FastForward announces final speaker lineup, program, and Ticketmaster Keynote for inaugural London conference

21 August 2017 - Press release

Sophie Crosby, SVP Marketing at Ticketmaster International added for final Keynote 

Only 40 tickets remain for debut FastForward: London conference

FastForward – the future-focused international music business conference – has announced the full speaker lineup for their debut London event. Hosted at the British Library on Friday 15 September, the one-day conference will offer a combination of keynote speeches, interactive panel discussions, and FastForward’s ‘FastFifteen’ rapid-fire solo presentations, all of which will complement the annual flagship FastForward event in Amsterdam. 

Sophie Crosby, SVP Marketing at Ticketmaster International will give a keynote on Reaching the Changing Consumer.  Sophie, who leads the Insight and Marketing functions at Ticketmaster International working with some of the biggest artists, tours and festivals in the world, will be sharing her tips on how to reach and engage with potential and existing customers in an increasingly competitive attention economy.

Sophie joins a program & speaker lineup that includes industry veteran Merck Mercuriadis (CEO, Hipgnosis Music), who will be giving a keynote about the Future of Artist Management.

Other new speakers announced today to finalise the lineup include Dusko Justic (VP International Marketing, Sony Music), Sergio Pimentel (Senior Creative, Ninja Tune), Chiara Hunter (Artist and Songwriter, Australia), and Miranda Kempin (Sync and Licensing Manager, Sony/ATV).

These new speakers complete the 29-strong lineup, listed below in full. You can find the full program for the day covering all keynotes, panels, and FastFifteens available on the conference website.

• Alex Clough Social Media Director, Splendid Communications
• Bob Workman SVP Partnerships, Warner Music
• Charlie Andrew BRIT Award-winning producer / Square Leg Records
• Cherie Hu Music & Technology Contributor, Forbes, USA
• Chiara Hunter Artist and Songwriter, signed to Sony/ATV, Australia
• Chloé Julien CEO, Bandsquare, France
• Chris Carey CEO, Media Insight Consulting
• Chris Tams Director, Independent Member Services & International, BPI
• Claudia de Wolff VP, Creative Content & Programming, UK & International, Vevo
• Dorothée Imhoff Business Development, FUGA, Netherlands
• Dusko Justic VP International Marketing, Sony
• Ellie Giles Artist Manager, Various Artists Management
• Farhana Aboo Marketing Manager, AEI Media
• Fiona Bevan Artist and Songwriter; Ed Sheeran, One Direction
• Kelly Bennaton Senior PR & Marketing Coordinator, DHP Family
• Kellie While Head of Creative, 7digital
• Kimberly Anne Artist and Songwriter; signed to Universal Music Publishing
• Merck Mercuriadis CEO, Hipgnosis Music
• Miranda Kempin Sync and Licensing Manager, Sony/ATV
• Phil Patterson Music Specialist, Department for International Trade
• Rebecca Stewart Reporter, The Drum
• Rees Hitchcock Creative Planner & Agency Marketing, FRUKT
• Samantha Mandel-Dallal Head of Content Insights, Spotify
• Sean Adams Social Media Producer, BBC 6 Music
• Sergio Pimentel Senior Creative, Ninja Tune
• Síofra McComb Head of International Sales & Marketing, !K7, Germany
• Sophie Crosby SVP Marketing, Ticketmaster International
• Stu Dredge Contributing Editor, Music Ally
• Sulinna Ong VP, Artist Marketing, Deezer

Representatives from all sides of the industry are attending, including Universal Music Group, The O2, Spotify, Columbia Records, Polydor, Snapper Music, Distiller Records, AEI Media, The Unsigned Music Awards, shesaid.so, Kobalt, Sony/ATV and many more.

The final 40 tickets are available via Ticketmaster’s Universe platform at universe.com/fastforward-london, with regular Delegate Passes currently on sale now at £115 until 31 August, rising to £140 for the last minute rate. Similar to Amsterdam, tickets for the event will be limited to 150 to allow for more meaningful networking & discussion.

More information on this new one-day conference can be found on the FastForward website.