Greg Parmley On ILMC: ‘I’m Immensely Positive About The Biz In 2025’

The International Live Music Conference returns to the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Feb. 25-28. Pollstar reached out to the head of the conference, Greg Parmley, to find out what delegates can expect from ILMC’s 37th edition.

Pollstar: What’s your state of mind as 2025 picks up pace?
Greg Parmley: We’re in a fascinating time at the moment, where the top end of the live business is getting bigger, the bottom end is struggling, and the gap between those two points is widening. Clearly the business overall is bigger, and looking at the amount of investment in new venues and touring routes around the world, coupled with new and broadening forms of live entertainment, it will continue to grow. The increased profitability at the top-end is rightfully sparking questions about how the various elements of the ecosystem can co-exist and thrive, but I’m immensely positive about the business in 2025. This is an industry populated by extremely entrepreneurial and creative individuals. You only have to look at what was achieved with FireAid recently to understand that.

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ILMC Touring Entertainment LIVE is set to return. What’s your thinking behind giving non-concert touring a dedicated event?
Touring family entertainment and exhibitions is a huge growth area for the business, and absolutely justified having a dedicated conference within ILMC. With established European concert promoters launching dedicated divisions for this type of content, there’s more crossover than ever before. The feedback after the first edition was immensely positive last year, so we’re excited about the second edition of Touring Entertainment LIVE, and we’re trialling it on the first day of the main conference this year.

The struggle of the grassroots and independent sectors is real. How’s ILMC going to address the problems of and solutions for this vital part of the live biz?
We’ve been running conference sessions on the grassroots sector of the business for as long as I can remember, and this year is no different. But it’s also important to have the voice of independent operators reflected across the conference agenda as well, not just in specific sessions, and we’re very mindful to reflect this in our agenda. Outside of conference sessions, we will continue to support the work of industry bodies and initiatives. One example of this is that for many years we have hosted an association summit which brings key industry organizations together from a lot of markets to share challenges and solutions.

For the past few years ILMC has been making its own contribution to highlighting small venues and upcoming talent. What’s new for Soho Calling?
It’s the third edition this year, and we’ve expanded to six venues and over 20 artists. Having 1,600 of the world’s top live music professionals just minutes from all those venues in Soho was too good an opportunity to pass up. So we mix regular ticket sales with industry passes, and it’s a really busy night. Frankly, I expect Soho Calling to grow considerably over the next few editions – there are a lot of venues in Central London, and it’s a great vibe.

What’s on ILMC 37’s agenda that delegates might be surprised to find?
We’ve shaken up the agenda this year and introduced some shorter sessions and new formats as well. So you might find a discussion about ethics and activism sitting alongside a 45-minute conversation about Afrobeats. Or a session on superfans running after a 30-min presentation on green riders. It’s a broad mix.

Any final thoughts, Mr. Parmley?
The thing about ILMC for me is the spark that’s generated by the gathering of so many like-minded people in one place. That continues to make ILMC special to its members, and to the team that has the privilege of running it.

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