The Great Escape announces Keynotes for 2022

The Great Escape, the festival for new music, has today revealed the full schedule of its acclaimed conference, along with the details of additional keynotes and key sessions.

Music’s leading experts will be covering the latest industry campaigns, trends and developments - and what they mean for artists and their business partners in the year ahead - across a four-day conference running from 11 - 14 May 2022 at the Jury’s Inn Waterfront hotel in Brighton.

At the core of the programme are three full-day themed strands putting the spotlight on MUSIC + EDUCATION, MUSIC + DATA, and MUSIC + VIDEO, each of which is packed with insight presentations, case studies, practical advice and lively debate.

Alongside those strands are a series of keynote in conversations, a selection of panels presented by TGE's industry partners, and the TGE Elevate programme for early career talent, which helps aspiring music professionals develop their careers both on and off stage.

This year's keynotes include music PR legend Barbara Charone, who will be talking through the highlights and key moments of her career in the music industry ahead of the publication of her memoir 'Access All Areas: A Backstage Pass Through 50 Years Of Music And Culture'.

Barbara spent the first half of her career as a music journalist working for NME, Sounds, Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy and Cream before writing the authorised biography 'Keith Richards: Life As A Rolling Stone in 1979'. She then moved into PR, working closely with artists including Madonna, Mark Ronson, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Depeche Mode, Texas, Rag’n’Bone Man, St Vincent, Pearl Jam, Olly Murs, Ray Davies and Rufus Wainwright.

Music business experts CMU curate the event’s three full-day strands, including MUSIC+DATA and MUSIC+VIDEO, both presented in association with the BPI.

The MUSIC+DATA strand will follow the ‘data journey’ taken by a newly released track - looking at how data is used to ensure that music gets played and musicians get paid.

Further informing the data debate, Gee Davy will present the Digital Distribution Switch Code - an industry best practice initiative for distributors to follow with their clients led by AIM, following up on the recommendations made in 2019’s CMU-compiled ‘Distribution Revolution’ report. Meanwhile Annabella Coldrick will present MMF's latest work on song royalties, updating the ‘Song Royalties Guide’ that was produced in partnership with CMU and published at the last in-person Great Escape in 2019.

The MUSIC+VIDEO strand will provide a comprehensive guide to the sync market in 2022, with the latest trends and developments in sync presented by Sentric Music’s Patrick Cloherty, and debated by sync experts Jenn Egan from Eyeline Music, Joanna Gregory from Cavendish Music, Pete Kelly from BT Sport, and media composer Mark Gordon.

MUSIC+VIDEO will also look at the content artists need to stand out in a crowded market place, with practical advice on creating great video content from Olivia Hobbs at Blackstar Agency, plus artist managers Ameena Badley, Lauren Roth De Wolf and Bobby Brown.

Meanwhile TikTok's Head of UK Artist Partnerships, David Mogendorff, will identify what it takes to gain momentum and engage an audience on the TikTok platform through a series of insightful artist case studies.

TGE delegates also have access to the Partner Panels – exciting panel debates hosted by the festival’s music industry partners – including, this year:

CNM – Centre National de la Musique