Liverpool, 12th November 2020 As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sound City Korea 2020 will be broadcast globally, for free via the Guest House video platform and Facebook Live on November 27.
Sound City Korea is a pioneering programme for musicians and industry professionals based in England with a view to creating opportunities in South Korea.
South Korea is a rapidly emerging and increasingly important international market with an annual spend of $53m on music and digital content. The territory is widely seen as a gateway to the wider Asian market.
Sound City is grateful for support from Arts Council England and CAPLL Ltd. to run the programme. In its first five years, it has supported 100 musicians and industry professionals to attend two leading Korean festivals: Zandari Festal and MUCON.
This year is the 6th edition of the event. It will run from 9:30 (GMT) and 18:30 (KST) on Guest House (guesthouselive.co.uk) and the Sound City Facebook page (facebook.com/liverpoolsoundcity).
Sound City is also working with FOCUS Wales this year – the annual showcase festival that has also had its own showcase of Welsh artists at Zandari Festa over the past five years and with The BPI and the UK’s Department of International Trade.
Speakers confirmed for the conference element of Sound City Korea include Cecilia Yi (Zandari Festa), Emma Daman Thomas (ISLET), Phil Patterson (DIT), Marty Ro (Sound Republica), Jake Lee (Leeway), Andy Jones (Focus Wales), Say Sue Me (artist), Becky Ayres (Sound City), Simon Raymonde (Bella Union), Louisa Roache (She Drew The Gun), Love Ssega (artist) and Adam Ryan (The Great Escape).
Panel sessions and topics for discussion include overviews of the South Korean and UK markets, plus how to tour and get your music heard in both territories. The full timetable will be revealed on November 17.
In addition to the daytime masterclasses, Sound City will be featuring a Zandari Festa showcase of artists in the evening. An annual highlight, it will also be available via Guest House for free for the first time.
The main aim of Sound City Korea is to secure impactful international deals for artists and their management via a series of networking events at Zandari conference.
The initiative has a consistent track record of catalysing deals for UK artists and businesses in the Korean and wider Asian market.
Last year, The Sherlocks played a show for Seoul Music Festival – which was broadcast on MTV in Korea – and The Tea Street Band embarked on a four-date Korean tour, both as a result of their successful showings at Sound City Korea.
Sound City MD Becky Ayres said: “Over the past five years, we have taken over 100 artists to perform at Zandari Festa in South Korea. Although we can’t go over in person this year, we’re delighted to host a series of masterclasses on how artists and industry can export their music to South Korea and for Korean industry and artists to export to the UK. We’re thrilled to be able to work with our long-term partners Zandari Festa, as well as FOCUS Wales, BPI and DIT to highlight the opportunities that exist for UK artists and industry to collaborate with their counterparts in the world’s fastest growing market for music.”
Founder and Music Programmer at FOCUS Wales Andy Jones said: “Our annual exchange of artists creates a strong cultural bond between our music communities and our events. With the situation being what it is in 2020, we’re so pleased that we’ve been able to adapt and find a new way of working together with our partners to continue this important relationship.”
Zandari Festa’s Cecilia Yi said: “It has been an excellent journey collaborating internationally with both Sound City and FOCUS Wales to showcase an array of talent from the UK in Seoul at Zandari Festa. Adapting to the challenges of 2020, we are pleased we can continue this partnership digitally and discuss the opportunities that we can all offer to both UK and Korean artists.”
About Sound City
Sound City is the brand responsible for organising a range of boutique music, media and technology festivals and conferences around the world. Since its inception, it has designed, delivered, marketed and hosted events in cities on three continents that range from a series of shows, conferences and product and service launches, to full music and arts festivals and creative and digital industries conferences. Sound City consistently delivers high quality, high calibre events that have been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. Sound City-owned events include Liverpool Sound City festival and conference, Dubai Sound City, Tromso Sound City, New York Sound City, Gateway to the Asian Music Markets, Sound City Korea and Sounds of the Xity, Beijing, China.
About Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Between 2018 and 2022, Arts Council England will invest £1.45 billion of public money from the government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk
CAPLL Ltd
CAPLL Ltd is an established leader in face-to- face, regular-giving and lottery fundraising. It works in partnership with clients to secure high quality, committed donors at sector leading attrition levels. Since 2009, CAPLL Ltd has generated in excess of 1 million long-term donors through lottery and regular giving campaigns. It employs directly and indirectly over 650 people nationwide working in high footfall venues, including high profile shows, and residential areas. It raises awareness through strongly branded presentations, stands and materials, which promote its clients work. An emphasis on inspiring quality supporters is at the heart of what it does. A thorough understanding of clients’ needs allows it to deliver national and regional campaigns for a wide variety of partners in the charity sector, the energy sector and home security. CAPLL Ltd has become one of the largest in its field across Europe.
About FOCUS Wales
FOCUS Wales is a not-for-profit organization, established to provide the annual new music showcase event for the Welsh Music Industry. Its core work centres around the delivery of its international multi-venue showcase festival taking place in Wrexham each year, which places the music industry spotlight firmly on the emerging talent that Wales has to offer the world, alongside a selection of the best new acts from across the globe. FOCUS Wales 2021 will mark the festival’s 10th edition, and will welcome over 15,000 people to the town, building upon 2019′s record attendance across a jam-packed weekend of events. There’s no place like Wrexham during FOCUS Wales, as we showcase 250+ bands from across the world, fill out a variety of spaces and music venues, using 20 stages, and hosting a full schedule of interactive industry sessions, arts events, and film screenings, throughout the festival. In addition to the delivery of the FOCUS Wales festival, it also delivers a number international FOCUS Wales events throughout the year.
About Zandari Festa
Zandari Festa is Asia’s leading global showcase music festival, with ZANDARI UNREAL being its 9th anniversary. The name ‘Zandari’, former name of Seogyo-dong, signifies ‘little bridge’ in Korean, also acting as a metaphor for Zandari Festa’s role in bringing participants together – musicians, music industry professionals, and audiences from all over the world. Every year, we provide an official showcase with around 200 teams from 20 different countries; special stage with musicians curated according to nationality; conference & workshop with international music industry professionals; and networking events hosted by international partners participating in Zandari Festa. All the participants of Zandari Festa become friends while discovering new music and drinking beer together.
