BIGSOUND Unveils Full 2026 Program, Adds Paul Kelly

BIGSOUND has officially locked and loaded its full 2026 program, with Paul Kelly joining the festivities for a special artist conversation as the mammoth music industry conference prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Taking over Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley from Tuesday, 1st to Friday, 4th September, this year’s BIGSOUND will bring together artists, labels, promoters, bookers, media, tech heads and assorted music biz creatures for four days of showcases, panels, workshops, networking and industry shenanigans.

A.B. Original & Paul Kelly cover ‘Dumb Things’ for Like A Version

Paul Kelly Joins BIGSOUND 2026

Leading the latest announcement is Australian songwriting legend Paul Kelly, who’ll sit down with ABC journalist Sarah Kanowski for a special conversation exploring songwriting and its role in shaping Australian music culture.

Presented alongside APRA AMCOS as part of its celebration of 100 years of Australian songwriting, the session will see Kelly unpack his own craft and the broader power of words and songwriting to shape the country’s musical identity.

He’s joined by more than 100 newly announced industry guests, including ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd, Live Nation SVP Global Touring Hans Schafer, Dark Mofo Music Director Kimberley Galceran, TEG Global Head of Music Strategy Van Picken and fellow Aussie muso Pete Murray.

Among the freshly unveiled conference sessions is ‘Building Like Bad Bunny’, which will use the Puerto Rican superstar’s stratospheric rise as a jumping-off point to explore how artists can embrace culture and language while building connections between Australia and Latin America.

There’ll also be a session examining Australia’s growing musician-to-entrepreneur pipeline, while dance music institution Central Station Records will celebrate its 50th birthday with a special panel bringing together figures from across the label’s past and present.

BIGSOUND’s Hubs Are Back

This year will also see BIGSOUND roll out a stack of dedicated spaces for different corners of the industry, including its Ideas and Innovation Hub, Artist Hub, Delegate Hub and Content House.

The Spotify-presented Artist Hub will feature everything from a Spotify for Artists Masterclass and US Visa Workshop to opportunities to meet Live Nation’s Next On booking team – plus, crucially, free headphones at a Marshall Happy Hour. Never say professional development doesn’t pay.

Meanwhile, the Oztix Delegate Hub will be geared towards networking and international connections, while Content House returns with panels and workshops tackling music marketing, social media, online fandom, visual identity and the increasingly unavoidable art of being chronically online.

And because BIGSOUND thankfully involves considerably more than sitting in conference rooms talking about music, the week will once again feature its sprawling live showcase program, alongside the return of the official Oztix party and Live Nation’s Ones To Watch discovery series, with the latter’s mystery lineup still to come.

BIGSOUND celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2026, after spending the past quarter-century helping introduce the industry to artists including Flume, Tash Sultana, Tones And I and Courtney Barnett.

Suss the key details below and get your eyeballs around the artist lineup here.

BIGSOUND 2026

When: Tuesday, 1st – Friday, 4th September

Where: Fortitude Valley, Brisbane

What: Live showcases, conference sessions, workshops, industry hubs, networking events + more

Tickets and full program is available now via the BIGSOUND website

BIGSOUND 2026 Industry Guest Announcement

A-Z

ADELLE ROBINSON (AFA/Fuzzy)
AERON CLARK (Edge Radio Hobart)
AL NEWSTEAD (Author/Music and Pop Culture Reporter, Double J)
ALEX CLARKE (Yellowbelly Bourke)
ALEX NAGL (AMRAP/CBAA)
ALEX KNIGHT (GYRO.Group)
ALISON BREMNER (GYRO.Group)
ALI TOMOANA (Manager, Soul Has No Tempo)
ALYCE WEARNE (Spotify)
AMELIA JENNER (Touring & Operations Manager, WAT Artists)
ANDREW KHEDOORI (Music Director, AMRAP/CBAA)
ANDREW PATTERSON (Retired Public School Principal)
ANGELA PULVIRENTI (Like No Other Media )
ANNABELLE HERD (CEO, ARIA)
ANTHONY ZACCARIA (Co-Founder, Linktree)
ARI PASCUAL (Agent, Trust Artists)
ASHLEY GAY (Ex A&R / Managing Director, Central Station Records/Xelon Digital)
ASH MCGREGOR (Podcaster, Listen Up With Ash)
BECKI WHITTON (Mixing & Mastering Engineer)
BIANCA BENUSSI (Strategic Partner Manager, Global Partnerships, Instagram)
BILLY ZAMMIT (Creative Director)
BIRDLAND (Artist)
BRAD HINDS (Head of Music, Oztix)
BYRON SPENCER (Artist, DeepFaith)
CAMERON MENEGONI (AMRAP/CBAA)
CARLA FOWLER (Founder, Create Mate)
CHRIS BREARLEY (Promoter, Greyline Live)
CLAIRE COLLINS (Bossy Music)
DAN WOOLSTON (Founder, Higher Ground Management & SNIFFERS Magazine)
DARIA WAIN (4ZZZ)
DAVE SLESWICK (Tivoli Group)
DR ASH KING (Mental Health Content and Programs Lead, Support Act)
Dr JAMES HUMBERSTONE (Associate Professor, Sydney Conservatorium)
EDVARD HAKANSSON (Founder/Director, Cohort Records)
ELINOR WILLIAMS (Digital Marketing Director, The Annex)
EMILY COLLINS (Head of Sound NSW, Sound NSW)
EMMA BOSWORTH (Green Music Australia)
EMMA DOLIBI (Marketing Director, Laneway Festival)
FIRAS MASSOUH (PBS FM)
FRED GESHA (St Kilda Festival – First Peoples Program Lead)
GLENN DICKIE (Export Music Producer, Sounds Australia)
GLENN SAVAGE (Professor of Education Futures, University of Melbourne)
HANNAH LAPEDOTA (Social & Advocacy Brand Manager | Maybelline New York ANZ)
HANS SCHAFER (SVP, Global Touring, Live Nation)
HARPER KODICEK
JADE NAZARETH (Artist Manager, One Louder)
JAMISON KEHL (The Push)
JAMIE RAEBURN (Managing Director, Central Station Records)
JANE POLLEY (Curriculum Specialist, The Arts, ACARA)
JASON TEMPLEMAN (Engagement Officer, Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games & Economic Empowerment)
JENNIFER SULLIVAN (CMO, KiTbetter)
JESS BARLOW (Senior Director for Sync Licensing at Concord Music Publishing ANZ, Concord)
JIM HENNESSEY (Director of Marketing, Untitled Group)
JO PALUMBO (Founder, Central Station Records)
JOE KHAN (Senior Editor, Spotify)
JOHN ‘JC’ COLLINS (QLD Night-Life Economy Commissioner)
JONATHAN ZAWADA (Creative Director)
JORDAN ROYAL (4ZZZ)
KAT GIBBS (Head of People and Culture, Unified)
KIM FERGUSON (Mo’s Desert Clubhouse)
KIMBERLEY GALCERAN (Music Director, Dark Mofo)
KIRSTY LEE PETERS (Publishing A&R, Sweat It Out)
LADYHAWKE (Artist)
LARS BRANDLE (Music Journalist)
LIZ ASTEY (Director, Orbit/dplr group)
LORRAE McKENNA (Founder & Artist Manager, Our Golden Friend)
LUCAS CANZONA (Director, Fairwin Entertainment)
LUCY BLOMKAMP (Producer)
LUCY BUCKERIDGE (Head of Asia Pacific, Domino Recordings)
LYNLEY WHITE-SMITH (Forbes Street Studios)
MARCUS WALKOM (Walkom Lawyers)
MARK GERBER (Founder/CEO, Oxford Art Factory)
MATT FIELD (Field Frequency)
MATT NUGENT (COO, Central Station Records)
MATT O’GORMAN (Drummer, British India / Radio Announcer, Southern Cross Austereo)
MAYELLA DEWIS-KOROI (Creative & Festival Producer)
MEG WILLIAMS (Creative Victoria)
MICHELLE YANEZ-OLIVARES (Founder, Amiga Mía )
MONIQUE WILLIAMS (Marketing & Communications Manager, Creative Australia)
NATASHA PINTO (Venue Booker, CG Live)
NATHAN BIRD (Artist)
NATHANIEL ANDREW (NATISMO)
NICHOLAS DI LORENZO (Mastering Engineer, Panorama Mastering)
NIKKI WISHART (QSIC)
PAUL KELLY (Artist)
PETE MURRAY (Artist)
POPPY REID
RAFAEL PEREIRA (Lawyer, Tin Nuts / Intellectual Property Strategist, India International Music Week)
ROHAN HARDY (Director of Music, St. Andrew’s Anglican College)
ROMY HARBER (Global Head of Entertainment, Marketing and Partnerships, B-Electronic)
SAM CROMACK (Singer and Songwriter, Ball Park Music)
SARAH KANOWSKI (Journalist, ABC)
SASHA McLEOD (Singer and Songwriter, SYCCO)
SEAN WALKER (Artist)
SHANNON CARRAGHER (Senior Music Editor, Spotify)
STU FIELD (Director, Oztix)
TAM BOAKES (Owner/CEO, Jive; Australian Music Venue Foundation)
THALIA SKOPELLOS (StoryBeats)
TIFF STODART (Three D Radio)
TOM BRAIN (Venue Programmer & Promoter, JOY Events)
TOMMY BOUTROS (FBi Radio)
TRISTAN BERRY (ONErpm)
TYLA DOMBROSKI (Director & CEO, Crowbar Brisbane & Crowbar Sydney)
UNICE WANI (Creator)
VAN PICKEN (Founder/Global Director of Music Strategy, Comes With Fries; Ticketek Entertainment Group)
VICTORIA KOZBANIS (Touring Coordinator, Lonely Lands Agency)
VIV MELLISH (GYRO.Group)
WILL CUMING (Head of Product & Engineering, Unified Music Group)