Back for its fifteenth anniversary, the Southern Hemisphere’s premier music industry gathering Bigsound has unleashed its first announcement of speakers and buyers. Some of the world’s biggest musical decision makers will check out 150 hot new artists and participate in forums and networking over the event’s three massive days from September 7 – 9.

With artist applications extended for two more weeks, and early bird ticket purchases closing this Sunday, there’s still time to make sure you’re where the action is in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley this Spring.

Heading the conference keynote list is UNIFIED’s Jaddan Comerford, travelling home from his base in New York to share his knowledge and learnings as his company takes over the music world, steering the career of Vance Joy as well as leading the charge in heavy music’s resurgence. A runner up for Music Business Worldwide’s Young Executive of 2015, Comerford has become a global leader and will return with a keynote outlining his vision for the music business in 2016.

A.B. Original featuring Australian hip hop royalty Briggs and Trials will also present a highly anticipated keynote interview with Lindsay 'The Doctor' McDougall. With their debut single ‘2 Black 2 Strong’ on high rotation across triple j & community radio, the duo is at the forefront of music bringing indigenous rights and culture to the mainstream.

Speakers including music segment producer for the Conan O’Brien show Jim Pitt, Wild Card Music Director Marcy Bulkely (responsible for the music in movies such as Independence Day 2, Jurassic World, Inception and many more,) and Good Ear Music Supervisor Jackie Shuman (who has worked to source commercial music for brands including Google, Twitter, Apple, Samsung, Southern Comfort and many more) will provide serious opportunities for Australian music on the global stage.

Also joining us from stateside will be some of the globe’s most respected A&R executives including Universal Music Publishing Group’s Taylor Testa (Kacy Hill, Tobias Jesso Jr), ATO’s Jon Salter (My Morning Jacket, Alabama Shakes), Vagrant Records/BMG’s Jeremy Maciak (The 1975, PJ Harvey), Zac Ives from Goner Records (Jay Reatard, Ty Segall), Emmy Feldman from Canvasback (War on Drugs, Alt-J, Frightened Rabbit), The Royalty Network’s Lawson Higgins (Justin Townes Earle, The Soft Pack) and Secretly Publishing’s Jon Coombs (Bon Iver, Jens Lekman).

Live bookers attending including New York institution The Bowery, German metal agency Avocado Booking, London’s ATC Live, Hong Kong’s Songs for Children and UK and US representatives from one of the biggest global bookers Creative Artists Agency, home to over 3400 of the biggest artists in the world.

With just a small slice of the anticipated 100+ speakers and buyers, this first announcement is an exciting window into the patchwork of industry that will make Bigsound’s fifteenth year its biggest yet.

Bigsound tickets are now on sale with less than 30 early bird conference tickets remaining from just $350, until sold out or until Sunday May 15.

Artist applications are open until May 22 with artists and managers encouraged to visit www.bigsound.org.au to nominate.

BIGSOUND 2016
INDUSTRY SPEAKERS / BUYERS
Jaddan Comerford–  UNIFIED (AUS) – Keynote
A.B. Original (Briggs & Trials) (AUS) – Keynote
Matt Ash - Raw Power Management (USA)
Alex Becket–  Creative Artists Agency (USA)
Alex Bruford – ATC Live (UK)
Marcy Bulkely– Wild Card AV (USA)
Laura Byrne– Made In Katana / The Scouted (AUS)
Jon Coombs– Secretly Publishing (USA)
Dana Erickson– Grandstand Media & Management (USA)
Emmy Feldman– Canvasback (USA)
Jane Flynn – Songs For Children (Hong Kong)
Sebastian Freed– The Bowery Presents (USA)
Alastair Green– Maker (AUS)
Lawson Higgins– The Royalty Network, Inc (USA)
Zac Ives–  Goner Records (USA)
Jeremy Maciak– Vagrant Records / BMG (USA)
Lindsay McDougall (AUS)
Dean Ormston– APRA AMCOS (AUS)
Jim Pitt–  Conan (USA)
Josh Roth–  Superfly (USA)
Katie Rynne–  Select Music (AUS)
Jon Salter–  ATO Records (USA)
Jackie Shuman–  Good Ear Music Supervision (USA)
Chris Swanson–  Secretly Group (USA)
Edwin Tehrani–  New World Artists (AUS)
Taylor Testa–  Universal Music Publishing Group (USA)
Roman Trystram–  Creative Artists Agency (UK)
Marco Walzel–  Avocado Booking (GER)
Tom Wironen–  Post Hoc Management (USA)