Sŵn Connect – Music Industry Conference

Event Info

As part of the Cardiff Music City Festival programme, Cardiff’s acclaimed Sŵn Festival today announced Sŵn Connect, a two-day music industry conference offering networking opportunities for artists and professionals.

Designed for the public, artists, budding industry professionals, delegates and Sŵn Festival ticket holders the event seeks to bridge the gap between emerging Welsh artists and industry professionals, offering a platform for sharing expertise with peers across Wales and the UK, in an industry that lacks a definitive guide.

The conference will be held at Cornerstone, Cardiff, on October 18th and 19th, featuring a combination of insightful panel discussions, keynote interviews, and networking meet-ups.

Speakers already confirmed include Radiohead drummer Philip Selway, BBC Introducing and BBC 6 Music radio presenter and producer Emily Pilbeam, Latitude Festival programmer Ed Lilo, and A&R lead at Domino Publishing, Daniel Burgess.

In addition to the guest speakers, Sŵn Festival has carefully curated a panel of 30 mentors from Wales and across the UK. These industry leaders, renowned for their expertise, will share their insights through talks and networking sessions, providing attendees with a wealth of valuable knowledge.

Sŵn Connect is part of Cardiff Music City Festival: a three-week-long celebration of innovative, accomplished music coming to the city, full of gigs, immersive happenings, residencies, installations, and pop-ups, pushing the boundaries of music, performance and tech.

Adam Williams, Head of Programming and Sŵn Creative Director said: “We are delighted we are able to expand on the concept of the Sŵn Festival conference this year as part of the wider Cardiff Music City Festival. The renaming of the conference is to emphasise our agenda to connect Welsh artists with the wider international music industry through hosting meetups and mixers as well as world-class panels across the weekend.”

Sŵn Connect is part of the multi-venue festival taking place across the Welsh capital from Thursday October 17th to Saturday October 19th.

Sŵn Festival, founded by Huw Stephens in 2007, has been run by the team at Clwb Ifor Bach since 2018. This year’s edition will showcase a diverse range of local, national, and international talent across multiple venues in the city, while maintaining its commitment to supporting emerging artists and providing a platform for their growth.

This year, Wales’ leading music discovery festival boasts a lineup featuring Adwaith, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, Das Koolies, English Teacher, Hannah Diamond, Mary in the Junkyard, Porij, Pys Melyn and Wu-Lu to name a few.

This edition is geared towards being more accessible to the wider community than ever before, with the introduction of payment plans, concession tickets and more opportunities to get involved with the festival through the volunteer programme and a brand new apply to play scheme.

Tickets for Sŵn Connect are reasonably priced at £10 for one day or £15 for both days. Tickets for Sŵn Festival are on general sale now with instalment plans available.