Beyond The Music, Greater Manchester’s creative industry conference and music festival returns to MediaCityUK from 6-9th October, bringing together industry professionals, emerging talent and fans for four days of speeches, networking and live performances. The core theme for the event is “Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness”, covering key issues such as protecting creative ownership and addressing challenges in the industry. 

The programme kicks off on Tuesday 6th October with an exclusive keynote Q&A celebrating the 24th anniversary reissue of 24 Hour Party People, featuring Michael Winterbottom, Steve Coogan and Andrew Eaton. The event will be followed by a special premiere and afterparty. 

The official conference and music festival commences on 7th October, opening with appearances from the new Mayor of Manchester, Bev Craig, and Alice Webb, CEO of MediaCity. Beyond The Music is also hosting the first-ever UK edition of Billboard UK’s 40 under 40 Honours List, celebrating the future of the music industry, followed by a Billboard UK networking event. Later that day, there is also a “The Team Behind…” session with Tommas Arnby, Yungblud’s manager and CEO of Special Projects Music, offering a behind-the-scenes look into artist management. 

Beyond The Music isn’t exclusively dedicated to music, as the critically acclaimed Manchester-based film Finding Emily has a screening alongside a panel.

On the third day of the event (“Liberty”), musicians Tom A. Smith and Seb Lowe join BBC Radio 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins in conversation about the reality of being in the music industry in 2026 and finding a voice and audience in the ever rapidly changing music scene. 

Across the week, there is also a music festival for attendees to discover new artists. Co-founder of Beyond The Music, Oli Wilson, curated the lineup, and the festival has pledged to have a 50/50 gender split, which is rare to see in lineups. Headliners of the festival include ALT BLK ERA, a genre-defying duo from Nottingham, as well as Sunderland’s Tom A. Smith, who is also speaking at the conference.

Closing the conference in theme with “The Pursuit of Happiness” is The Creative Industries AI Summit, convened by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, which will bring together some of the most important names in the industry to address how to deal with AI and ways to protect art. 

Beyond The Music is set to showcase emerging talent across several venues in MediaCity and Salford, bringing back the meaning of “grassroots” and showing that music can be spread beyond central Manchester. 

Micha Thompson

@x.micharose.x

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