The Great Escape 2022 First Fifty Announcement 15 Sep 2021
INCLUDING: PRIYA RAGU, SAM RYDER, FINN ASKEW, CONOR ALBERT, TEMS, ENNY, DELILAH MONTAGU, LIME GARDEN, WALLICE, MALADY, MAPLE GLIDER + MORE
FIRST FIFTY, THE LIVE LAUNCH OF THE GREAT ESCAPE 2022, RETURNS TO EAST LONDON ON 17 NOVEMBER 2021
TGE SET TO DEBUT BRAND-NEW FIRST FIFTY SHOW IN BRIGHTON ON 19 NOVEMBER 2021, PLUS FIRST FIFTY ONLINE ON 18 NOVEMBER
The Great Escape today announces the FIRST FIFTY acts set to play the Brighton festival in 2022. To celebrate its highly anticipated return to the festival calendar and following a two-year hiatus, TGE's FIRST FIFTY live launch is back bigger and better than ever, with gigs across eight venues in East London, an online showcase, plus brand-new for 2021, a FIRST FIFTY show in The Great Escape's hometown of Brighton. Taking place from 17-19 November 2021, the launch will showcase some of the world's most exciting emerging acts ahead of their festival appearances next year. Tickets for each FIRST FIFTY gig start from £7 and are available to purchase here.
The Great Escape, the festival for new music, will be kicking off the 2022 festival season, playing host to more than 450 up-and-coming artists and hotly tipped talent across 35+ walkable venues, alongside the music industry led TGE conference, from 12-14 May 2022 in Brighton, England. Tickets for The Great Escape festival start from £70 and are on sale here.
Today's announcement reveals the exciting FIRST FIFTY artists who are set to take The Great Escape 2022 by storm and will celebrate its return at the below showcases in November.
THE GREAT ESCAPE FIRST FIFTY
WEDNESDAY 17 NOVEMBER
Taking place across eight East London venues, Notion is set to take up residency for the FIRST FIFTY at Night Tales, with South London lyricist ENNY, experimental Nigerian singer songwriter Tems and the hotly tipped musician Finn Askew bringing his mix of pop, indie and R&B to the stage.
Over in Hackney Wick, DIY are taking over Studio 9294 for an evening of the hottest new talent, with South Asian influenced R&B from Priya Ragu, the spiritually explorative Birmingham artist Sipho, guitar driven indie surf rock from Brighton's Lime Garden, and London songwriter and producer Daisy Brain.
GUAP take over The Hackney Social with the sustainably conscious rebel rapper KAM-BU, South London grime artist Deema, and fellow South London native producer and multi-instrumentalist Conor Albert providing the freshest new music.
NT's and Off Licence Magazine join forces to showcase the best of new rap and grime from multilingual English-Japanese vocalist and producer Miso Extra, rising Luton alternative grime emcee BXKS, and choreographer turned rapper Dreya Mac, who has shot to prominence following the release of debut track 'Skippin'.
Dork will be at Oslo to present their mix of the latest emerging talent. Ivor Novello winning Mysie will be joined by soulful pop singer songwriter Delilah Montagu, Denmark's electronic pop producer and singer JADA, and gospel jazz signer songwriter Kwaku Asante.
So Young are hosting an eclectic night of new music at Paper Dress Vintage, with Brighton's erratic post-punk seven-piece KEG, South London Producer and multi-instrumentalist Wu-Lu and singer songwriter Hussy on the bill.
TGE will bring some heavy riffs and licks to the Sebright Arms with French post-punk band Unschooling and synth-punk rockers Powerplant on the line-up, alongside the lyrical Scottish singer songwriter Hamish Hawk.
Clash take over The Victoria in Dalston for an electric night of the newest in guitar music, with London four-piece Malady's indie dance infused beats, Irish post-punk four piece The Clockworks, energetic indie punk from Glaswegians Gallus, and 60s and 70s inspired rock from Irish trio Dea Matrona.
THURSDAY 18 NOVEMBER
After the huge success of TGE Online 2021, The Great Escape will host a special online FIRST FIFTY showcase on Thursday, 18 November, featuring digital performances by some of the most exciting talent from around the world. With performances from artists based in USA, Germany, Spain, Japan, Holland, Norway and the Dominican Republic, The Great Escape continues to support emerging artists on a global scale by giving them a platform to showcase their talents.
Los Angeles' Wallice will bring the DIY pluckiness that has shot her into the spotlight to her live streamed performance, demonstrating her 90's inspired haze and contemporary pop hooks. Raw, threadbare folk in the shape of Maple Glider from Melbourne also joins the FIRST FIFTY online line-up, whilst fuzzy, hard-hitting psych-rock is delivered by Toronto based Crown Lands. The line-up continues with a whopping seventeen acts performing digitally, including Gustaf, Charmaine, CV Vision, Sycco, Lunar Vacation, TEKE::TEKE, Kills Birds, DORA, Gabriels, Adam Melchor, Enumclaw, EFÉ, Ur Monarch, Someone, Alice Pisano, Johanna Warren, and Conchúr White.
The Great Escape FIRST FIFTY Online is brought directly to screens across the world via https://greatescapefestival.com/
FRIDAY 19 NOVEMBER
The renowned FIRST FIFTY launch continues on Friday, 19 November in The Great Escape's hometown of Brighton, with the epic final night of TGE's live launch celebrations at Chalk. TikTok superstar and powerful vocalist Sam Ryder is joined by rising teenage R&B soul talent Isabelle Brown and Brighton based singer songwriter HEIGHTS.
NEWS & PRESS
UK Music Video Awards 2025 winners announced
FKA TWIGS WINS BEST POP & BEST ALTERNATIVE VIDEO A$AP ROCKY’S ‘TAILOR SWIF’ NAMED VIDEO OF THE YEAROK GO’S DAMIAN KULASH ACCEPTS ICON AWARD, GABRIEL MOSES WINS BEST DIRECTOR, LUNA CARMOON NAMED BEST NEW DIRECTOR FKA twigs and A$AP Rocky were the...more
Downtown Artist & Label Services Expands in Brazilian Phonk with Major Label Renewals and Viral Wins
Follows long-term renewal deals with Enarma Records and Polaris Records as well as the viral success of tracks from DJ FNK, TRXVELER, and DJ ANXVAR. Downtown Artist & Label Services (DA&LS) has deepened its commitment to the fast-growing Brazilian Phonk and...more
Songpact Announces India Launch: Bringing Fast, Transparent and Accessible Music Contracts to Creators
India’s music industry is having its global moment. Streaming has reshaped listening habits, Indian artists are finding audiences far beyond their home borders, and the country is now one of the world’s fastest-growing music markets - with more than 185...more
BRIT Awards 2026: Stacey Tang announced as BRITs Committee Chair
New era for UK's biggest night in music as ceremony moves to Manchester BRITs Committee Chair announced as Stacey Tang Creative team for 2026 show revealed Awards categories & criteria evolve for 2026 Ceremony to take place at Co-op Live on Saturday 28th February Following the...more
Universal Music Group and Stability AI announce strategic alliance to co-develop professional AI music creation tools
Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment and Stability AI, the leading independent multi-modal generative AI company, today announced a strategic alliance to develop next-generation professional music creation tools, powered by responsibly trained generative AI and built...more
Applications now open for Manchester’s £245,000 Grassroots Music Venue Fund
Manchester sets a new national benchmark for local cultural leadership Music Venue Trust call on other councils to actApplications for grants open on Tuesday 28 October Manchester City Council’s £245,000 discretionary fund to support the city’s Grassroots Music Venues is now...more
Sony Music Publishing Invests in Elements Music & Launches Creative Partnership
Collaboration marks significant milestone for the Finnish music industry Sony Music Publishing (“SMP”) today announced it has acquired a significant stake in the Finnish company Elements Music, as well as the company’s music publishing catalog of approximately 10,000 works. Additionally, the parties have established a...more
SourceAudio Promotes Weston McGowen to Global Head of Catalog Services
SourceAudio, the music industry’s most widely adopted sync platform and a leader in AI music dataset licensing, has promoted Weston McGowen to Global Head of Catalog Services. He is based in New Orleans and will report to SourceAudio Co-Founder & CEO Andrew...more
The IMPF Global Music Summit receives honour at the AUPA! Awards
The Summit recently finished its fourth edition, attracting 650 executives from around the world. The IMPF Global Music Summit Palma has been honoured at AUPA! Awards in Bilbao, Spain. The AUPA! Awards are the closing highlight of BIME Bilbao (Bizkaia International Music...more
Beatport and Youth Music Join Forces to Empower Young Electronic Music Creators
Beatport is proud to announce a new partnership with Youth Music, building on the success of Beatport's Diversity + Parity Fund and Youth Music's ‘Rescue the Roots’ campaign. Together, the two organisations are collaborating to support grassroots electronic music projects...more
Dan Rosen to lead Warner Music Australasia & Southeast Asia
Unified approach creates bigger opportunities for artists in a region of over 550 million people Dan Rosen has been appointed to lead Warner Music Group's recorded music businesses in Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - as...more
Music Streaming Services Call On National Assembly of Québec For "Cultural Sovereignty with Listener Choice" Over Bill 109
DIMA – the Digital Media Association – representing Canada's leading music services including Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube, yesterday (October 29th) submitted evidence to the National Assembly of Québec's special consultation on Bill 109. The bill seeks to affirm the cultural sovereignty of Québec by...more
Impala elects new executive board in Zagreb, holds first European independent music summit
IMPALA elected a new board and set its priorities for the next two years at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Zagreb this week. The meeting was hosted as part of RUNDA Digital Day, RUNDA Adria's annual conference supported by Merlin, which was represented by Shrina Patel, Merlin's Senior Director of Business Affairs and...more
Universal Music Group N.V. Reports Financial Results for the Third Quarter and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2025
Summary Q3 2025 Results Revenue of €3,021 million increased 5.3% year-over-year, or 10.2% in constant currency, with growth in all segments. Recorded Music revenue grew 3.6% year-over-year, or 8.3% in constant currency, Music Publishing revenue grew 8.6% year-over-year, or 13.6% in constant...more
Anti Social Camp UK schedule reveal — pinkpantheress, glass animals, nathan sykes headline free major uk music festival next week
PinkPantheress, Glass Animals’ Dave Bayley, Jamie Cullum, Billy Bragg, Nicholas Petricca of WALK THE MOON, Nathan Sykes and 200 additional artists, songwriters and producers will kick off the inaugural Anti Social Camp UK presented by Tileyard November 3rd through 7th...more
SAY Award prizes made of repurposed skateboard decks unveiled with 1 week to go
With just one week to go until The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award announces 2025's winner, Scotland's national music prize has revealed a first look at this year's prizes – handcrafted by local Dundee makers No Comply, and made completely from...more
Warner Music Italy Launches Warner Records Italy and Atlantic Records Italy
Eleonora Rubini elevated to Label Director, Warner Records Italy; Marco Masoli upped to Label Director, Atlantic Records Italy ADA Italy moves under the leadership of Renato Tanchis Warner Music (WM) Italy announces that it’s evolving the structure of the company on its...more
Bandsintown launches marketplace with 30+ partners to help independent artists reach billions of fans and own their data
Bandsintown now connects its 700,000 independent artists with music distribution, CRM tools, and marketing partners like CD Baby, Community, Groover, Musixmatch, ROSTR, TuneCore — expanding on existing integrations like Google, Linktree, Shazam, Shopify, Spotify, Squarespace, and YouTube Trusted by 100 million...more
Universal Music Group and Udio announce Udio's first strategic agreements for new licensed AI music creation platform
Companies settle copyright infringement litigation and collaborate on groundbreaking new creative product suite Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, and Udio, an AI-powered music creation platform, today announced industry-first strategic agreements, under which the companies settled copyright...more
War Child’s ‘Day of the Girl’ Concert Series Raises Over £40,000 to Support Girls and Women Affected by Conflict
Through Intimate Live Shows Featuring English Teacher, girli & Katy J Pearson War Child UK is proud to announce that this year’s Day of the Girl concert series has raised over £40,000 to support girls and women living in conflict zones around the...more
My future as an amateur football club coach by Nuno Suraiva, founder, SCL-Lusitanian Label Group
Featured in Complete Music Update. Nuno Saraiva has had a 30 year career in the music industry as an artist, songwriter, music publisher, record label, consultant, music exporter and project manager. He is founder of the SCL-Lusitanian Label Group in Portugal, and...more
MIME Conference 2025 unites music leader to bridge the gap between education and industry
As the UK prepares to launch its new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, the Music Industry + Music Education (MIME) Conference will explore music policy and accreditation, plus resources and opportunities for the next generation of music professionals. Leading figures...more
ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN Announce Alignment on AI Registration Policies
The Three Major North American PROs will now accept registrations of partially AI-generated musical works ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN today announced they have each adopted policies to accept registrations of musical compositions partially generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. These works...more
Karma Artists Continues to Make Waves in Asia
Writer/Producer Collaborations, Writing Camps and Cultural Exchanges Fueling ‘Extraordinary’ K-pop Success Karma Artists, the London-based independent music company, is celebrating a number of successful creative projects alongside a slate of future activities, which will see it further engage with the fast-growing...more
Warner Chappell Music sign rising Portuguese star Maninho
Warner Chappell Music (WCM), the global music publishing arm of Warner Music Group (WMG), has signed Maninho - one of Portugal’s most in-demand and highly-respected talents. The singer-songwriter, who also has a record deal with Warner Music Portugal, exploded onto the...more
EXIT announces 2026 Global Tour following Government pressure in Serbia - first destinations revealed
EXIT will tour through Egypt, India, Malta, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia as part of 'The First Chapter' EXIT, one of the world's leading music festivals, is entering a new chapter in its history. After announcing that it will not be held...more
NME’s The Cover 2024-2025: A premium coffee table book spotlighting Kneecap, Lola Young and other breakthrough artists
NME, the globally renowned music and pop culture brand, announces The Cover 2024–2025, a premium coffee table book celebrating the most exciting emerging artists of the year. The second edition to the annually released collection is a boldly designed hardback featuring bespoke...more
UK Music Introduces 'Five Ps' Guide to Boost Diversity and Inclusion Across the Music Industry
UK Music has introduced its ground-breaking Five Ps guide to bring about enduring change and positive outcomes for diversity and inclusion across the music industry.The Five Ps is a practical guide that follows widespread consultation right across the sector. It maps out five...more
Reservoir and PopArabia grow MENA cagalogue with two new acquistions
Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR), an award-winning independent music company, in conjunction with PopArabia, the leading music publisher and independent music company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), announced two new acquisitons to expand the Companies’ share of...more
LIVE Awards 2025 - Finalists Announced
The annual LIVE Awards, which will take place in association with Skiddle on Wednesday 10th December at Troxy in East London, has announced its category finalists for 2025. Chosen by a panel of industry experts the shortlists cover all sectors of...more
THE HEADLINES
Universal Music Group and Stability AI announce strategic alliance to co-develop professional AI music creation tools (see News)
UMG and Udio settle lawsuit; announce agreement for new licensed AI music creation platform (see News)
The last days of Utopia (see News)
UK Music introduces 'Five Ps' guide to boost diversity and inclusion across the music industry (see News)
Reservoir Media: A hidden gem? (see Features)
The music industry remains divided on generative AI. Where will that leave us? (see Comment)
How fan power is reshaping pop (see Features)
The “forever” stakes of generative AI ownership (see Comment)
Lyor Cohen: AI won’t replace artists — it will make them unstoppable (see Opinion)
Omdia tips music publishers’ revenues to hit $10bn this year (see Reports)
Unit1 Studio launches offering potential for immersive avatar concerts through lower production costs (see Digital)
Are we still in the music business? When your POV is worth more than your mp3s (see Opinion)
Is rock’n’roll dead? (see Features)
Book extract: Body Of Work: How The Album Outplayed The Algorithm And Survived Playlist Culture (see Comment)
With MTV channels switching off, is the music video under threat? (see Features)
