After receiving a stellar response in its inaugural year, the one-of-its-kind educative conference, The Exchange, returns to the city for its second consecutive year. Great Britain’s, UK Trade and Investment, British Council and Visit Britain in collaboration with India’s Submerge Entertainment will host The Exchange Music Conference on December 3rd & December 4th at The Lalit Hotel in Mumbai.

This joint initiative aims at formulating, building and sustaining the potential business prospects between the UK and India and highlighting core concerns within the rapidly evolving music business. The two-day conference curated by Nikhil Chinapa will act as a catalyst for collaboration, exploration and expansion of the British music industry in India and will culminate in a music showcase. Additionally, making its debut at this year’s conference is The Lab, a think tank of creative individuals breaking ground in production, design and technology.

The Lab will embrace a "Create>Ideate>Exchange" approach to the world of music, business and lifestyle. This will serve as a conducive space for dialogue between professionals who are the driving force and will focus on gear, interactive media, innovations and technologies. It will be further broken down into Lab Talks, Lab Next and Lab Test.  Lab Talks will feature series of Q and A session with acknowledged artists, followed by a listening session with professionals bringing their expertise to the table by presenting tips and sharing examples from their day to day business. LABNEXT will throw the spotlight on entrepreneurs from startups or well established organizations. A guided yet interactive Q & A session with the audience and panel, featuring experts in the field of ticketing technology, online media editors etc. LABTEST will be an in-depth session into interactive media, SFX, AV and gear that features some of the technologies being used at present by homegrown professionals.

The conference will see representation from key names from the music industry including regulatory heads, digital distribution companies, record label owners, management agencies, festival organizers, promoters and artists across all genres of music. Topics discussed would widely range from Women In Music to the Great Indian Festival Saga to How India Consumes Its Music to Record Labels and Music Streaming Services.  Tickets to the conference will be on an invite basis and applications are on their main webpage.

Kumar Iyer, British Deputy High Commissioner, Mumbai & Director General UK Trade and Investment, India  “The UK and India produce some of the best music in the world – creating a platform for collaboration and promoting the best that both countries can offer is exactly what The Exchange is about. The mission offers an insight into the huge opportunities for collaboration between the UK and India in the music sector, it is genuinely exciting to be bringing together so many leading names and organisers from both countries for this programme – a genuine jugalbandhi! .’’

Meetal Shah, Creative Industries Manager, UK Trade & Investment, India “After the success of our music mission in 2014, we are very excited to be joining hands with our partners BPI and AIM to bring out another mission to India. We have seen an increase in interest in this market and we believe that it will result in forging a long term relationship between the UK and India..”

Hermit Sethi, Director, Submerge “India is currently one of the world’s biggest music markets and one that is quickly catching the attention of the world’s biggest music festivals and artists. The Exchange is a forum curated to put the spotlight on the potential of the Indian music industry. India is a popular destination on the world music map and is becoming a hotspot for UK acts to tour and perform. Our aim is to bring together British and Indian talent, trade outfits and industry forerunners and create an exclusive platform to amplify the future of  music.”

The Exchange is part of a week-long trade mission that has been put together by UK Trade & Investment, in partnership with AIM (The Association of Independent Music) and BPI (British Phonographic Industry). The trade mission, called ‘Music is Great Britain’, from December 2nd – December 8th will see representatives of the UK music industry attend a program of educational seminars, networking events, conferences and artists showcases in a concerted bid to tap into the growing prominence of the Indian music market and expand British presence in the territory.

Look for out The Exchange to feature some of the brightest minds in the music industry and become a staple in the quickly rising music scene in India.

Confirmed Schedule

Panel: India In Numbers: The Real Story

Confirmed Speakers:

Rishi Malhotra - CEO & Co-Founder - Saavn

Shridhar Subramaniam - President India & Middle East - Sony Music

Devraj Sanyal - MD & CEO - Universal Music Group

Jaideep Singh - Sr VP & Business Head - Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

Panel: The Forces That Make An Artist

Confirmed Speakers:

Rob Challice - Live Agent / Director - Coda Agency

Sat Bisla - President & Founder - A&R Worldwide

Anurag Rao - Founder & CEO - Canvas Talent

Jovan Martins - CAA KWAN

Moderator: Dhruv Jagasia - CEO - Big Bad Wolf

Panel: Know Your Artists

Confirmed Speakers:

Prateek Kuhad - Artist

Manasi Scott - Artist

Ram Sampath - Music Composer/Producer

The Clameens (Northern Ireland)

Moderator: Nikhil Chinapa

Panel: The Life & Times of Media In Music

Confirmed Speakers:

Arnav Ghosh - Blippar

Kenneth Lobo - Sound Curry

Goldierocks

Panel: Record Labels & Music Streaming Services

Confirmed Speakers:

Mandar Thakur - COO - Times Music Clint Cabral - Director South Asia - The Orchard Nina Condron - Business Development Manager - Horus Music

Panel: Women In Music

Confirmed Speakers:

Pearl - Artist

Sona Mohapatra - Artist

Anvita Dutt - Songwriter/Lyricist

Lizzy Bowman - Artist Manager – Red Light Management

Panel: The Great Indian Festival Saga

Confirmed Speakers:

Bobby Talwar - Co-Founder - OML/NH7 - Consultant - VP Events - Bookmyshow

Munbir Chawla - Founder - Magnetic Fields

Bobby Hano - Co-Founder – Ziro

Jaideep Singh - Sr VP & Business Head - Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

Panel: Intellectual Properties: Produce, Provide, Protect

Confirmed Speakers:

Ali Sachedina - Music Attorney

Shubhra Bhardwaj - Creative Director & Founder - Ferriswheel Entertainment Pvt Ltd