With a huge selection of interesting panels and panelists from around the globe, Amsterdam Dance Event remains one of the most crucial industry events. When it comes to education and knowledge on offer this year it’s evident the conference has held nothing back.
Among the many speakers are high profile executives and founders of companies at the forefront of entertainment media and technology such as Tencent, Amazon, ROC Nation, Empire, EA Events, Dim Mak, Deezer, The District and United Talent. Spanning topics across the industry from A&R, Branding, Events and culture here are our recommended selections to note in your schedule.
Keynote with Amazon’s Dr. Werner Vogels
When: Thu, Oct 17 @ 13:15 – 14:00
Where: DeLaMar Theater (D8 Panel Room)
Marnixstraat 402, Amsterdam
Dr. Werner Vogels is the Chief Technology Officer at tech giant Amazon. He is responsible for driving the customer-centric technology vision within one of the fastest-growing companies in the world.
Dr. Vogels will be talking about how young businesses and entrepreneurs can reach a global scale and will also discuss how to transform enterprises into fast-moving digital organisations. In recent times the company has made huge advancements in its music offering so we may also hear more about how they have realised these plans.
Keynote With Tencent Music Entertainment’s Vice President Andy Ng
When: Thu, Oct 17 @ 14:00 – 14:30
Where: DeLaMar Theater (D8 Panel Room)
Marnixstraat 402, Amsterdam
Andy Ng is the Vice President of Chinese tech titan Tencent Music Entertainment. He joined Tencent in 2011 and is responsible for TME’s copyright management and digital music marketing. He is currently overseeing all business affairs in global licensing as well as managing PR and promotional activities. From this position, he is uniquely qualified to offer valuable insights into the current state of the Chinese music market and how it is likely to develop.
The parent company of Tencent is behind WeChat and owns developer Riot Games and a significant stake in Ubisoft among many businesses, and it has also been in negotiations to buy a stake in Universal Music.
Andy will also be joining ADE’s ‘Future Jobs’ series to give insight into how he rose to become a key figure in the Chinese music and streaming market.
How Streaming Breathes New Life Into Music
When: Wed, Oct 16 @ 15:15 – 16:00
Where: DeLaMar Theater (D5 Panel Room) Marnixstraat 402, Amsterdam
This panel brings together key players such as Deezers Head of Content Richard Wernicke, Dim Mak’s Vice President Lorne Padman – who among others was pivotal in discovering the Chainsmokers and developing Avicii in his early days. Joining them is also Susanne Hazendonk of mighty Spinnin’ Records, Konstantin Sidorkov of Russias’ VK and Siofra McComb of UK Management firm IK7!.
Together they’ll be discussing the growth of streaming globally and consequences both good an bad for the industry. We are currently right at the beginning of the streaming era but with many benefits already becoming evident especially in emerging territories, what else might we see appearing, and how will the global industry be affected by this redistribution of wealth towards the creative sector?
EMPIRE Beats Founder and CEO Ghazi Shami
When: Fri, Oct 18 16:45 – 17:30
Where: Melkweg
Lijnbaansgracht 234A, Amsterdam
If you have ever wanted a chance to hear a leading A&R and both taste and decision-maker give feedback on music, this session is well worth your time. Chief & Kesh will host founder and CEO of EMPIRE, Ghazi Shami who disrupted the traditional music industry approach towards label, distribution and publishing services.
EMPIRE’s unique model and artist focused approach helped break icons like Kendrick Lamar, Sage The Gemini, Migos, Rich Homie Quan and has attracted legends like Snoop Dogg and Too $hort and emerging stars like NIKI, XXXTentacion and BROCKHAMPTON.
Inside Roc Nation – Q&A with Co-President and Head of A&R Omar Grant
When: Fri, Oct 18 15:45 – 16:30
Where: Melkweg
Lijnbaansgracht 234A, Amsterdam
As co-president and Head of A&R of Roc Nation (the entertainment company founded by hip-hop legend JAY Z) it is Omar Grant’s primary mission to further boost the label’s impressive roster and develop disruptive strategies for its current artists.
Before his current role, Grant worked at several major U.S. record labels, tour managed for Beyoncé and was the A&R on the project that saw Rihanna reach her first #1 debut on the Billboard Top 200. He has helped to achieve multiple Grammy Award victories and nods, and over a 100 million sales for the artists he has worked with.
On this panel, Grant and his Roc Nation colleagues Nima Nasseri and Dominque Brown will discuss how they operate on a daily basis to create opportunities on a global scale for their artists, ranging from Rapsody, J. Cole and Rihanna, to Dutch artists Nicole Bus and Yellow Claw and Brazilian star Claudie Leitte, to DJ Mustard and partnerships with the likes of Meek Mill.
We The Audience – Curated Playlists
When: Wed, Oct 16 @ 15:15 – 16:00
Where: DeLaMar Theater (D5 Panel Room)
Marnixstraat 402, Amsterdam
YouTube is the number one place for music discovery, and at ADE they’ve brought some of the platforms largest and most influential electronic tastemakers. Among the panel will be key members of The District, Josh Carr Hilton, Christine Diamantopoulos, Stefan Raupach and channel founders Andre Benz (The Nations), Gereon Sommerburg (Cloudkid), Ashley Revillz (Mr.Revillz) and Alex Bruski (Wave Music).
ADE flips the classical panel model upside down and ask the audience to drive the discussion. Letting fans and the industry have the opportunity to ask questions, dig as deep as they like and interact with curators that represent an audience of over 35 million loyal electronic music fans.
Future Jobs With UTA’s Vanja Primorac
When: Wed, Oct 16 @ 17:00 – 17:45
Where: Generator Hostel (U2 Panel Room)
Mauritskade 57, Amsterdam
UTA (United Talent Agency) joins ‘Future Jobs’ segment with Vanja Primorac which is moderated by Kat Bien of Billboard. For those who don’t know Primorac by name, you will have seen the headlines of projects she’s spearheaded. She is head of Music Innovation at UTA and previously of Spotify, among the projects she has been involved on are Marshmello’s milestone Fortnite concert. In this panel, she’ll reveal her journey through the industry and help provide some light for those wanting to follow.
