Britain’s In The City music convention this year anchors its position on the industry calendar, returning with a new program of events which organizers hope will appeal to a broader media community.
The annual event, now in its 17th year, will take place Oct. 5-7 in Manchester under the banner, “It’s All About The Music, Stupid.”
This time, notes In The City director Yvette Livesey, ITC is actively embracing the legal profession, associated new media industries, telecommunications companies and other sectors not usually associated with the confab. “We are making The City 2008 more appealing to those other sectors who need to be included in the discussions about the future of the music industry and who may well hold the key to some of the major challenges facing our business,” she notes in a statement.
The unconfirmed schedule will include keynote addresses, celebrity interviews, masterclasses, panels, seminars and a vibrant live music program for both new and established acts, a factor which in years past has proved to be the cornerstone of ITC’s format.
ITC 2008 is also targeting a more consumer-facing profile with its live music program. This year, the event “is going to be about celebrating the music, about recognizing the fact that music isn’t going away,” comments Livesey, who co-founded the event in 1992 with the late British independent label pioneer Tony Wilson.
ITC’s night program has a reputation for making and breaking unsigned and fringe acts like the Darkness and Placebo, and hosting early-career gigs by the likes of Oasis and Coldplay.
