Australian Music Week Unveils First-round Artist Line-up & New Speakers

Cronulla Beach's Australian Music Week 2016 conference and showcase is taking shape following the announcement of this year's first batch of musical artists as well as the second crop of industry speakers set to take the stage this November.

Encompassing a broad spectrum of emergent and established musicians, AMW will welcome the likes of Mat McHugh (of The Beautiful Girls), Catherine Britt, Lepers & Crooks, William Crighton, Demi Louise, Ella Fence, Tenderfoot, Little Georgia, I Am Apollo and many more to perform for its punters, speakers and delegates over the event's duration from 2-4 November.

Speaking of speakers, the event's organisers have freshly unveiled a second crop of industry personalities set to contribute to this year's array of panels by joining previously announced figureheads such as Diesel (aka Mark Lizotte), Bluesfest founder Peter Noble, John Wardle and Damian Cunningham of the Live Music Office, and several others. Among the second charge of speakers are identities such as Spunk Records' Aaron Curnow, Woodford Festival's Chloe Goodyear, Dave Wilkins of Sydney Blues & Roots Festival, Graham Ashton of Footstomp Music, Sounds Australia legend Millie Millgate, freshly minted owner of Brisbane venue The Zoo Pixie Weyland and many more, setting up this year's AMW as a certified force to be reckoned with in terms of the diversity of viewpoints and topics being canvassed over the course of the conference.

The new additions bring the total list of delegates and speakers up to 70, with further announcements due in the near future. Excitingly, this year's AMW marks the commencement of new partnerships with both Canadian Music Week and stalwart festival venue Dashville, further padding out network links for organisations such as the East Coast Music Association (ECMA), Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) and BreakOut West. Representatives from these bodies at AMW will be keeping an eye out for Aussie talent to take with them to a series of international (and local) events including Showcase Scotland, Canadian Music Week, ECMA, Dashville Presents and more.

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Tickets for this year's Australian Music Week showcase and panel events are available now via Oztix.

If you'd like to perform at Australian Music Week, applications for artists are still open until Friday 19 August — head to AMW's website for more information.