Contents:

COME TOGETHER RIGHT NOW ... the 20th Anniversary conference approaches.

IT'S A HAPPENING!... events, updates and reminders.

WRITE ON! ... give us your input.

NEWS ROUND UP... recent business news headlines.

CONTACTS ... how to reach us.

'COME TOGETHER, RIGHT NOW...'

So the holiday season has finally ground to a conclusion, and another year of ducking and diving stretches ahead. But there are a couple of reasons to be cheerful: first, you still have around 330 shopping days until next Christmas, and second, there are now less than six weeks to go before the world's concert industry gathers in London to celebrate the ILMC's 20th Anniversary...

It seems that our impish 'Summer of Love' theme has clearly struck a chord with both our 'ex' and 'wannabe' hippies alike, with industry heads from more than 50 countries brushing up their velvet loonpants and taking up the invitation to attend. In fact registrations are up by a rather scary amount – about 20% more than even last year's record attendance at the same point – and pretty well all of the best-known faces from the past two decades of conferences seem to have decided to make the trip and turn our 'three days of speech on music' into something of a historic reunion too. Groovy eh?

The only thing in all of this that's not groovy is the fact that demand for places at ILMC 20 is clearly going to exceed our capacity yet again – even though we've already allowed for a small increase in total numbers. So if you haven't already booked your place at our little happening, and want to make sure that you're in with the in-crowd and not literally 'out of sight', then you'd be well advised to get your head together and send back the registration forms. In fact, if you do it quickly enough you can still benefit from the outrageous discounts given for registrations received before close of business on 31 January, but you won't be surprised to find out that the "ILMC Mug Award" – that weighty accolade granted each year to the first ILMC mug to register – has already been snaffled up within minutes of our virtual box office opening, by none other than Uwe Frommhold of Hamburg's Color Line Arena. First an Arthur and now this, eh Uwe..?

And don't panic if you've lost your registration brochure – or torn it up into little pieces to stuff into the end of funny cigarettes – because we'll be sending you a fresh copy in the February edition of IQ – along with information on the conference agenda and a form to cast your vote in the momentous anniversary edition of the Arthur Awards. Meanwhile, all the latest information, online booking, and lots of pretty colours are just a mouse click away at www.ilmc.com.

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With a little help from our friends See Tickets and Vibe Promotions, the in-crowd will be treated to some gorgeous fine wines and a four-course banquet, and immediately after the Arthur Awards, we’ll be hosting The ILMC Birthday Love-In in The Ballroom, to celebrate our anniversary in style. It runs until 1.00am and all registered ILMC delegates are welcome to attend.

Keeping with the topic of good food and cool vibes, tickets for DNA Networks’ An Evening of Transcendental Mastication Indian dinner are selling like hash cakes. Rounding off the ILMC weekend, it’s a few steps from the Royal Garden Hotel to Zaika for 7.30pm on Sunday 9 March, as some far out and decidedly non-cool Indian cooking draws the weekend to a close. Got your ticket yet? Seriously man, you don’t want to miss this final happening.

But it’s not all about stomach expanding food, there’s plenty of ILMC events to stimulate even the most serious suit. On Friday 7 March at 10pm, The World Texas Hold ‘em Poker Tourney (sponsored by Vibe) returns for its second year, as we take a Vegas-style trip within the safe-haven of the Royal Garden. It costs £20 to enter, and all proceeds go to the Nikos Fund and this year’s chosen charity, the Association for International Cancer Research. Delegates can win some particularly groovy bar tabs, and as places are on a first-come, first-served basis, if you haven’t already done so, email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to sign up.

On Saturday 8 March at 7.30pm, there’s Match of the Year Football; the only weekend activity where 22 men go crazy on grass. This annual match pits the UK versus the rest of the world, and it takes place at The Westway Sports Centre, W10. To get on side, call Peter Aiken at Aiken Promotions on +353 (0)1 7755 800.

Late on Saturday and Sunday night (12pm-4am), for all those wannabe and former musicians, or simply the karaoke crooners, there’s the annual Delegates Jam. This nocturnal high is a perennial favourite, and new for ILMC 20 will be The Ex-Factor; a (probably totally lacking in) talent competition. From 1.30am on the Saturday night, delegates can form bands with any other ILMC cats and compete for the sure-to-be-coveted top prize. Get into the groove by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with your band name and a list of members by Tuesday 4 March.

And for the closet easy riders in our midst, we have good news and bad news. The bad news is that the Kings Cross Raceway – scene of so many historic ILMC karting battles – is going to be demolished to make room for the new railway terminal. The good news is that we've managed to secure the Streatham Kart Raceway instead – a venue with great facilities and a 450 metre track that will lead to even better racing for the amount of karts we expect to field. New features for Welldone's special anniversary edition of the Super Grand Prix will include a 'Le Mans start' scheme to match drivers of similar skills and a very special 'Champion of Champions' feature race to decide who is the ultimate ILMC speed freak. Meanwhile, the few minutes extra needed for the Berryhurst magic bus to ferry racers and spectators to and from the new circuit will be more than compensated for by free soft drinks on the way there, and beer and pizza on the way back. So if you were born to be even a little bit wild, stand by to get yer motor running and head out on the highway – this one's going to be a blast...

ILMC 20 might be a mind-altering experience, but only truly crazy hipsters will actually manage to lose themselves. Pollstar’s Cyberdelic Cyber Café is online 24 hours a day, The Tour Company will be on hand to answer any accommodation and travel questions, there’s a Help Desk for just about everything else and Berryhurst’s Magic Buses will be safely transporting delegates to and from off site events.

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WRITE ON!...

It’s not every day that you get to celebrate your 20th birthday, so as part of our planned celebrations we’ll be publishing a special supplement in the Globetrotters Guide featuring photos, memorabilia and anecdotes from ILMCs past. Fancy jotting down your favourite funny moment from a past ILMC? Contributors will be immortalised in print, so even if you end the weekend having lost your kaftan at poker, your voice at the delegates jam, and your dignity in the bar, it will be something to remember the weekend by. Please email any contributions to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

As usual, over the ILMC weekend, our Access All Areas scheme gives delegates access to a variety of gigs taking place around London. If you have a show that you’d like to include in our listings and promote to our delegation, please email Jill Stephens ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) with the details.

To get the lowdown on industry news over the past couple of months, check out the Round The Clock News section, or IQ News section at www.ilmc.com.

CONTACT US

The ILMC welcomes new members, but please make very careful use of the 'Forward' button on this message as it's vital for the effectiveness of the organisation that our mailing list remains restricted to professionals actively involved in the industry.

International Live Music Conference 2-4 Prowse Place London NW1 9PH UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7284 5868 Fax: +44 (0)20 7284 1870 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it