There are exactly two weeks left until ADE 2020, and we took the occasion to reveal this year’s full conference program!

With the latest additions to ADE Pro, we’re proud to share that this year’s lineup includes experts and music industry players from global companies such as Bandcamp, Beatport, DefQon.1, PlayStation, SoundCloud, Ultra Records, UTA, VEVO and WME, along with artists including Bloody Mary, Femi Kuti, James Blake, Neneh Cherry and many more!

We’ll be tackling important and pressing issues such as new opportunities for artists, labels, clubs and festivals after the impact of the pandemic, social activism in music, gender equality and sexual misconduct in the music industry and strategies for managing mental health.

We’ve listed some highlights below, but be sure to take a look at the full program for this year’s ADE Pro to start planning out your week:

James Blake in Conversation with Jennie Morton

Thursday, Oct 22nd

In conversation with anxiety treatment expert and osteopath Jennie Morton, James Blake talks about what makes someone an artist, and what makes many of those same people vulnerable to depression and addiction. Morton and Blake will be offering strategies for managing the challenges of a life dominated by artistic creativity, as well as discussing ways to survive the seemingly endless Covid-19 crisis.

New Opportunities for Festivals

Wednesday, Oct 21st

Until very recently, the global live music festival industry was a multi-million dollar earner, based around a network of artists. Event planners, stage decorators, technicians, agents, bookers, graphic designers, and countless other talented and dedicated people, who now find themselves with too much free time. What can the music industry’s other sectors, the ones that relate to, and benefit from, that globe-straddling network, do to help protect the talent that will otherwise eventually disappear?

How Music Marketing Needs to Adapt in a Pandemic

Thursday, Oct 22nd

Jason Fulton, founder of people-centric insights and strategy agency This Memento with clients such as Nike, Converse and Sonos, will be tackling the biggest issue of 2020 and beyond: how best to adapt to the post-pandemic business world. Fulton discusses key lessons for how the music industry can meaningfully address these turbulent times. “Business has to change. Not everyone will embrace that – but what if you did?”

The Only One in the Room – Gender Equality on the Workfloor

Friday, Oct 23rd

Five female music professionals and one male return to ADE in 2020 to talk about gender discrimination and the lack of intersectionality in the music industry. They will attempt to understand how gender discrimination relates to racism, as well as to intolerance towards religions and sexual orientation.

Reminder: Take part in AFEM’s ongoing survey on diversity and inclusion. We are interested in all companies within the electronic music industry, including freelancers and small businesses.

What Makes Games, Film and TV Really Resonate
Wednesday, Oct 21st

A workshop based around some of Deborah Mannis-Gardner’s recent sync clearances across TV, games and film, what sort of music works best across a range of contexts, trends in sync choices and the criteria that really matter when it comes making the final pick from amongst the shortlist.