London’s The Ultimate Seminar Recap

One of the most iconic free events on the annual music calendar The Ultimate Seminar took place on 23rd November at University of Westminster, London. With previous speakers including Stormzy, Mabel, JP Cooper, Naughty Boy, U.S Island Records President Darcus Beese, Virgin EMI President Ted Cockle and Grammy Award Winning Songwriter Fraser T Smith, this year was no different, with huge names in attendance.

With over 40 speakers in attendance this year, speakers this year ranged across the board and included Ben Wynter (Founder at Unstoppable Music Group and Grants and Programmes Manager at PRS Foundation), Stacy Tang ( Manager/Director at RCA UK), Alec Boating (Co-head of A&R at Atlantic Records), Ed Howard (Managing Director at Asylum Records), Joe Kentish (Head A&R at Warner Records), Cassandra Gracey (President at 4th Floor Creative Group, Sony Music) and artists and producers such as Che Lingo, Tyrell aka 160, Banx & Ranx and plenty more.

(First panel of the day – Knowing your business, speakers included, Chris Cooke, Paola Lucktung, Mulika Sannie, Rob Hallet, Paul Spraggon, Ben Wynter).

Packed into a full days programming of 7 panels and a one-to-one consultancy room organised by Cre8ing Vision, attendees got to immerse themselves in the heart of the music industry and tap into the knowledge banks of those making major music moves including label bosses, marketers, leading artists and A&R heads.The event has been labelled over the years as the “music industry’s best kept secret“ and not only champions, but shines a light on the work behind the scenes of the music business.

Panels on the day included ‘Knowing Your Business’, focusing on the new economy that is growing outside of the older conventional music business. ‘In Conversation With’ which featured Artist Manager and A&R’s discussing their journey and successes. This was followed by ‘Major Mindset’ which discussed independent artists that suit the independent route and artists with major labels and the journey they take and the difference between the two. ‘Great Expectations’ this panel looked at breaking an artist and the analytics of a data driven industry.

(Major Mindset Panel – Hattie Collins, Duncan Scott, Alec Boateng, Joe Kentish, Ed Howard, Jane Third, Glyn Aikins)

(The seminar allows members of the audience to ask questions and for advice as well as a one to one consultancy room)

This was followed by ‘Cre8ive Breakers’ This focused on the younger generation of people working in the industry and allowed them to highlight their job roles and talk about their journey whilst offering advice. ‘Scoring a Hit’ this panel was full of award winning writers and producers who all spoke about what they consider to be a hit song and spoke about PRS and the benefits of this. The final panel was sponsored by PPL and discussed ‘Artist Breakthrough’ and the artists journey and management within music.