About TMW Conference

Tallinn Music Week 2024 takes place on 3 – 7 April. The conference programme will be announced in steps from October.

Until then see below for last year’s programme:

12 – 13 May 2023 ┃ Nordic Hotel Forum, Tallinn

The Tallinn Music Week Conference addresses music-related topics from practical workshops and seminars to inspiring pop-culturology talks and cross-sectoral future visions.

TMW Conference 2023 main themes:

Co-creation
Connected World
Sustainable Future

Topics:

Human-AI Co-creation
Global-Local Connections
Understanding Digital
Rethinking Touring
Curator vs Consumer
Studios on the Rise
Future Radio
A Look Ahead: Music Education
Breaking Into New Markets
In Focus: The Baltics, Poland and Ukraine
Sustainability Strategies

Find all TMW 2023 speakers here

Schedule (click to open and save the files):

Important topics will be addressed such as what humans and AI tech can accomplish in collaboration with each other and whether we have stayed on top in navigating the digital world. There will be forecasts on the future of radio and music education, the role of curators as cultural mediators and the new solutions for live touring in an era of soaring energy prices and the post-COVID landscape. The conference also aims to take a closer look at the Baltic region and Poland, explore local interpretations of global trends and recording studios as multi-purpose spaces for co-creation, and examine the range of practical strategies to support the sustainability of the industry – from mental health to carbon-conscious production and consumption.

The conference will host a Music Moves Europe dialogue session, as a framework for the European Commission’s initiatives and actions in support of the European music sector.

The conference will take place in a hybrid format, enabling both online and onsite participation and activities. The programme will be gradually announced from January to April 2023.

TMW 2023 PRO Pass (on-site and online access to the festival and conference) along with DigiPRO Pass (online conference access) and Supporter Pass are on sale at shop.tmw.ee.

TMW conference 2015. Viv Albertine interviewed by John Robb. Photo: Tõnu Tunnel

Background and past years

Throughout the festival’s existence, the TMW conference has hosted numerous high-profile music experts and mavericks, including the legendary founder of Sire Records Seymour Stein, polymath musician Barry Adamson, influential managers Simon Napier-Bell, Marie Fredriksson, Edward Bicknell, and Peter Jenner; protest punk rock act Pussy Riot, artists-turned authors Viv Albertine (The Slits), John Robb (The Membranes), Bob Stanley (St Etienne), and acclaimed pop culture scholars like Simon Reynolds and Adam Harper.

Since 2016 the TMW conference has expanded from music industry topics towards a wider social agenda, inviting speakers like the entrepreneur and philanthropist Hamdi Ulukaya, artist and activist iO Tillett Wright, geneticist Lili Milani, MEP Julia Reda, city developer Gunvor Kronman, pioneering post-punk designer Malcolm Garrett, and many other visionnaires from different disciplines and walks of life.