What do artists like Temper Trap, The Naked and Famous, Washington, Adalita, San Cisco, Boy and Bear, The Jezabels, Kimbra, Cloud Control, and Little Red all have in common? They have all used BIGSOUND as a platform in their rise to international careers.
With dozens of international industry leaders and hundreds of decision-makers from around Australasia, BIGSOUND is most important gathering of the music industry tribe in the southern hemisphere.
Organisers of the music showcase have today revealed the first round of guests who will speak at the event in September.
Speaking this year will be:
Ben Lee – Keynote speaker this year, Lee released his first solo record Grandpaw Would in 1995, he now has eight solo records to his name and a whole bunch of hits that you undoubtedly know.
David Bridie – one of Australia’s most innovative musicians, songwriters, composers, producers and musicologists.
Mark Poston – founding member of the ARIA Club Chart, former head of Capitol Records, and current chairman of EMI Australiasia.
Ben Swank – Jack White’s right hand man in Third Man Records, one of the most talked about record labels on the planet right now.
Rene Chambers – Part of the Label Relations team at Spotify, a music streaming service.
Richard Moffat – The band booker behind the likes of Falls Festival, St Kilda Festival, Parklife and Groovin’ The Moo to name but a few.
Lisa Hresko – Editor-In-Chief of CMJ, overseeing the entirety of the editorial content, the CMJ TV platform and the highly respected CMJ weekly radio charts.
David Jimenez-Zumalacarregui – Owner and operator of Spain’s Primavera Sound, widely regarded as the best music festival on the planet.
Aly Ehlinger – Talent buyer for C3 Presents who operate Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, and now the Big Day Out.
Nick Findlay – Current music director at triple j.
Jessica Ducrou – Operator of Village Sounds who represent the likes of Birds Of Tokyo, Bernard Fanning and The Vines, and co-founder of Splendour In The Grass.
Ian Haug – Powderfinger guitarist.
Charles Caldas – Former CEO of Shock Records, he has also sat on the boards of ARIA, AIR and WIN and now is CEO of Merlin, a global rights agency.
Nicky & Ben Berger – Managers of Los Angeles indie music collective Grouplove.
A number of artists have also been announced for the showcases:
Kate Miller-Heidke
Violent Soho
Eagle & The Worm
The Paper Kites
King Cannons
The Cairos
Oliver Tank
Kira Puru & The Bruise
The Trouble With Templeton
“BIGSOUND 2012 already feels like it has the good will and natural momentum to step up again on what we achieved last year. ,” said programmer Graham Ashton.
“The international interest has gone up another level which is proven by the quality of our first speaker announcement and BIGSOUND has become the one real gathering of the tribe for the Australian music community. Most importantly, the artist applications that are coming in already ensure that Fortitude Valley is the place to be this September.”
Tickets for BIGSOUND are now available at the early bird rate of just $295 for Q Music members and $395 for non-members. This discount price is available for one month only and includes entry to all official conference sessions, parties, after-parties and live music events.
Tickets are on sale now through BIGSOUND.
