As well as the main Sŵn festival this year, Sŵn also presents their reimagined music industry conference, Sŵn Connect. And you can get FREE tickets with the code below!

Do you (or anyone you know! want to get into the music industry, get booked for festivals, or broaden your industry contacts? There’s an amazing programme running through Sŵn Connect. Designed for the public, artists, budding industry professionals, delegates and Sŵn Festival ticket holders – the event seeks to bridge the gap between emerging Welsh artists and industry professionals. It offers a platform for sharing expertise with peers across Wales and the UK, in an industry that lacks a definitive guide.

The conference will be held at Cornerstone, Cardiff, on Friday October 18th and Saturday October 19th, featuring a combination of insightful panel discussions, keynote interviews, and networking meet-ups.

GIVE ME THE FREE PASSES PLS!!!!

Due to space, these passes are limited – so get a shift on and secure yours NOW – Sŵn Connect free passes and use the code CONNECTFREE.

You can find full information on the full information on Sŵn Connect on the Sŵn website.

Read on for a breakdown of everything happening … but trust us, it looks WICKED so book your tickets NOW!

CONNECT PANELS

The Connect panels run between 12pm – 4pm on both Friday 18 and Saturday 19 October at Cornerstone (check the website for a simplified breakdown of the Connect panels). Panelists range from high profile UK booking agents, radio producers, festival bookers, promoters, A&R scouts, presenters, managers, entertainment lawyers, and so on. 

KEYNOTE DISCUSSIONS

Each day there is also a keynote discussion, which have been announced as “A Life In Radio: A discussion with Samantha Moy (head of 6 Music)” and ” and  “Artists in Discussion: Philip Selway (Radiohead) and Lily Fontaine (English Teacher).

MEET-UPS / MENTORING

There will also be meet-ups running alongside the panels in the Cornerstone cafe. These allow you to book in a 15 minute meeting with one of our 25 artist mentors, and in total there are 125 slots available. Links will be sent to all ticket holders next week – so if you’re interested, SIGN UP NOW!

MIXER 

Attendees will also receive an invitation to the Friday conference mixer, taking place at Porter’s. There will be complimentary drinks and pizza! You’ll be able to spend more time with the mentors, delegates, and the Sŵn team.

BUT WHO ARE THE MENTORS? 

The full list of mentors is available on the website, but below is a selection to give you an idea of who is attending. There are also still more to be announced!
Ed Lilo – booker for Latitude Festival
Sarah Joy – Agent for English Teacher, Yard Act, Katy J Pearson, Squid 
Ollie Hodge  – A&R scout who discovered the likes of Vaccines, Declan McKenna and Good Neighbours
Maria Torres – Management at Mother Artists managing Idles and SSTTFU 
Matthew Cooper – Agent for Dry Cleaning, Bug Club, Dream Wife, Hinds 
Jamal Gurhtie – Director at Wide Awake Festival and LNZRT (who book Moth Club and Shackewell Arms)
Alex Cull – Head of PR at Brace Yourself representing the likes of Ezra Collective, Bodega, Panic Shack
Dave Ball – Creative Wales music team working across funding applications with artists and industry in Internationally
Louisa Robinson – promoter at FORM, booking Mutations Festival, Pitchfork London
Dan Burgess – A&R at Domino Publishing, recently signed the likes of Lynks and Iglooghost to the Domino roster.