Brighton-based multi-venue grassroots music showcase festival and conference The Great Escape (TGE) has announced the full conference programme.

The conference, which runs from 11-14 May at the Jury’s Inn Waterfront Hotel, will feature three full-day themed strands; Music+Education, Music+Data, and Music+Video, each of which will include presentations, case studies, advice and debate.

Keynotes include veteran music PR Barbara Charone, who has worked with artists such as Madonna, Mark Ronson and Foo Fighters. She will discuss the highlights and key moments of her career in the music industry ahead of the publication of her memoir.

TikTok head of UK artist partnerships David Mogendorff will provide a keynote on how to gain momentum and engage an audience on the TikTok platform.

Alongside the series of keynotes, the event will also include panels presented by TGE’s industry partners and the TGE Elevate programme for early-career talent, which aims to help aspiring music professionals develop their careers on and off stage.

MP and culture select committee member Kevin Brennan and musician and #BrokenRecord founder Tom Gray will also be in conversation.

Gray will discuss the process of building the #BrokenRecord campaign at the beginning of lockdown to highlight market failure in the digital music streaming business. Brennan will talk about the Parliamentary inquiry which put the economics of music streaming into the public spotlight.

Other speakers include Association of Independent Music chief operating officer Gee Davy, Music Managers Forum CEO Annabella Coldrick, Blackstar Agency founder Olivia Hobbs and artist managers Ameena Badley, Lauren Roth De Wolf and Bobby Brown.

More than 50 speakers have now been confirmed for the conference, with more still to be added.

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