More than 1,100 live music delegates from across the globe will congregate this week for the 29th edition of the International Live Music Conference (ILMC).
Tickets have sold out for the invite-only gathering, which takes place at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington from March 8-10. Event partners this year include Live Nation, Ticketmaster, CTS Eventim, Amazon Tickets, United Talent Agency, WME, Showsec, Malaysia Major Events and Yourope.
This year sees several firsts for ILMC, with new elements include the Festival Summit 2017 and Venue Summit 2017. Here, we pick out five panels not to miss:
1. The Open Forum: The big round-up (Wednesday, Room 1, 11.15am-12.45pm)
ILMC's opening session will cast its eye back over the past 12 months and look forward to the year ahead, tackling issues such as Brexit, secondary ticketing, industry consolidation and major global trends.
Chair: Phil Bowdery, Live Nation
Speakers: Charles Attal, C3 Presents; Emma Banks, CAA; Paul Craig, Nostromo Management; Marty Diamond, Paradigm Talent; Folkert Koopmans, FKP Scorpio; Geraldine Wilson, Amazon Tickets
2. Festival Forum: Franchises & new formats (Wednesday, Room 2, 2-3pm)
With more competition and a wider range of offerings, this panel ponders what it will take to succeed, or simply survive, in the festival industry beyond 2017.
Chair: Natasha Bent, Coda
Speakers: Steve Homer, AEG Live; Christof Huber, Open Air St. Gallen/Yourope; Jan Quiel, ICS Festival Service; Nuno Sousa Pinto, Rock in Rio
3. Venue Summit: Safety & security (Thursday, Room 2, 3.30-4.45pm)
Bringing together security experts, counterterrorism heads from local government, in addition to venue and festival operators, this panel will consider how the industry has reacted and what more can still be done.
Chair: John Sharkey, SMG Europe
Speakers: Simon Battersby, Showsec; Chris Kemp, Mind Over Matter; Aline Renet, Prodiss; Andrew Smith, West Midlands Police; Okan Tombulca, eps
4. Ticketing: The survival plan (Thursday, Room 1, 11.30am-12.45pm)
This panel looks at what traditional ticketing giants are doing to remain relevant to artists, promoters, venues and fans.
Chair: Tim Chambers, TJ Chambers Consultancy
Speakers: Rainer Appel, CTS Eventim; John Meglen, AEG Live; Andrew Parsons, Ticketmaster UK; Geraldine Wilson, Amazon Tickets; Paul Wilson, CAA
5. The Breakfast Meeting with Paul McGuinness (Friday, Room 1, 10.30-noon)
The legendary former U2 manager reveals all to raconteur Ed Bicknell of Damage Management in ILMC staple, The Breakfast Meeting.
