If you’re an artist looking to get advice from seasoned experts, or an industry professional wanting to learn more about the business from the best in the game, the conference side of SXSW Sydney 2024 is for you.
Until the final schedule settles down though, it can be a bit much trying to wade through the dazzlingly long list of speakers – so, here are some I’ve found who sound specific to the Music track. It’s not fully comprehensive and the speaker list might have more additions over the coming weeks, but it give you a good idea of the sort of expertise on offer.
Last updated 1st Sept, 7th Sept.
KEYNOTE: The Kid Laroi
When the news broke on this megawatt addition, the word was that it’ll feature “a discussion with the 21-year-old about his rise from Redfern to global stardom.” This sounds similar in format to last year’s keynote where Chance The Rapper was interviewed by Poppy Reid, Editor-In-Chief of The Brag Media (Rolling Stone etc). Reid is an outstanding interviewer, and last year’s conversation was a huge highlight that produced revealing and insightful stuff from a major star. It’s a fair bet that she’ll be in the driving seat again this year, and if so, you can be confident it’ll be quality chat.
Outside of the conference, SXSW Sydney have also said they’ll “work with LAROI to host a range of professional development workshops and performance opportunities accessible to the First Nations community of Waterloo and Redfern,” which sounds pretty awesome to me.
Given The Kid Laroi’s hometown hero status though, this session will be mandatory attendance for anyone with the right badge. Assuming of course, you can squeeze into the room.
MUSIC-Y SPEAKERS A-Z
Amy Davidman
Expertise? Talent agent who represents a ton of artists from bold-faced names you’d recognise to some of the more emerging acts at this year’s festival. Widely recognised at the expert level.
Ashish Jose
Expertise? A talent manager and festival lead (among many other things), super-broad CV, brings a bloody broad lens to the conversation.
Ben Lee
Expertise? Beloved Australian musician, hugely entertaining and with bright ideas on just about everything. Learn everything you can from him.
Dong Nguyen
Expertise? Artist manager, event promoter, A&R and music production, brand partnership, marketing & PR, artist booking agent, focussed on South East Asia.
Felicity McVay
Expertise? Former Global Head of Entertainment at TikTok, former YouTube lead in Australia, expert in content creation for artists as well as all other creators.
Hamish Blake
Expertise? Comedian, actor, host, podcaster, author, double Gold Logie winner, and (obviously) one half of the actual Hamish & Andy. He’s an entertainment legend, so go learn something from him.
Jed Kurzel
Expertise? Film scoring – will be talking about his work and his process. For the technical production heads, this’ll likely be heavenly.
Larry Webman
Expertise? New York-based SVP at Wasserman Music, he’s got a bottomless bag of experience working as a booking agent for some of the world’s biggest artists including Coldplay, Bastille, MGMT and more.
Lucy Dickins
Expertise? One of the best-credentialled people in the touring business, currently Global Head of Contemporary Music and Touring at WME (and one of the first women to oversee a major agency’s music division).
Mike Warner
Expertise? One of the world’s leading experts on the world of streaming music talking about how to grow using streaming. Sounds pretty mandatory to me.
Nikki Cox
Expertise? Chief Marketing Officer at Red Bull Records, formerly International Marketing at Capitol – an expert in the business end of selling music.
Ollie Bown
Expertise? A Sydney-based academic who has dived deep into the world where technology meets creativity. Given how AI is basically scaring the ever-living crap out of just about every artist everywhere, his insights should be fascinating.
Peony Hirwani
Expertise? Senior editor at Rolling Stone India, talking about the opportunities and challenges of the Indian market.
Poppy Reid
Expertise? You have to ask? Multi award-winning Editor-In-Chief of The Brag Media (Rolling Stone, Variety, Tone Deaf, etc), Poppy Reid’s a deadset legend, straight up. Must-see.
Priyanka Khimani
Expertise? One of quite a few India-based experts at this year’s festival, she’s an expert in entertainment rights – if you’re interested in India’s audiences, probably worth listening to.
Rebecca Berman
Expertise? Concord Label Group’s international marketing lead, a veteran operator in how artists can grow.
Shabz Naqvi
Expertise? Brings tons of business and artist experience as an original member of So Solid Crew, and founder of the DESI TRILL platform. When it comes time for questions, resist the natural urge to ask how many seconds to go.
Susan Heyman
Expertise? Former Managing Director of Chugg Entertainment, and now Chief Operating Officer of Frontier Touring, there are few brains in Australia filled with as much knowledge about touring.
Ty-Ty Smith
Expertise? In an impressive career, Ty-Ty Smith has been JAY-Z’s road manager, SVP of A&R at Def Jam, and co-founded Roc Nation, working with such stellar names as Rihanna, Ne-Yo, DJ Khaled, and Shakira. Like I said, impressive.