The new music and city culture festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW) has revealed new speakers for the conference taking place at the Estonian Academy of Arts on 27th – 28th March. Among others, the panellists include Keith Harris, an EMI and Motown veteran and Stevie Wonder’s manager, as well as Andreea Magdalina, CEO of shesaid.so and outspoken advocate for women’s empowerment in the music industry. The freshly published European Music Export Study will be presented at the conference, and part of the discussion will be dedicated to the crises that threaten nightlife in Europe, as well as the possibility of even having a nightlife in areas of crisis around the world.
TMW 2020 is presented by Telia. The music industry panels, workshops and mentoring sessions of the conference are prepared in cooperation with the music industry development centre and export office Music Estonia.
The TMW 2020 Conference + Festival pass is available €175 euros and the Festival Pass for €55 at shop.tmw.ee
Keith Harris, a member of the Order of the British Empire, whose career spans over 40 years as a key figure in some of the most influential record companies in music history (EMI, Motown, Blue Note) is added to the speakers’ line-up as part of EMMMA programming. As the General Manager of the legendary Motown label in the 1970s, Harris took care of premier league soul artists such as Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, The Supremes and Stevie Wonder, the last of whom Harris has also worked for as an artist and business manager. Keith Harris will be interviewed by Sander Varusk, manager of the Tallinn’s Terminal record store and host of the Raadio 2 show “Popikroonikad”. More EMMMA programming is to be announced soon.
Andreea Magdalina is the founder and CEO of ShesaidSo, an international organisation dedicated to empowering women in the music industry. She will moderate the discussion panel on the problem of violence and harassment in nightlife, including the issues of reporting and prevention. Among others, Andreea will be discussing the issue with punk musician Bryony Beynon, who is also the Managing Director of the Good Night Out Campaign, aimed at preventing sexual violence.
Is the night-time economy only about the turnover of bars and clubs, or is it a considerable sector of the overall economy? This discussion will be led by Pamela Schobess, owner and promoter at the live music club Gretchen, and will analyse the impact of alcohol sales limitations and gentrification on the European club scene, nightlife, and the wider economy.
But how do you go about promoting nightlife and concerts in crisis areas? Anthony Semaan is the co-founder of the production company Beirut Jam Sessions, which has organised hundreds of concerts and festivals in his native Lebanon, and elsewhere in the Middle East. He will share his experiences alongside music promoters from Chile and Ecuador.
Virgo Sillamaa is the Director of the Estonian music export office and industry development centre Music Estonia, and the acting Secretary General of the European Music Exporters Exchange (EMEE). He will present the first European Music Export Study, freshly published by the European Commission. The report contains an in-depth analysis of the music export capacity of our continent and points out the main challenges and opportunities of the global market.
Other new speakers announced for the TMW 2020 conference include Hannes Tschürtz, founder of the record company Ink Music and board member of the Austrian Music Fund, Perttu Pesä, who organises the major events in the city of Tampere in Finland; and Lena Ingversen, leading project manager at the Music Cities Network and a promoter of the Hamburg cultural life. Developments in the electronics scene in the West and East will be discussed by Mijke Hurkx from the Amsterdam electronic music institution Rush Hour and Dmitry Agalakov, programming director for the Russian label Roots United and the founder of the Present Perfect festival.
Taking place on the 27th and 28th March at the Estonian Academy of Arts, the central topic of the conference—challenges facing the music industry in the new decade—will be looked at through the prisms of night-time economy, new festival markets, future cities and cultural heritage. The conference also looks into a more conscious approach to diversity and sustainability, from programming to touring, to the competitive nature of the music business and its mental health issues. The results of the two conference days will be presented on 28 March, in the form of a presentation of the manifesto Music Industry 2.0, which the analysts and experts of the field will have compiled together.
The full TMW 2020 conference and festival programme will be published during February and March.
In addition to the conference and the music festival, the TMW programme also includes a series of public lectures called TMW talks, music-themed workshops for children, and experiments combining citizen initiative and artistic interventions in the public urban space.
The TMW festival is organised by Shiftworks OÜ in cooperation with numerous partners and co-organisers. The music industry panels, workshops and mentoring sessions of the conference are prepared in cooperation with the music industry development centre and export office Music Estonia. Part of the conference programme is co-created with EMMA the first-ever European-wide mentorship programme for music managers.
TMW 2020 is presented by Telia.
The international activities of TMW, aimed at introducing Estonia as an attractive destination for those interested in music and culture, are supported by funds from the European Regional Development Fund.
Confirmed speakers at the TMW 2020 conference.