Sound City will return on May 3 - 5 2019

21 June 2018 - Press release

2018 event contributed £1.43m to England’s economy

The UK’s leading independent festival for new music, Sound City, will return to Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle and Cains Brewery from May 3 – 5 in 2019, following this year’s sold-out event.

As is tradition, the arts and music showcase will be preceded by the Sound City + business conference, which will take place on the first summer bank holiday of 2019 - Friday, May 3. 

Liverpool’s thriving Baltic Triangle and Cains Brewery will then host two days of live music from bold emerging artists, established acts and true icons alike.

The new dates come after another successful year for Sound City in 2018, with this year’s event contributing £1.15m to the Liverpool City Region and £1.43m to England’s economy.

In 2018, Sound City became one of Arts Council England’s regularly funded National Portfolio Organisations, receiving support for artist and industry development via Sound City, Sound City+, Sound City Korea, Off the Record and Sound City Music Entrepreneur Training throughout the year. 

Since 2008, Sound City has worked with over 3,000 emerging artists and 20,000 industry professionals and created hundreds of jobs across the sector via its UK and international initiatives.

Artists and industry executives taking part in Sound City initiatives have to date generated £25 million on contracts signed in business outcomes.

2018 also marked the first time that the Sound City + conference took over the British Music Experience in Liverpool’s historic Cunard Building, with a series of insightful keynote speeches, interviews, roundtable debates, workshops and more culminating in an entertaining conversation between legendary Creation Records founder Alan McGee and Membranes frontman John Robb.

Other conference highlights included the Future Music Cities panel featuring London’s Night Tzar Amy Lamé; a special breakfast reception held to celebrate PRS Foundation’s Keychange initiative, which encourages festivals to achieve a 50:50 gender balance by 2022; and discussions between representatives from the Innovation Network of European Showcases (INES) festivals talking about the opportunities open to UK and European artists beyond their native borders.

The conference was followed by the Sound City music festival, filling over 20 venues in the Baltic Triangle with more than 250 acts playing in front of almost 7,000 fans.

The weekend was packed full of stand-out performances from acts including DMA’S, The Slow Readers Club, Peace, Sunset Sons, Yellow Days, Baxter Dury, Picture This, Idles, Wye Oak, Black Honey and many more. 

Acclaimed international artists also attended from around the world including Trupa Trupa, Mart Avi, Venus Tropicaux, The Paparazzi City, Zhaoze and Far From Alaska. 

Alongside the music performances, there was an eclectic arts programme, which continues to define Sound City. This year it included opera, poetry, acoustic performances, spoken word, and even life drawing. 

Becky Ayres, Sound City’s COO, said: “We have had a magical journey back to our roots and could not have asked for a better Sound City this year. It was a real demonstration of what the great city of Liverpool is all about. The festival embraced its musical heritage but brought everything very much into the now, showcasing many local artists tipped for success, as well as seeing packed venues for the likes of the DMA’s, Peace, Slow Readers Club and so many more. We always set out to promote Liverpool’s rich culture, as well as that of the wider northern region, and combine it all with a sense of intimacy and discovery. We’re also really proud of the fact that we continue to generate millions of pounds for the Liverpool and wider English economy. We’ve had excellent support from Arts Council England across not just the Sound City festival but Sound City+, Sound City Korea, Off the Record and Sound City Music Entrepreneur Training throughout the year, which has been a real boost for young artists and executives. We are already working hard to ensure another exciting edition for 2019.”  

In related news, applications for INES#talent 2019 are now open, giving more emerging artists the opportunity to play showcase festivals around Europe. Acts can submit their application until July 31, at ines-festivals.eu/talents.