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Business News Education & Events The Great Escape 2014 Top Stories
The Blurred Lines debate to go under the spotlight as more Great Escape convention strands confirmed
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 28 March 2014
With just six weeks to go until The Great Escape 2014 in Brighton, today we announce details of four more of the CMU Insights-programmed convention strands that will take place this year.
As previously reported, this year’s TGE convention will have a brand new look, with six half-day strands allowing delegates to dig deeper into some key music business topics, and all those topics are now confirmed. Each strand will feature original research, insightful case studies, expert interviews and some lively debate.
Amongst the strands just confirmed is ‘Blurred Lines: Does Pop Have A Misogyny Problem?’, which will take place on Saturday 10 May. The Thicke hit, of course, was the biggest selling record of 2013 but also arguably the most controversial song of the year too. It certainly began a debate online about the way in which women are represented in and by the music industry, and that debate will continue at TGE this May, though with a focus on what practical steps, if any, the music community can take to truly tackle the issues.
The strand will be hosted by BBC Radio 1 DJ Jen Long, who told CMU: “From ‘Blurred Lines’ to Charlotte Church’s Radio Festival speech to Lauren Mayberry’s Guardian piece, the representation of women in and by the music industry has been debated more fiercely this year than I can ever remember. While this can only be a good thing, what in practical terms could and should be done? Perhaps we should start by addressing the make-up of the industry itself – only 14% of the PRS membership is women. I look forward to discussing possible action plans at The Great Escape this May”.
The other strands now also confirmed include Building A Fan Business, New Product Strategies and The Festival Business, more on which is available online here, plus look out for full updates in the CMU Daily in the next few weeks. These four new strands join the two already announced, Global Digital Markets and Maximising Music Rights.
Confirming this little lot, The Great Escape’s Festival Director Kat Morris added: “We’re really excited about our new approach to convention programming this year, and the fact our delegates will be able to access more in-depth insights and case studies in six fascinating areas of our industry. And while The Great Escape is a place for the music community to do business, I think it’s also important we consider the way our industry interacts with society at large, and our ‘Blurred Lines’ strand will definitely focus the debate in this area”.
The latest batch of convention news follows the final additions to the Great Escape festival line-up, which were revealed earlier this week. Delegate passes that get you into all the core convention and festival events are available at this link.
