Creative Impact Conference | Tallinn Music Week

Conference Programme

Friday, 6th of April 09.30–17.30
Saturday, 7th of April 10.00–17.30

TMW Creative Impact conference will take place in Kultuurikatel.

Friday, 6th of April

Kultuurikatel, Black Box Hall / Black Box Saal

9.30 Coffee and conference registration

10.00 – 11.00 Conference opening

Kersti Kaljulaid – President of Estonia
Helen Sildna – Founder of Tallinn Music Week, Shiftworks
Henriette Wendt – Member of the Board, Senior Vice President and Head of Cluster, Telia
Kristjan Port – sports biologist and director of the TU Institute of Health Sciences and Sports Sciences

11.15 – 12.15 Competing with machines – what and how do we need to learn?

Technology is overtaking human abilities in many fields already and will keep doing so exponentially in the near future. What are the areas and skills where humans will remain superior to AI and how to best nurture these? Empathy and social skills or tech wizardry? Or both? Why and how.

Keynote session followed by Q&A

Kathryn Myronuk – Founding Staff Member, Singularity University
Kathleen Cohen – Experience Strategist
Julia Woithe – S’Cool LAB, CERN
Mait Müntel – Co–Founder and CEO, Lingvist

Moderator: Dagnija Lejina, Digital Freedom Festival

12.30 – 13.30 Climate change – a challenge for the planet

The climate change that we are already witnessing now is, to a great extent, the result of humans’ overconsumption of fossil fuels. As a consequence, we are facing changes in the Earth’s water cycles, and production of food will need to change significantly to adapt to the new climate. Also related with the changing climate, we are in danger of losing 50% of the planets’ species within the next 7 decades. In order to change the course, people around the world will need to adapt their consumer choices and lifestyles, which calls for innovative and engaging solutions.

Estonia’s Minister for the Environment has been elected as the next President of United Nations Environment Assembly, presiding over the next UNEA meeting in March 2019. Under the leadership of Estonian Minister Mr Siim Kiisler, the theme of UNEA-4 has been decided: “Innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production” The discussion between Mr. Jan Dusik and Minister Siim Kiisler will give us an overview what is the current state of affairs and what we all ought to do about this.

15 min Keynote presentation by Jan Dusík – Europe Office Acting Director, United Nations Environment Programme, Principal Adviser, Strategic Engagement for the Arctic and Antarctic

Followed by a discussion:

Siim Kiisler – Estonian Minister of Environment
Jan Dusik – Europe Office Acting Director, UN Environment
Karol Gobczynski – Global Climate and Energy Manager, IKEA Group AB
Sann Carriere – Circular Economy Expert, SoNow

Moderator: Josie Le Blond, a freelance multimedia journalist based in Berlin. Originally from the UK, Josie covers refugee issues for UNHCR and German news for a variety of international print and broadcast clients.

Telliskivi Creative City presents:
14.15 – 15.30 Arts as part of new business models to reshape cities

Why invest in public space? What is the motivation of private developers, housing bodies, cultural actors to invest in arts and culture instead of just bricks and mortar? Arts adding value to real estate and driving regeneration of spaces.

Keynote session followed by Q&A

Jaanus Juss – Founder and CEO, Telliskivi Creative City
Johanna Öhlén Meschke – Global Director of Creative Strategy, Fotografiska
Blossom Young – Project Leader, Poplar HARCA
Agata Etmanowicz – Art_Inkubator @ Art Factory in Łódź, co-founder of Poland Without Barriers Foundation, president of Impact Foundation
Mirik Milan – Night Mayor of Amsterdam

Moderator: Yoko Alender – architect, member of Estonian Parliament

Luminor presents:
15.45 – 17.00 New Economy

Keynote session followed by Q&A

Margus Simson – Head of Digital, Luminor Group – “Global trends in financial markets that forecast the future of economy”
Anne Larilahti – Head of Sustainability Strategy, Telia – “Economic benefits of diversity”
Kaidi Ruusalepp – Founder and CEO, Funderbeam
Kristjan Lepik – Product Manager, MOVE Guides “Talent Mobility Cloud”

Moderator: Dagnija Lejina, Digital Freedom Festival

Kultuurikatel, Cauldron Hall / Katelde Saal

Telliskivi Creative City presents:
11.00 – 12.00 Public space and democracy

Systemic approach and design thinking for healthy societies. Place-making and place governance. Public and common good, defining it and defending it. Sustainable mobility and universal design as common goods.

Elka Gotfryd – Senior Associate, Project for Public Spaces
Merlin Rehema – Mobility expert, Hendrikson & Ko planning office, member of the Estonian Pedestrians’ Union

12.15 – 13.45 Design to nudge and change behaviour

We all make decisions on how to act or behave in different situations and our acts tend to leave smaller or bigger footprints into the surrounding environment or in ourselves. To make the world a better place we often need to change behavior. Design can help us change. From the layout of a building, to how lunch options are displayed, small and seemingly insignificant details in environments can encourage us to act in different ways. It’s also called nudging. Katri Saarikivi stars this session with the most important skill needed for nudging – its empathy. What is empathy? How can you develop it? We certainly can change behavior through policy making. Laura Aaben from Praxis Policy Lab invites public sector to experiment with policy changes. Praxis aims to inspire bureaucrats to trust the methods of design thinking and experimental research in order to make policies that really matter. Heleyn Tammsaar and Helleka Koppel talk about anthropology as a way of seeing, experiencing and comprehending the world. Anthropologists carry out research in the social and cultural contexts of people being studied, and emerge from the field with valuable information for policy makers, service designers, marketers, entrepreneurs, etc.

Sessions followed by Q&A

Keynote by Katri Saarikivi – Cognitive neuroscientist, PI of HUMEX, Co-Founder of Emotion Hack Day, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, University of Helsinki
Presentation by Laura Aaben – Co-Founder, Praxis Policy Lab
Presentation by Helelyn Tammsaar – CEO, Centre for Applied Anthropology (Estonia) and Helleka Koppel – Co-Founder, Centre for Applied Anthropology

14.00 – 15.00 Keychange: Future proofing the music industry

How can we ensure that festival programmes & the wider music industry remain relevant to audiences’ changing expectations? What practical steps is the music industry taking to tackle inequality, which is regularly exposed on social media and in the press? Doing nothing in response to social and cultural change is not an option.

Nyah Clarke – Freelancer, Dazed/Soundwave Festival
Melina Rathjen – Founder, Peer Agency
Alexander Schulz – Director, Reeperbahn Festival
Ragnar Berthling – CEO, Musikcentrum Sweden

Moderator: Vanessa Reed, PRS Foundation

15.15 – 15.45 John Robb in conversation with Jeannette Lee

John Robb speaks to record executive, music manager, filmmaker and former musician Jeannette Lee about her remarkable career at the forefront of cutting-edge music from her youth growing up in the pop culture mid-seventies to being in the middle of the 1976 punk scene where she worked in one of the key shops Acme Attractions with Don Letts and was one of the originals to her time in Public Image Limited and her days working at Rough Trade managing the likes of Pulp, The Strokes, Arcade Fire and The Libertines.

16.00 – 17.30 Design Thinking – What, How, Why?

Arne Van Oosterom will explain design thinking, why organizations need it and how they apply it. For more than a decade Arne has been teaching and applying design thinking at organisations around the world, like Coca Cola, SAP, L’Oreal, Philips, Cartier and many more. Keynote by Arne will be followed by two Estonian cases. Estel Pukk will share how Bigbank Support Services team has used design thinking methods to develop products and services. Anne Nurmik shares how the Road Administration reached the point where 67% of all driving licenses are renewed using the E-service platform. What are the challenges involved in the digitalization of public services, and how to achieve wide-scale usage of e-services among the population?

Keynote session followed by Q&A

Arne Van Oosterom – Founder, DesignThinkers Group & Academy
Estel Pukk – Head of WOW Support Services Area, Bigbank
Anne Nurmik – Development Manager of Public Services, Estonian Road Administration

Moderator: Jane Oblikas

Kultuurikatel, Small Hall / Väike Saal

12.30 – 13.45 Big data – a useful resource or a tool for manipulation? How to use it for the benefit of its owners – us?

Data revolution and technology have a major role for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030. The United Nations has brought out examples how big data can indicate support for political institutions (SDG16) or how people express their thoughts about climate change (SDG13) via social media, mobile payments indicate changes in income (SDG1), satellite data is used to forecast yields (SDG 2) and many more. The keynote panel aims to map how big data is contributing to humanitarian and development causes. Using data analysis in journalism can provide a more informative and fact-based understanding of local as well as global issues. How to get there?

Keynote session followed by Q&A

Bruno Lepri – Mobile and Social Computing Lab – “Big data: What is it and how to use it for humanitarian and development causes”
Siim Esko – Positium – “Big Data for Social Good: Mobile Phone Data”
Teemo Tebest, YLE – “Datajournalism: …”

Moderator: Sten-Andreas Ehrlich – Senior Consultant, SpeakSmart

14.00 – 15.15 Big data – a new playground for civil society?

State, private sector and civil society has differing views on how to deal with the challenges and opportunities that big data presents. To understand how the sectors could cooperate on data exchange and collaborate on finding answers to questions about sustainable development via data we ask: Why can’t we use big data for sustainable development? Can we do it in Estonia? Where to look for examples? Is there room for civil society in this new playground?

Kirke Saar – Technology Director, Telia Estonia
Andres Kukke – Deputy Director General of Information Technology, Statistics Estonia
Joonatan Samuel – Data Engineer, Co-founder and partner, Datamob
Dagmar Celuchova Bosanska – Founder, Alistiq, Futuristiq

Moderator: Sten-Andreas Ehrlich – Senior Consultant, SpeakSmart

15.45 – 16.45 Where’s the underground revival now? How to maintain an active and attractive club culture?

During the last few years a big number of phenomenal nightclubs and other central hubs of the nightlife culture have been shut down in metropolitan areas like London and New York where this subculture was once born. We’re facing times where we need external help to keep alive something that came to life very organically.
At the same time there is a lot of reason to pay attention what is taking place in post Soviet countries and Eastern Europe. What’s happening there is in many ways similar to what took place in London and New York in the 80’s. Do we really need politically disturbing situations, scarce resources and a reason for anarchy in order to keep the underground blooming? If this is really true then what should be done in order to keep the clubscene thriving but still sincere and one-of-a kind also when the quality of life together with gentrification increases?

Makuna Berkatsashvili – Manager, Bassiani
Mirik Milan – Night Mayor of Amsterdam
Ildar Zaynetdinov – НИИ, Gost Zvuk
Dragana Dobric – Art Director, Drugstore

Moderator: Natalie Mets, IDA

Kultuurikatel, Architecture Centre Hall 1 / Arhitektuurikeskus Saal 1

12.30 – 13.30 The exploration of possible futures. And the impact we can have creating them.

During this session, Iñaki will review a few of the most interesting trends happening today around the world. A review of the most fascinating developments in tech and science that could define our future, or go away forgotten. What defines a trend, how can we spot them and what can we do about them?

Keynote – Iñaki Escudero, Hyper Island

The keynote is followed by a short Q & A session

14.00 – 15.30 Hyper Island Idea & Concept Development Workshop

Need some new ideas? This is practical and hands-on workshop on creating them. Ideation and Concept Development is a process for groups to work creatively and collaboratively to generate creative ideas. It’s a general approach that can be adapted and customized to suit many different scenarios. It includes basic principles for idea generation and several steps for groups to work with. It also includes steps for idea selection and development.

Facilitator: Anna Hagensgård, Hyper Island

16.15 – 17.15 Creative strategies in music making

Music making is hard, and it seems to be hard for people regardless of their level of experience or training. What causes music makers (and makers in general) to have creative blocks? How can we solve them? Why do some artists seem to be immune from blocks while other artists are paralyzed by them? In this wide-ranging talk, Dennis DeSantis and Chagall will explore these questions. We’ll also take a look at some of Chagall’s compositional and performance workflows and understand how these two modes of creativity inform and influence each other (and how they don’t).

Dennis DeSantis – Composer, sound designer and Head of Documentation, Ableton
Chagall – Musician

Kultuurikatel, Woodblock Hall / Puupakusaal

13.00 – 14.30 Networking session: HOTS Snack’n’Talk

Meet the Hungarian music industry delegation in discussion sessions:

“Meet the labels and sync/publishing professionals”
“Meet the managers”
“Meet the festivals and clubs”
“Get closer to the Hungarian support system and music export”

Saturday, 7th of April

Kultuurikatel, Black Box Hall / Black Box Saal

11.00 – 11.45 Innovators reshaping the future

Keynote session followed by Q&A

Scott Cohen – Founder, Cyborg Nest – “Creating and extending human senses”
Imogen Heap – Musician, record producer and audio engineer – “The story of Mycelia and the concept of a hyper-connected ’Creative Passport’ – a new digital identity standard for musicians“

Moderator: Vanessa Reed – CEO, PRS Foundation and Founder, Keychange initiative

12.00 – 13.15 Tallinn-Helsinki – a twin city of future – a realistic dream?

Opening presentation by Peter Vesterbacka, Founder of FinEst Bay Area on the vision for Talsinki twin city with a global potential, joint together by an underwater tunnel. Followed by a panel on the future of transportation to reshape our cities and regions.

Followed by a panel discussion:

Kadri Simson – Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure
Peter Vesterbacka – FinEst Bay Area
Marten Kaevats – the national digital advisor in the Government Office of Estonia

Moderator: Kristjan Lepik – economic expert, Product Manager at MOVE Guides

Telliskivi Creative City presents:
14.30–15.45 Transforming cities through design thinking, place-making and spatial analysis

Keynote session followed by Q&A

Andreina Seijas J. – Communications Professional and Public Policy Analyst
Andres Sevtsuk – Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Elka Gotfryd – Senior Associate, Project for Public Spaces
Olga Polishuk – Chief Operating Officer, Strelka Institute

Moderator: Sille Pihlak – Architect, Co-Founder of PART Bureau

16.15 – 17.15 Arts for social action

Arts survive in the harshest conditions and offer people an escape from desperation. The moving personal stories prove the role of arts in war and difficult circumstances. What is there to learn for funders and policy makers?

Keynote session followed by Q&A

Ruth Daniel – CEO and Artistic Director, In Place of War
David Tovey – Artist, educator and activist
Stephen Budd – Co-executive producer of Sofar Sounds’ and Amnesty International’s “Give A Home’” global concert series
Johanna Schwartz – documentary filmmaker
Artemy Troitsky – Russian journalist, music critic and promoter

Moderator: Maris Hellrand, journalist, Head of International PR for TMW

Kultuurikatel, Cauldron Hall / Katelde Saal

10.45 – 12.00 Storytelling with Music

Music Supervisors specializing in film, television and advertising discuss the unique challenges and opportunities that come with storytelling in each of their respective mediums. The conversation will address strategizing emotional story arcs in 1 minute, 30 and 60 minute and 120 minute narrative projects and how music contributes to the text, subtext and emotional experience of contemporary storytelling. Experience Strategist Kathleen Cohen will address storytelling with music in immersive technologies, live visitor experiences, and other non-linear narrative formats.

Thomas Golubić – Music Supervisor, Super Music Vision
Jesper Gadeberg – Music Stylist
Lynn Fainchtein – Music Supervisor, Casete

12.15 – 13.30 What we do in the night?

The rise of technology and communications has made the traditional 9-to-5 schedule a thing of the past. Up to one‐third of our cities’ economic output comes from the hours after 7pm and is made up of a diverse array of stakeholders that range from concert goers and sports fans, to emergency and hospitality services. The urban night is also key driver for tourism, creating hundreds of jobs and retaining skills for the youth, while supporting our ageing population.

In this context, cities, towns and regions must understand the value of their night time economies. To promote greater knowledge and debate around these issues, A guide to your Night Time Economy gathers 11 case studies from cities all over the world that are innovating in the way they manage their night scene. By highlighting some of these cases–such as how Asuncion turned a derelict town centre into a carnival of cultural celebration, and how Melbourne used music policy to protect local culture–we hope that we can help create safer, more inclusive and productive cities not only during the day, but also during the night. At the same time, we all know that safety is in a way one of the quality standards for a well operating nightlife structure, that cities and neighbourhoods need to deliver in collaboration with the night economy stakeholders.

Sound Diplomacy and Andreina Seijas present ‘A guide to your Night Time Economy’

Andreina Seijas – Communications Professional and Public Policy Analyst
Lutz Leichsenring – Founder, Creative Footprint
Danny Keir – Head of Business Development, Sound Diplomacy
Kätlin Alvela – Director General, Estonian Emergency Response Center
Raimond Kaljulaid – Estonian politician, Northern Tallinn District Elder

Moderator: Heidy Purga – DJ, radio host and music events promoter, Member of Estonian Parliament

14.00 – 14.30 Finest Sounds: Sten Saluveer in conversation with Jeff Miyahara

Jeff Miyahara is one of the world’s most successful hitmakers, CEO and Creative Director of J-POP Music Group. With numerous #1 hits, over 38 million in sales, and an impressive list of awards and accolades (including Songwriter Of The Year and Hit Maker of the Year), Jeff is fast becoming widely known as a hit-maker for artists from all over the world. Local Japanophile Sten Saluveer whose background is in music, film, tech and who’s lived, worked and collaborated with Asia extensively will be digging deeper in this conversation.

14.45 – 15.45 Because it’s 2018? Gender pay gap, “Black Monday” and #metoo

100 years after the Suffragettes won the right to vote, are we any further on issues of equal rights of men and women? Just a quick look around the world doesn’t give too many reasons for optimism. Feminism is still considered an insult in many places. Systematic abuse cases have been revealed in film and show-biz, an openly misogynist person rules the most powerful country of the world, Poland, once a beacon of the fight for liberty is falling back to extreme conservative abortion laws. Estonia, also known as e-Estonia still holds the top position as the country with the highest gender pay gap in the EU – 26.9%. Even in Sweden, the flagship country of equal rights, women consider a man-free music festival a justified response to the wave of abuse. Where are we heading? How to achieve more equality, eliminate abuse and empower women?

Emma Knyckare – Founder, Statement Festival
Maria Minerva – Musician and activist
Katarzyna von Alexandrowitsch – Co-founder, Dziewuchy Dziewuchom (Gals for Gals)
Ekaterina Bazhanova – Founder, Music Development Russia

Moderator: Damien McGuinness, BBC correspondent in Berlin and host of Deutsche Welle’s politics podcast “Stammtisch”

Telliskivi Creative City presents:
16.00 – 17.30 New urban governance and managing change

Changing roles in society: public sector as enabler, experimenter & systemic thinker, creating collaborative atmospheres; civic and expert organisations as well as businesses as makers and co-creators of user-friendly cities. Change management as the spinal cord in updating societal governance models, including urban governance.

Jonas Büchel – Urbanist and culture manager, Urban Institute Riga
Teele Pehk – Urbanist, democracy artist and change manager, Estonian Cooperation Assembly

Kultuurikatel, Small Hall / Väike Saal

Telliskivi Creative City presents:
10.30 – 11.45 Inclusive and sustainable city for everyone

In the context of ageing societies and growing inequalities, the question of how to guarantee equal rights in terms of good living environment, social cohesion and co-responsibility has become more and more crucial. Speakers will share their ideas on how to tackle these challenges through holistic urban planning, universal design, creativity and community empowerment.

Agata Etmanowicz – Vice-president of Impact Foundation, co-establisher of Poland Without Barriers Foundation
David Tovey – Artist, educator and activist
Andres Sevtšuk – Assistant professor of urban planning, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Blossom Young – Project Leader, Poplar HARCA
Daniel Kotsjuba – Design professional and educator, Estonian Academy of Arts

Luminor presents:
12.00 – 13.30 Financing for creative content, innovation and intellectual property

Companies in creative business are usually not considered very attractive loan clients by banks, investors and financing. How to evaluate your creative content and bullet proof it via a solid business plan without real estate or manufacturing assets as a guarantee. How to encourage companies with a great growth potential to reach the next level. What are possible guarantees, contracts or prognosis that can offer the missing piece that’s needed for funding?

Introductory presentation by Tõnu Palm – Head Economist, Luminor Estonia (10 min)

Followed by a discussion panel 45 min

Tõnu Palm – Chief Economist, Luminor Estonia – 10 min intro, followed by discussion
Krõõt Kilvet – Head of Business Banking, Luminor Estonia
Rain Tamm – Investment Banker
Kaspar Koppel – Area Manager, Creative Industries, Enterprise Estonia

Followed by a feedback session and case-studies of five successful creative industries companies. Finance experts, investors and consultants give feedback to creative companies.

Moderator: Kadri Ugand – co-founder and CEO, Gamefounders

14.30 – 16.15 Beginners guide to touring Asia

A look into a selection of markets – are some of them more accessible for indie acts from Europe and have an audience open to exploring new talent? How do build relevant relations in regions? What are the common characteristics to consider and what are the most crucial distinctions? Panelists will discuss the importance of social media and media in Asia, maintaining and growing presence in Asia, importance of music in commercials, drama series and other AV in Asia.

Mai Thang – Programmer, Monsoon Festival
Jun Lin Yeoh – JL Productions, Rainforest World Music Festival
Alessandro Pavanello – Producer, Kanjian Music
James Matsuki – CEO, Spine Sounds Inc

Moderator: John Willame, SmallFish Agency

15.45–16.45 Meet the movers and shakers of creative Russia today

Konstantin Sidorkov – Director, Partnership Marketing, Vkontakte
Nairi Simonyan – Main in Main, Synthposium Festival
Stepan Kazaryan – Connected Booking, Moscow Music Week, Bol’ Festival
Natasha Padabed – SKIF Festival

Moderators: Helen Sildna and Ingrid Kohtla, TMW / Shiftworks

Kultuurikatel, Architecture Centre Hall 1 / Arhitektuurikeskus Saal 1

10.30 – 12.30 Workshop: An Introduction to Design Thinking

The practical workshop is based on Stanford d.school methodology. It is an immersive activity meant to give participants a full cycle through the design thinking process in as short a time as possible. It touches the fundamental values of human-centered design – a bias towards action, a culture of iteration and rapid prototyping. We will engage the participants into a real project, which provides a much richer learning experience than listening to a “talking head” does.

Facilitators: Jane Oblikas, Rasmus Pedanik, Marko Uibu

Narva 2024 presents:
13.00 – 15.00 Case-study Narva – a workshop on how to reshape Narva through creativity and design thinking

“Narva is a city simultaneously dividing and uniting two civilizations: the European North and the Slavonic East. It was a trade port during the XVI-XVII centuries, and an important industrial hub during the Soviet times, but with a pattern of post-industrial decline and 96% of it’s 58,000 inhabitants (down from 82,000 back in 1992) speaking Russian as their mother tongue, the city has been struggling to find new meaning ever since Estonia regained its independence. Never a darling of the media, the city became especially notorious after the annexation of the Crimea in 2014, with foreign press flocking to Narva, asking “Is Narva next?”

Having grown weary of assuring its loyalty to Estonia and Europe, the city recently decided to turn this perception around with a confident reply “Narva is next!”, reframing itself not as a fragile geopolitical time-bomb, but as a creative hotspot making the most of the advantages of being a border city. Committing to the goal of transforming itself through culture, Narva declared its candidacy for the title of the European Capital of Culture in 2024. Securing the title would create a time window of valuable 6 years to develop a clear vision and a strategy to reinvent the Estonian border town, right on the edge of EU and Russia, eventually encouraging the local community to make a leap from the industrial era to the post-industrial one. The city believes that culture, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial thinking could help it turn the next page.”

Introduction by Tarmo Tammiste – Mayor of Narva

15- minute keynote presentations:

Ivan Sergejev – Chief City Architect of Narva
Kristina Kallas – Director of University of Tartu Narva College

Followed by a discussion together with international experts.

15.15–16.15 Breaking the mould

How to attract new audiences and maintain existing ones in the face of cultural, political and technological shifts. How can we reinvent experiences and conservative formats to rejuvenate interest? How can we stand out in a genre-less world? Are boundary breaking cross-discipline projects the answer? Or is it about finding your niche and sticking to it?

Bastiaan Zimmermann – Musicologist, dramaturg, curator
Paulina Ahokas – CEO, Tampere Hall
Kimmo Pohjonen – Musician
Christoph Borkowsky – President, Piranha Arts

Moderator: Lauren Down, Managing Director, End of The Road

16.30–17.30 “Bring out yer dead!” The potential afterlife of a long-form music journalism

It’s been said that music criticism was only useful when music was hard to get. It’s also tempting to conclude that any weekly music magazine is doomed to failure in the era of social media and streaming wars. Numerous once-great weeklies have died their deaths after years of over-reliance on advertorials and sponsored content and promoting middle-of-the-road acts that its editors would once never have given the time of day to.

Perhaps there will be no more Bangs, Morleys and Marcuses. But instead of wallowing in gloom about the state of music journalism, it’s much more constructive to offer up some survival tips based on what seems to be working and what should be tried out. While long-form writing may not be able to prop up an entire industry anymore, there is enough of an audience out there with a need it should and can serve.

Steph Kretowicz – author and writer, The Fader, Fact Magazine
Richard Foster – writer, The Quietus
Siim Nestor – music critic, culture editor, Eesti Ekspress
Anastasia Connor – music journalist, Drowned in Sound

Moderator: Berk Vaher, music critic

Kultuurikatel, Woodblock Hall / Puupakusaal

10.15 – 11.45 POWER TO THE PEOPLE: From streaming to circular economy – the development of
local communities. Roundtable session powered by CHIMES.

The climate change that we are witnessing now is, to a great extent, the result of humans’ overconsumption. We are facing changes in the Earth’s water cycles which means we are in danger of losing 50% of the planets’ species within the next 7 decades. In order to change the status quo, we need to develop a new plan and implement it swiftly to change consumer behaviour. With Fourth Industrial Revolution providing us with great new assets to democratize our world, we can empower communities to become an active part of an open, transparent and collaborative global platform. The music industry has the tools and creative brains to contribute to a safe transition to this new reality. What will be the outcome of this session? Concrete recommendations that can be implemented into the core business of creative companies to actively engage in the circular economy and contribute to their community.

Sann Carriere – Circular Economy Expert, SoNow
Karol Gobczynski – Global Climate and Energy Manager, IKEA Group AB
Will Mercer – Strategist

Facilitators: Ania Kasperek & Magdalena Jensen, Chimes

12.30 – 14.00 Networking session: Hello Live – Who are you?

Network meeting hosted by LiveFIN for venue, festival and concert organizers and producers. Who we are? What can we learn from each other? What could be Nordic and Baltic cooperation in practice? What benefits can we find from cooperation? How do we contribute diversity on the live sector? What will the future bring to different sectors and what can we share to each other (venues to festivals and vice versa).

Baltic cooperation
Cooperation in live biz – venues, festivals gather here!
Equalism – what does it mean in live music sector
The next big thing – trends and what’s the new black?
Awesome audiences – various audiences and how to reach them
Professional development

Kultuurikatel, Terrace Hall / Terrassisaal

10.00 – 11.00 Decoding the music market: still counting the units sold or harnessing digital data?

Reading the music market signals used to be straightforward – release, market, sell, climb the charts and with some stamina hit the gold or platinum mark. Another marker that signalled you might have a hit on your hands was significant radio play. Most songs would earn quickly, some would become classics and earn seemingly indefinitely. Anticipating the success of a release and then observe it playing it out is important for artists, managers, labels to strategise around how to release and market. Today, as we have entered the age of big data, counting only units sold seems crude. It is also increasingly inadequate as digital music consumption is different and is offering many more data points to monitor and interpret. What are the new market signals? Are sales charts enough or should we factor in complex indicators like skiprate or DSP / social media correlation? More data means more room for interpretation. So who can do it right, how and what tools are available for that?

Tony Duckworth – [PIAS]
Thea Lillepalu – Pieces of 8 Music
Olya Moldavskaya – Senior Client & Marketing Manager, Russia, CIS & Eastern Europe, The Orchard
Tommi Kyyrä – IFPI Finland

Moderator: Virgo Sillamaa – Director, Music Estonia

11.15 – 12.45 Rebuilding the music business around creative talent

Driven by “platform” logic, digital is disrupting the difficult task of coordinating resources and information. In music massive centralised companies have been required to coordinate resources efficiently; which has meant that developing audiences required substantial production, finance, and marketing power, these were barriers which often decided the success or failures of songs regardless of it’s quality. Today content often costs less to produce and artists can reach global markets through digital platforms. However, lowered barriers and open roads do not automatically result in sustainable journeys So how do creative talents build a viable business in markets already overflowing with content. Copyright and related rights are key revenue sources for creators, but clumsy and complicated systems for managing data and money are overdue for digital disruption, and the process of how artists are linked up with finance and a range of services is already changing. In this session we will hear three presentations from companies innovating ways to help creators achieve sustainable business models, and we will discuss the various roles digital technology plays in that.

Presentations:

Birgit Karus – CEO & co-founder, Fanvestory
Matt Dicks – Senior Commercial Director, AEI
Molly Neuman – Global Head of Business Development, Songtrust

Panel discussion moderated by Jake Beaumont-Nesbitt, IMMF

13.45 – 14.45 The Data Gap. Data Values: Access, Control, Trust

Digital crystal balls (a.k.a spreadsheets of usage data) allow the initiated to read data signals: audience insights that describe who the audience is, and what the audience wants. As with politics, this data can make the difference between marketing a hit or a miss. What meaning artist’s place on the stories the data tells is up to the artists, but can the artist have access to the full data-story? So long as they need to consult digital fortune tellers, artists are not in control of their own destiny. Should the data mysteries be unlocked, can the uninitiated be empowered?

Triin Siil of Cybernetica and Jake Beaumont-Nesbitt of IMMF will present some of the issues, followed by a panel discussion

Triin Siil – Cybernetica
Juko-Mart Kõlar – Fanvestory, Estonian Authors’ Society
Jake Beaumont-Nesbitt – IMMF

15.00 – 15.50 Music Export Offices – levelling the playing field for European music sector?

The European music market is large. Although EU wide integration is established in other sectors, music policy is still fragmented, and artists from smaller territories are struggling to compete internationally. Not much of the great music made in every European countries reaches its full pan-European potential, or even crosses over to neighbouring countries. It is especially hard for artists in small markets lacking business structures and access to European tastemakers and gatekeepers. National music export offices, and European Commission initiatives like Music Moves Europe could be part of the solution. But is pouring public and rightsholder funds into developing competitiveness (locally and on a pan-european scale) working? What is working so far, what do we need more of? In this session we analyse the work of music export offices and discuss Music Moves Europe. The panel will be preceded by a keynote from Nuno Saraiva of Why Portugal.

Keynote: Nuno Saraiva, Why Portugal – using European platforms such as Eurosonic for boosting Portuguese music industry and exports.

Panel:

Nuno Saraiva – Why Portugal
Sigtryggur Baldursson – Iceland Music Export
Chiara Gallerani – Italia Music Export

Moderator: Vanessa Reed, PRS Foundation

16.00 – 17.00 Incubation, acceleration and hubs in music – is it real?

In the technology start-up scene we have witnessed the success of incubation and acceleration “hubs”. Hubs structure an environment of close physical proximity and shared time for members of diverse talent pools, they combine that with access to experience and finance via mentors, advisors, and third-party networks. It’s often a significant paltform for success.

If you get good teams and great ideas, you might really tap into the explosive growth potential of a digital tech startup. In recent years there have been multiple attempts to adapt these concepts to creative industries, in particular to music. But does it really work? The music industry has been notably averse to tech innovation, and music artistry – creator and creation – is painfully slow-mo compared to a tech growth environment. In the music tech scene, music is mostly the target market and client sector, while start ups are mostly tech. However, there are several interesting hubs focusing on music and music tech and in this session we ask who, how and why.

María Rut Reynisdóttir – Reykjavík Music City
Grace McCallum – STHLM Music City
Maciej Hofman – Cultural and Creative Industries European Commission, Directorate-General for Education and Culture

Moderator: Sten Kristian Saluveer, Storytek

Friday & Saturday, April 6 & 7

Kultuurikatel, Estelon Listening Room / Esteloni Demoruum

Estelon is one of the top leading global high-end loudspeaker brands, established by the Vassilkov family. Estelon speakers are the result of 30+ years of experience, years of research and development led by founder and world-renowned loudspeaker designer Alfred Vassilkov.

Estelon speakers disappear as a sound source and draw an unbelievably realistic sound picture right in front of you. The sound is pure, natural and lifelike. Full of details and soul. Estelon is acknowledged as a leading innovator in the industry and recognised year-on-year with multiple awards across the world, with CES Best of Innovations Award and Red Dot Design Award among them.

Estelon

Estelon Listening Room at Tallinn Music Week 2018 is open to everyone seeking for the most exquisite musical experience imaginable, open from 10.00–18.00.

Scheduled events:

Friday, April 6 at 14.00–15.00 Arvo Pärt “Symphonies” listening session
Friday, April 6 at 16.00–17.00 Eoins “Rites” listening session
Saturday, April 7 at 14.00–15.00 Maarja Nuut & HH “Muunduja” listening session

Friday & Saturday, April 6 & 7

Kultuurikatel, Atrium Hall / Vahetänava Saal

This year, Berlin-based company Ableton will be joining Tallinn Music Week. Ableton makes Live, Push and Link—unique software and hardware for music creation and performance.

The Playground will be hosted by Ableton Certified Trainer Flore and feature product stations equipped with Live 10 and Push. Stop by to make music and meet with other music makers from around the world.

The Ableton Playground will be open Friday and Saturday, April 6th and 7th 2018 from 11.00–17.00.

For more information, visit Ableton.com