BPI In Tune with Sound City

08 May 2025 - Press release

 

• Sound City hosted the first BPI In Tune with Tomorrow event outside of London

• Headline interview with Warner Music COO Isabel Garvey setting the scene ahead of a  breadth of expert panels drawn from the music ecosystem, each exploring different aspects of the talent journey, ranging from career pathways into the industry to how artists can be supported into going global

• BPI CSO Sophie Jones called for the music industry to “come together” so that opportunities around AI & human artistry, creative education, and music growth and exports can be realised, with closing remarks from BPI Chair YolanDa Brown OBE DL 

 

A year on from its inaugural In Tune With Tomorrow conference, Friday 2 May 2025 saw the BPI, the representative voice for the UK’s world-leading record companies and label businesses, host its second edition of the event in partnership with Sound City 2025.

Much of the music ecosystem was represented in Liverpool across a series of panels on the day, with experts drawn from all parts of creative education, record companies and labels, artists and management, and marketing, press & PR and radio promotion agencies, among other sectors.  

The panels kicked off with a ‘fireside chat’ which saw Warner Music COO, Isabel Garvey interviewed by BPI Chief Strategy Officer, Sophie Jones, exploring the role of a modern record company and label in supporting artist development, and discussing what is meant by success in today’s streaming-led global music economy. Other notable guest panel speakers included Vanessa Bosåen, President Virgin Music UK; Anton Powers, Head of A&R, Ministry of Sound (Sony Music UK); Dave Pichilingi of Modern Sky and Sound City Founder; BRIT School Principal, Stuart Worden; and BPI Chair, YolanDa Brown OBE DL.

The conference was officially opened by Steve Rotherham, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, who welcomed the 200-strong audience and highlighted the importance of Liverpool as a music city, before BPI CSO Sophie Jones launched the day in full with her keynote speech, which can be found in full <"https:/www.bpi.co.uk/media/qaujxwti/in-tune-with-sound-city-bpi-cso-sophie-jones-welcome-address.pdf">here.

Sophie’s core theme, which in part drew inspiration from Liverpool’s iconic music heritage, was the pressing need for the music industry to “come together” like never before if British music is to continue to grow and thrive. This is imperative both to be able to realise the exciting opportunities ahead of it, but also to effectively respond to profound challenges that it is facing, such as those posed by the government’s plans to give AI companies and big tech free and unauthorised access to music on which to train their models.

Sophie Jones, BPI Chief Strategy Officer, said: “The BPI’s In Tune with Sound City proved a wonderful event, and we are indebted to all the expert speakers drawn from our label members and others parts of the music ecosystem for their profound insights and valued contributions, as well as to the Sound City organisers for hosting the panels so memorably for us across the day, and the BPI team for all their hard work and excellent curation.

“The overriding take out was that brilliant human artistry lies at the heart of our successful industry, both in front of and behind the mic, but whether we are working to realise the exciting opportunities ahead of us or to resist the profound challenges that lie in wait, industry collaboration is fundamental. From the development of the creative and technical skills that future generations and our industry will need, to the future of grassroots live music, and from fiercer-than-ever global competition in the streaming economy, to the impact of Artificial Intelligence – these challenges are so significant, that we need to stand together to confront them.”

Sophie in particular repeated the BPI’s calls that:

• Prioritisation of the education and skills needs to support talented people and the needs of the sector;
• Human Creativity and the creative industries, and the copyright that sustain them, must be among the Government’s top policy priorities, especially in relation to AI;
• There is a healthy regulatory climate that enables investment in human creativity; and
• British music is kept globally competitive, including through the successful Music Export Growth Scheme, which the BPI runs with Government to support predominantly independent artists to build fanbases overseas.