Categories: News

Brighton Music Conference launches 2016 event

The UK’s leading electronic music conference, Brighton Music Conference (BMC), has confirmed its 2016 two-day event will take place at the Brighton Dome on Thursday 14th April and Friday 15th April 2016.

Following the huge success of BMC 2015, which saw the number of professional delegates increase by over 30% and its Academy programme enjoy capacity audiences, the conference returns to its original April schedule, which was moved in 2015 due to availability of the exhibition centre.

Brighton Music Conference has also added new members to its Advisory Board including Toolroom Records, Russ Yallop, Prok & Fitch, Timo Garcia and Believe Digital as well as continuing members Beatport, Mobilee, DJ Magazine, Native Instruments, Funktion One and Shogun to name a few.

Aimed at industry professionals, students and the next generation of creative and business talent, BMC 2015 welcomed representatives from YouTube, BPI, Kiss, Beatport, DJ Mag, Music Week, Kobalt, Defected Records, Coda, Ibiza Rocks, Back To Basics, Native Instruments, Involved management, Dave Clarke, BBC Radio 1/BBC 1Xtra, Ableton, AFEM, Novation, Hospital Records, Icicle, Robert Owens, Mobilee, BIMM, Point Blank, PRS For Music, PPL, AIM, MPA, Access to Music, Youth Music, SoundCity Brighton & Hove, and many more.

Highlights from the 2015 event’s BMC Professional programme, which included partners AFEM, BPI, MPA and Beatport, were the BMC Keynote ‘Protecting the Dance Floor’, hosted by AFEM CEO Mark Lawrence and featuring Stuart Knight, Director of Toolroom Records, and the NTIA’s chairman, Alan D Miller; Beatport’s UK label seminar, The Big Stream Debate; and Innovation / Inspiration: new revenue streams.

Early bird tickets – £8 Academy and £69 Professional – will be released from 16th November 2015. www.brightonmusicconference.co.uk

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BACKGROUND TO BMC

BMC Professional aims to connect music with business, bringing together industry thought leaders through a series of panels to discuss the future sustainable growth of the Electronic Music Industry, targeted networking events and access to an evening schedule of events and parties across Brighton. BMC Academy is about plugging in the next generation and fostering new talent via a series of master classes, panels and talks. Both tickets give access to a two-day exhibition with tech showcases panels and interviews.

The BMC Academy programme, with Academy Education Partners BPI, PPL, PRS for Music, Pointblank, BIMM, Access To Music, and Northbrook College, saw capacity attendances on both days for talks including the

Q+A session with Terry Weerasinghe (Vice President of Music Services at Beatport), YouTube’s Academy workshop which covered topics including how to optimise videos, drive longer viewing sessions and how to retain subscribers; and BIMM presents: how to start a label.

The exhibition floor featured over 50 exhibitors, and saw a number of exclusives, including the first opportunity in the UK to get ‘hands-on’ with Novation’s latest product – the Launchpad Pro. Native Instruments’ had their update to MASCHINE Groove Production studio, and KOMPLETE KONTROL S-Series keyboards. BMC pass holders were also given the chance to get their hands on Stems, a new multi-track audio format that allows DJs and live performers to incorporate individual parts of a track in their sets. All of this and more was on show in the NI KONTROL room.

Next Audio Labs gave attendees the chance to experience Rekord Buddy 2.0, the revolutionary system for professional DJs. Steinberg showcased their latest version of their flagship DAW Cubase 8 Pro. Funktion One offered the opportunity to experience the PSM318 professional DJ monitors, and showcased its new self-powered bass system – designed for smaller applications, including studios and home environments. FBT Audio showcased their brand new entry level ‘X’ Series portable active speaker range. While JAMM, the innovative new anti-piracy company also launched at BMC.

Visitors to Ableton’s BMC Academy checked out Live 9 and Push in the company of Ableton Certified Trainers and got creative insights and inspiration from artists via a series of workshops and panels including one of the event’s busiest sessions Ableton presents: Creative Strategies for Electronic Producers hosted by Dennis DeSantis – Author of ‘Making Music – 74 creative strategies for Electronic Music Producers’, with Evil Nine, Alex Banks and Max Wheeler.

Retailers such as GAK, DJ Kit, and Gear 4DJs presented some of the biggest names in audio equipment, with brands including Roland, Korg, Steinberg, Shure, Numark, Denon, Akai and a host of other music businesses and equipment including American DJ, Liteconsole, KAM, PRS for Music and ACS Custom.

BMC’s tech education partners included Ableton, Native Instruments, Focusrite, Novation, Audio Technica, and Pioneer DJ. All of these brands held showcases, with Native Instruments presenting a guide to creating and performing live with STEMS with Prime Cuts. Novation held an intimate tech showcase with Paul Hartnoll, formerly one half of pioneering electronic dance music duo, Orbital.

Highlights from the official BMC networking events included Native Instruments Cookery School with Darren Emerson, Novation’s Breakfast Club, and the Believe Digital Networking party at Neighbourhood.

Events took place across the city, with clubs and venues involved including the recently opened Patterns, Neighbourhood, The Tempest Inn, The Arch, The Hub, and beyond. These included the official DJ Mag BMC Opening Party with Dave Clarke, Rebekah and Tom Demac, On the House & Wiggle at Al Duomo with Robert Owens, Nathan Coles and Terry Francis, and BeAvantGarde at the ARCH with Steve Lawler, which officially closed BMC. Ableton held their Brighton Artist Showcase with Evil Nine, Alex Banks and Max Wheeler, Access to Music hosted the first official BMC Under 18s party, and Audio Active and Soundcity Brighton & Hove presented emerging local talent showcase at the Hub.