Executives from Facebook, Vevo, BBC and Sky join acclaimed producers and top musical talent in the first wave of speakers revealed for 2020’s Sound City+ conference.

Sound City, the UK’s leading independent festival and conference for new music, returns to Liverpool on 1 – 3 May.

An internationally renowned music industry conference, Sound City+ offers the chance to engage with, learn from and share ideas with leading industry professionals across a multitude of expertise.

This year, the event is themed “for the Reckless and Outspoken”, led by a conversation between punk powerhouse Joe Talbot (Idles) and 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins.

Since their critically acclaimed debut album in 2017, Idles have been one of the most talked about bands around, confronting sexism, racism, toxic masculinity, socialism and politics all through the means of hard-hitting, conversation-starting music. After a remarkable few years selling out tours around the world, and with their third album on the horizon, Talbot will discuss everything from music to politics and what we can expect from Idles in 2020.

Meanwhile, acclaimed engineers, mixers and producers Adrian Bushby (Foo Fighters, Spice Girls) and Steph Marziano (Sam Smith, Kasabian) will talk about their jump from school to studio, their recording process, the recording industry, and tales from behind the desk, in a session hosted by BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio’s Shell Zenner.

Elsewhere, Facebook’s Vanessa Bakewell will host a digital masterclass on how to scale your music marketing across Facebook and Instagram; and Vevo’s Carl Young will run a session on how indie artists can use music videos to raise their profile.

Sound City+ will return to the British Music Experience, located in the Cunard Building on Liverpool’s iconic waterfront, with further workshops and collaborative opportunities taking place in venues across the Baltic Triangle.

For full details of the first wave of Sound City+ sessions, visit: https://plus.soundcity.uk.com/

Tickets for the conference can be bought here: http://bit.ly/SoundCityPlus2020

The conference will run alongside the Sound City festival, set across Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle. Amongst the acts announced for the festival are headliners Friendly Fires and Pale Waves, alongside Marika Hackman, The Snuts, The Blinders, Tim Burgess, The Mysterines, The Lathums, Stealing Sheep, Spector and many more.

As the Keychange Lead UK Festival Partner, Sound City 2020 will build upon its commitment to the Keychange initiative as its strive towards a 50/50 gender split across both the festival and conference, something it was proud to achieve with Sound City+ in 2019.

“After over a decade of being in the business, Sound City+ 2020 is like none other before. Our approach is about championing the outspoken, the ambitious and exposing the true realities of what it’s like to tackle the industry throughout several different sectors. Sound City+ is the place to shake hands with competitors, laugh with future international investors and discover potential future tastemakers. The world is changing, technology is changing and the business is changing. There’s nothing traditional about what Sound City+ 2020 invites its delegates to partake in this May”

Joanne Whitty, Sound City+ Director,

Sound City is proud to work with many leading and innovative partners. These include  Arts Council England supporting new artistic and industry talent; Sound City Emerging Talent and Training powered by CAPLL Ltd, PRS Foundation’s The Open Fund for Organisations, INES and Creative Europe, Baltic Creative CIC, Keychange, and Sound City official Cultural Education Partner, LJMU. As well as panels and in conversations, it will feature workshops and drink receptions fromYM&U Business Management, Horus Music, PPL and PRS for Music.