ACCES Conference sessions (2019 programme)

This 2-day workshop addresses both established and aspiring record producers, while featuring top record producers and engineers who are keen to share their top production skills on beat making, music arrangement, DAWs, plugins, mastering and useful production tools.

Playlists, the lifeblood of most music streaming services, have fundamentally changed the listening experience, enabling users to discover new genres and artists based on AI and smart algorithms that personalise their experience. But the same algorithms are also capable of giving independent artists the exposure they need to forge sustainable careers. How do leading streaming services' discovery engines function and what can independents do to stand out?

While empowering musicians, the digital revolution has introduced numerous changes across the music industry value chain. While these changes vary in different markets, there are many similarities that continue to influence the way record labels and distribution platforms function,  and plan for the future. What are these changes and new trends? How do we adapt and benefit as musicians and as an industry?

Be it festivals, media outlets or creative hubs, Afrocentric spaces that provide a platform for independent creatives are on the rise, challenging stereotypes and showcasing talent and innovation. This panel, featuring creatives and representatives from such alternative platforms in Africa, will offer perspectives and details about how such spaces operate and foster opportunities for artists to connect, collaborate and create.

ACCES partners with German institution Media Sound Hamburg on this session aimed at music producers who are looking to tap into the film industry – one of the most financially rewarding avenues available for composers today. This session will also cover the basics of sound design and music for the gaming industry.

Long synonymous with the horrors of war and displacement, Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, the oldest and fourth largest camp in the world, holds one of Africa's least known treasures: the numerous musicians from a dozen countries who live in the camp and routinely play together, creating unheard hybrids of traditions, instruments, sounds and styles. George Ndiritu and Mark Levine will discuss the potential to not only put Kakuma on the wold music map but to create the foundation for a distinct musical style.

ACCES offers a new curated platform to international and local music innovators, to present their ground-breaking services, products and projects. 
Discover. Learn. Support. Collaborate. 

With: 

Aftown (Ghana) 
Aftown.com is a marketplace whre music fans can buy songs directly from African artists. Aftown exists to connect African artists to their fan base all over the world. All musicians can set up their stores and have the option of showcasing their yet to be released songs on the platform. 

Heaven 11 (Ireland) 
Heaven 11 is an online platform that provides the music industry with innovative products and services to streamline copyrights administration, licensing and royalty distribution, resulting in increased revenues for all parties. 

In this exclusive Q&A session, Lee Parsons, Founder and CEO of Ditto Music, will take Sarkodie to open up about his successful international endeavours as an African artist and entrepreneur, while addressing strategies around music business, projects and other industry practices on the continent and beyond.

Join this closing session featuring some of Africa and the diaspora's most successful music icons, Banky W and Sway Dasafo, as they share their journey as artists and entrepreneurs, on the continent and internationally.