Sound City opens artist applications for big showcases in South Korea and Indonesia

11 July 2017 - Press release

Opportunities at MU:CON and Zandari Festival in South Korea, and Archipelago Festival in Indonesia.

Applications are now open for the Sound City Korea initiative, which takes UK artists to showcase at South Korea’s most important industry events: MU:CON (September 26 - 28) and Zandari Festival (September 29 – October 1).  

This is the third year that Sound City will take artists over to MU:CON and Zandari, events that act as a gateway to the exciting and rapidly developing Korean music market. 

The annual trip has been a success for artists in the past two years, with bookers who saw acts at the events having a combined audience reach of 3.2 million across markets including China, Korea, South Korea, Thailand, Mongolia, Russia, Germany, Spain, Serbia, Denmark.  

To date, the Sound City Korea initiative has unlocked a total industry spend of $146k USD on artists.

South Korea is a rapidly developing territory for music, with a thriving live music sector and a music subscription model that generates $139.6 million of revenue per year, accounting for 92.3% of all digital revenue and 53% of total trade revenue, according to the IFPI. This compares to $70 million from both subscriptions and ad-supported streaming in the UK. 

Zandari Festival and its conference focuses on the live and independent sector, with 200 emerging artists performing in 22 venues to 3,000 industry delegates and 15,000 music festival attendees.  

MU:CON showcases 150 artists to an industry audience of 3,000 industry executives at its conference. It has a particular focus on publishing and sync licensing. 

Sound City invites artists plus a member of their team to apply to perform at both events, with funding support to attend the showcases also available. Applications are open until 6pm on July 24 via https://www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk/soundcityplus/sound-city-korea-2017. Artists should be based in England and include details of their current UK and international activity in their application as well as links to their music. 

In addition, Sound City is delighted to be working with Archipelago Festival (October 9 -13) and the British Council to offer artists showcasing at Zandari and MU:CON the opportunity to extend their trip and to play in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

Sound City is grateful to both Arts Council England and The British Council for their support for the Sound City Korea initiative via the International Showcase Scheme. 

The UK’s leading development agency, Generator, and Yorkshire-based label and development agency DMF Digital will assist Sound City in working with artists and businesses attending Zandari and MU:CON. 

In 2015 and 2016, the Sound City Korea initiative saw Chelou, Hyde And Beast, Fizzy Blood, Natalie McCool, Johnny Sands, Tea Street Band, She Drew The Gun, I Set The Sea On Fire, Shakka, Elle Exxe, Atlas Wynd, Sugarmen and Coquin Migale all perform in South Korea. 

Shakka manager Nike Durosaro said: “We’ve always seen Shakka as an artist with global appeal and the trip to Korea solidified that for us. The fact he connected with a crowd that doesn’t speak the same language was mind-blowing and very encouraging.”

Nick McDowell, Director International and London, Arts Council England, said: “Arts Council England’s International Showcasing programme supports artists across all practices to reach and engage with new markets, new audiences and to showcase the wealth of British talent overseas. Now more than ever it is essential that British artists and musicians are supported in international activity. Sound City secured three years’ funding through the International Showcasing scheme to deliver activity in South Korea, a huge market for UK music, and largely untapped. This is an opportunity not just for emerging artists but also for managers and labels.” 

Zandari Festival Director Yoon-Young Kong said: “We are delighted with the success of the partnership with Sound City so far. We are excited to see its continued development with more excellent artists performing in front of Korean industry and music fans this year. There’s a real opportunity for them to create careers over here, as Koreans love music from the UK.”

Rebecca Ayres, Sound City COO, said: “We are extremely grateful to Arts Council England for their support in helping us take English artists to play in front of the incredible audiences and industry in Seoul. We are delighted that the artists who have showcased to date have had so much success in forging their international export careers in Korea, and opening the gateway to Asia. This year, we’re excited about partnering with the newly established Archipelago Festival in Jakarta, led by an experienced team of promoters. We look forward to some of the artists playing in Korea being able to go over and experience another enthusiastic and exciting audience.”

Sound City is the largest and most significant event of its kind in the UK. Since 2008 the Sound City brand has delivered large-scale music festivals and conferences in Dubai, Norway and Australia. Since 2012 it has delivered an annual boutique version of Sound City in Brooklyn, New York. 

Sound City festivals and business initiatives have generated over £19 million for the UK business economy.