M&M Books Headliners

If conferences are like festivals and depend on good headliners, then Finland’s Music & Media has done well to get legendary UK agent Barry Dickins and Estonian justice minister Rein Lang.

Dickins, who co-founded International Talent Booking 30 years ago and represents acts such as Neil Young, Diana Ross and Bob Dylan, is a known raconteur with a wealth of good stories.

But the Estonian minister of justice has a few good stories of his own. At last year’s Tallinn Music Week he told delegates that, prior to being a member of the tiny Baltic state’s government, he was one of the first to bring international acts to Estonia.

Given his current role, he understandably declined to explain how – back in the days of communism – he still managed to pay them in hard currency.

Lang explained how the early shows in Tallinn caused such excitement that the Moscow papers spun it into stories about riots on the streets of Tallinn. The KGB started to cast a closer eye on Estonian youth.

Other conference highlights include keynotes from Jonathan Forster (Spotify) and Roger Mavity (Conran), plus a range of panels covering all aspects of the music business.

One of the most popular among the Finnish, Baltic and other Scandinavia delegates will be one about how the Nordic countries can work together to further their mutual interests.

Music & Media is in Tampere, Finland, Oct. 21-24.