The Iceland Airwaves conference will take place on November 3rd and 4th, the Thursday and Friday of Iceland Airwaves. This year we will touch on topics like the state of live music post-covid, the role of record labels today, the unifying power of music during a world marked by turmoil and sustainability in music.
Registrations are open and conference passes cost 34.900 ISK for early bird conference tickets and 29.900 ISK for IA partners and artists. A conference pass gives you access to the following:
- Iceland Airwaves Conference Nov 3 & 4
- Iceland Airwaves Music Festival Nov 3-5
- Numerous networking opportunities
- Access to and placement on the delegate list
- Networking breakfast on Thursday Nov 3 and Friday Nov 4 included
- Drinks at happy hour on Friday Nov 4 included
- Invitation to Iceland Airwaves welcome party on Thursday Nov 3
- Tickets to the Airwaves Plus awards ceremony on Friday Nov 4 included
- Invites to invite-only parties and events
- + all the benefits of Airwaves Plus including priority access to official Airwaves venues, discounts and more.
As a delegate you are also exclusively invited to the Iceland Airwaves Conference networking lunch on Thursday Nov 3 and Friday Nov 4, you can book your spot during the registration process.
FIRST PANELS ANNOUNCED
Iceland Music and Reykjavík Music City are programming conference day one and are happy to announce their first two events.
The first one is about navigating today’s label landscape and invites representatives from AWAL, Artoffact Records, Partisan Records, AIM and Secretly Group to explore what weight a label carries at the age of DSPs. It asks how important curation and identity of the labels are when listeners might not know of them at all. Where do indie labels’ and label service companies’ strategies converge and how do they differ?
The second event invites the latest hit-maker from Iceland, the 23-year-old Laufey and her manager Max Gredinger, to a conversation about their debut chart topping album release, a sold out tour and how they turned Laufey’s vision of transportative jazz songs about young love and self-discovery into one of the brightest stars coming out of Iceland.
On Friday Iceland Airwaves has programmed an exciting lineup of speakers.
We’ll explore topics like how artists from small markets can reach global success and hear from experts such as Alex Bruford from ATC Live, Glenn Larsen from Faroe Music Export, Icelandic music industry legend Anna Hildur and Norwegian booking agent Camilla Christensen from Standing Ovation. A very dear friend of Airwaves Will Larnach-Jones will moderate the panel.
We’ll also touch on the topic of live music post-covid and hear from Tom Windish from Wasserman Music, Marlene Tsuchii from CAA and local promoters Ísleifur Þórhallsson and Steinþór Helgi Arnsteinsson.
Streaming will be another topic, and we’ll hear from Sofia Sandqvist (Universal Music Sweden), Brittany Crawford (Co-Founder, Avant Garden Records) and Ruben Nesse (Manager, Brilliance Music Group).
The world is in turmoil and divisions between people are seemingly growing wider every year, but these divisions have also reminded us of what unites us across borders and political ideologies. We will explore what part music has to play in this. Panelists include Vlad Yaremchuk (Programming Director, Atlas Festival), Atcha Bar (Executive Director, Yellow Submarine The place for music in Jerusalem), Tamara Kaminska (Director of Music Export Poland) and it will be moderated by Nína Richter a journalist from Fréttablaðið.
Finally we’ll have a conversation with Ólafur Arnalds where he will discuss everything from how he got here, his approach to creativity and composition, the music industry and what lies ahead. Paul Bridgewater from Line of Best Fit will moderate the talk.
ARTIST FOCUSED MASTERCLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
Iceland Music and Reykjavík Music City will host ‘Bransaveisla’ (“Industry Celebration”), that is numerous industry events in the week leading up to Airwaves with support from Business Iceland and STEF. They will offer exciting masterclasses in management and music supervision by none other than Ali Raymond, Arlo Parks’ manager and Steven Tallamy who’s starting a Music Supervision division in Iceland under WiseMusicGroup.
Other events include a networking speed-meeting session, panel discussions, and workshops suited for the DIY community of artists in Iceland. These events are free but require registration, and spots can be limited. Finally MMF is starting up its Iceland chapter and everyone is invited to the launch of MMF Iceland.
The Bransaveisla schedule will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday at KEX, and you can find out more and book your spot on the Iceland Music website.
THE AIRWAVES PLUS AWARDS
As usual, this year 1.000 ISK from every Airwaves Plus ticket upgrade purchased is added to the Airwaves Plus fund that awards new artists with a grant to assist them with recording, marketing, and touring.
This year the winning artists of the Airwaves Plus Award will be announced on Friday November 5th at the end of the Iceland Airwaves conference and winners will be invited on stage to accept their grant and award. We’ll also be awarding someone the Iceland Airwaves Lifetime Pass, to thank them for being a great partner and friend to Iceland Airwaves. All conference delegates are invited to attend. Let’s party!
Want to attend the Iceland Airwaves conference?
Register today – before it sells out.
