging actions and positive results?
The Future of Merchandising and Fan Engagement
Alex Drewniak (Artist manager & founder, Beatcave Digital), Aly Gillani (UK/EU Label Rep, Bandcamp), Maru Asmellash (Co-founder, The New Originals)
A revolution is coming in how fans show their allegiance and what they wear to show that tribal identity. While it is clear that personalisation and unique designs will form the core of the next wave of merchandise products, the future of artist/fan relationships seems to be one of increasing intimacy and personalisation. How close can an artist get to his or her fans in order to leverage the enormous possibilities offered by such levels of customisation, and what does that mean to record labels and their artists, the merchandising industry and streaming platforms?
Hipgnosis' Global Strategy and the Future of Song Management
Merck Mercuriadis (Founder, Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited)
Mercuriadis opens up about what Hipgnosis intends to achieve through song management, how he intends to continue his buying-spree, the strategy behind Hipgnosis, and what the future of publishing and publishers might be.
ADE Pro 2020
ADE Pro offers an all-embracing virtual conference this October, combining industry panels, in-depth masterclasses and Q&As with a one year ADE Pro subscription to our newly developed social networking platform. Browse and connect using our extensive global delegate database, find companies to do business with, leverage your knowledge and experience, and keep up to date with all the latest developments and trends of the rapidly evolving global music industry.
This year's ADE Digital Pro Pass provides access to our complete digital conference program in October, as well as a full year subscription to ADE Pro's brand new social networking platform. Learn, get inspired and connect with the global music industry using the full ADE delegates database throughout the entire year.
Additional info:
https://www.amsterdam-dance-event.nl