UPDATE: BIGSOUND Announces First Round Of Acts On 2018 Lineup
ORIGINAL STORY: BIGSOUND is changing the game in 2018, rolling out a whole new format designed to bring the Aussie music industry closer together.
Going down from Tuesday, 4th to Friday, 7th September at its ancestral home in Queensland’s Fortitude Valley, Australia’s biggest music industry conference has been inspired to shake things up this year after 2017 saw a record-breaking 40 per cent surge in attendance.
As well as its beloved artist showcases, panels and keynotes, this year’s event will also feature a series of forum sessions designed to engage attendees in a whole new level of participation, discussion and general kickassery.
“We want to use BIGSOUND this year as an opportunity to create growth not just in the music business and economy, but culturally and socially too,” says Executive Programmer, Maggie Collins.
“We will be inviting people from across the community to help us re-imagine the future of the music industry and open our eyes to new ways of doing things, including thought-leaders from other fields like sport, entertainment, design, psychology and more.”
With the lofty goal of making Aussie music more “profitable, equitable and diverse”, the new-look BIGSOUND aims to champion inclusivity by welcoming people of “all walks of life” to contribute to the annual celebration of new music discovery, with a special focus on the work of Indigenous musos.
And to ensure this, BIGSOUND has expanded its team with the addition of a new First Nations producer in Alethea Beetson, who’ll be working alongside the regular crew to enhance the “cultural appropriateness” of this year’s fest, which is set to kick off with a new welcome event on the Tuesday arvo that promises to put Indigenous music “front and centre of the BIGSOUND experience”.
But that’s not all. The conference’s music tech component will also be ~embiggened~ in 2018 to provide even more hands-on opportunities, Friday’s program will include a greater focus on live music and experiential events, and — once again, in the spirit of inclusivity — BIGSOUND is introducing a new student ticket rate.
“The new BIGSOUND program will be a revolution in the way the Australian music industry comes together to make change happen,” says QMusic CEO Joel Edmondson.
“We realise that conferences based purely on a ‘talking heads’ model no longer have a place in a 2018 music industry that values the contributions of diverse peoples. BIGSOUND has always been here to create opportunities for networking and learning, and with this year’s event, we will be at the cutting edge of both.”
BIGSOUND artist applications are also open from today via the conference’s official website, with all showcasing artists eligible for a share in the $100,000 Levi’s® Music Prize.
Tickets to the 2018 event are also on sale now.
Looks like we’re in for the biggest BIGSOUND yet.
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BIGSOUND 2018
Tuesday, 4th — Friday, 7th September
Fortitude Valley, Brisbane
Tickets: Official Website
