Blogging from In The City & Unconvention

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I’m on my way to In The City, one of the UK’s largest music conferences today. I’ll be blogging all of the panels I attend and give some thoughts on the live music that’s happening in Manchester over the next 3 nights – the format will be much the same as my South By Southwest Recaps.

I’ll also be attending Unconvention – Here’s what their website says about the event, which is running concurrently with ITC:

“Un-convention has been inspired by the current underground music scene in the United Kingdom. Be it
Manchester, Grimbsy, Fife, or Newcastle, there is an unsung, industrious group of promoters, musicians
and record labels all beavering away to bring new and exciting music to an open-minded listening public
desperate for more than the mainstream has to offer.

The people involved in this grassroots level of the industry are hard-working and passionate, invariably
working with limited resources and having to supplement any income they manage to generate with
other jobs. There are so many people in the UK operating at this level that it would be unfair to name
some and not others. You know who they are. If you don’t, you can find out. Just look out for local
events taking place in your town, often in unusual places, and curated in a more imaginative way than
the usual run-of-the-mill gigs and tours. Go and see for yourself. Support people who are putting the
effort in to do something different, something new.

There is a very healthy community aspect to the whole DIY and underground music scene, and
a noticeable tendency for people to help each other out rather than see each other as competition.
In response to this, we feel that this community needs a voice and a platform to share skills, be inspired
by and learn from others’ successes, and get to know people working in the same field for the same
reasons. It truly is all about the music.”

Is there anything you’d like to hear about at this year’s ITC or Unconvention? Looking forward to your feedback!