Escape For The Day

Two weeks before it was due to start, Brighton’s Great Escape Festival put day tickets on sale at £90 each.

At press time the May 15-17 conference/festival still had a few weekend passes available at £150.

This year the event The Times described as "an invitation to the British music industry to take its bucket and spade to the seaside" will have about 180 bands playing showcases across 20 of the city’s venues.

The first day of the conference has a keynote speech from Terry McBride of Nettwerk Music Group, the Canadian management company now partly owned by the U.K.’s MAMA group.

This year’s panel sessions include discussions on management, publishing, the 360-degree deal, the future of folk music and the role of the independent promoter.

Panelists include Malcolm Buckland from the MCPS-PRS royalty collection organisation, Rob Challice (Coda Agency), Jon Dunn (Live Nation), Peter Elliott (Primary Talent), Phil Nelson (First Column Management), Alison Wenham (AIM), Steve Zapp (ITB), and Seymour Stein (Warner Music Group/Sire Records).

Stein will also be interviewed by David Quantick, a contributor to The Word and Uncut magazines, about his four decades at the cutting edge of artist development.

The Go! Team, Mystery Jets, The Wombats, Vampire Weekend, The Fratellis, The Futureheads, The Ting Tings, Friendly Fires, The Subways, Lightspeed Champion and The Automatic are among the acts that’ll be rocking on the south coast.