Dua Lipa To Speak At ILMC’s Futures Forum, Conference Speakers Announced

Samir Hussein / Redferns / Getty Images – Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa lets loose at Alexandra Palace In London April 20, 2018

The upcoming 31st ILMC edition in London will see the premiere of Futures Forum, a one-day event for young live music professionals, and the first keynote interview will be with Grammy and BRIT Award winner Dua Lipa.

Dubbed “The Futures Forum Keynote: Dugi & Dua Lipa” will see Dua and her father, Dukagjin Lipa, interviewed by IQ Magazine editor Gordon Masson about the role of live music Dua Lipa’s career, the demands of life on the road and the Sunny Hill Foundation in Kosovo.

The first Futures Forum takes place on the final day of ILMC, Friday, March 8, at the Royal Garden Hotel in West London. All ILMC delegates are able to attend, while subsidized day passes are available for younger working professionals.

“It’s a huge vote of confidence in Futures Forum to have an artist of Dua Lipa’s calibre and influence as our first-ever keynote interview, especially on International Women’s Day 2019,” says ILMC head Greg Parmley. “With over 30 speakers confirmed, we’re also proud that Futures Forum has achieved a gender-balanced line-up in year one.”

The keynote interview will be followed by a drinks reception to celebrate International Women’s Day, hosted by Live Nation Entertainment. Denis Desmond, Chairman Live Nation UK and Ireland says, “This is the right time to toast the women making the live music business thrive, from artists like Dua Lipa to our growing team of female promoters. To close ILMC on International Women’s Day is a fitting celebration of our bright future and we look forward to welcoming all ILMC and Futures Forum attendees.”

Other Futures Forum sessions include “How it’s done… the Brit Awards” by BPI’s Maggie Crowe OBE; “Confessions of a super-tout” by reformed super-scalper and ticket bot inventor Ken Lowson; and “Ancient wisdom for modern living” by Buddhist monk, meditation teacher and author Gelong Thubten.

In the spirit of Futures Forum, “Meet the New Bosses: Class of 2019” sees UTA’s Oliver Ward chair a panel of rising industry stars who will discuss their vision for the future of the business. On “Beyond Touring: Full-stack futures”, journalist Rhian Jones will be leading a debate on how artists will be building careers and incomes in the coming years. “Surviving the Business: Health & wellbeing in live” is led by Live Nation’s Jana Watkins, who will discuss how to survive and thrive in today’s business.

ILMC – Phil Bowdery, executive president of Touring, international at Live Nation
The host of ILMC’s Open Forum

Many speakers for the main ILMC conference have been announced as well: This year’s Open Forum, the opening session of ILMC, will feature Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group (Pollstar’s parent company), Alex Hardee, partner/agent at Coda Agency, Marsha Vlasic, president of Artist Group International, David Zedeck, head of music at United Talent Agency, and Detlef Kornett, CMO and head of international business affairs at Deutsche Entertainment AG. The Open Forum is hosted by Phil Bowdery, executive president of Touring, international at Live Nation.

CTS Eventim founder and CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg makes his ILMC debut to announce some future plans for the company, March 6.

ILMC 31 takes place March 5-8. Companies supporting this year’s conference include Live Nation, Ticketmaster, CTS Eventim, WME Entertainment, Showsec, Flash Entertainment, Integro, DEAG Entertainment and Mojo Rental.

Update: Since publishing this article, ILMC has announced that it sold out all of its 1,100 delegate passes for the main conference.