The organisers of Sound City have made the difficult decision to cancel their 2020 event, setting sights on an exciting return in 2021.
The next Sound City festival and Sound City+ conference will take place from April 30 – May 2, 2021.
Originally scheduled for May, Sound City 2020 was postponed until September as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Determined not to leave music fans and artists deserted, the Sound City team developed and launched Guest House – a live-streaming platform with weekly programming. Designed to help artists who have had to cancel live shows as a result of the pandemic, it offers fans the opportunity to financially support their favourite acts through donations.
One of the first solutions of its kind, Guest House has since evolved far beyond the context of lockdown, becoming a permanent fixture in the Sound City stable.
The inaugural Stay At Home Festival in May saw live-streamed performances from Friendly Fires, The Wombats, She Drew The Gun, Ian Skelly and more.
Since then, the platform has hosted album launch parties for Vistas and The Blinders, along with Saturday Guest House shows for DJs such as Anti Social Jazz Club, Melodic Distraction, Chinatown Slalom and Kessler.
It also celebrated the end of the 2019/2020 Premier League season with a BOSS End of Season party in partnership with Levi’s, featuring sets from Timo Tierney, Mason Owens, Ben Burke, Kieran Molyneux and Jamie Webster.
Client-based programming has included other special shows for AWAL, SAMA, The Rattle, Keychange, BIMM and SB Mgmt.
New Guest House shows will air throughout the year, including between 25 – 27 September when this year’s Sound City was due to take place.
Sound City MD Rebecca Ayres said:
“Cancelling Sound City this year is one of the most difficult decisions we have ever had to make, however, with all factors taken into account, we feel that by pushing ahead in September we would not be able to guarantee the usual exciting, quality event that our fans and artists deserve. It is for the best that we focus on next year’s Sound City so that we can work to give everyone an unforgettable festival experience with the very best emerging music.
“These difficult times have presented the entire music industry with incredible challenges – but there are so many examples of those challenges being turned into opportunities. We started our Guest House live-streaming platform as a way of helping artists who had a vital revenue source snatched from them, and it has grown into a highly popular part of the Sound City brand. We will continue to bring great music and experiences to fans and more opportunities to artists and partners via Guest House and look forward to a spectacular return for the Sound City festival and conference in 2021.”
Categories: News
