Downtown Music president Mike Smith to speak at ACCES 2022

The British music industry executive will participate in a panel discussion exploring the nuances of artist management while examining new business models and opportunities that exist for music players in the DIY era. He joins on the panel Vth Season founder Benza and Stargaze Company founder Sandra Brown.

The conference session will take place at Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre on 26 November at 11am.

Smith, who was appointed to Downtown Music’s top role in 2020, brings to ACCES several decades of industry expertise, particularly in the areas of artist management as well as copyright and publishing.

At Downtown, Smith is responsible for a catalogue that includes John Lennon, Miles Davis, Oneohtrix Point Never, Arca, George Gershwin and Wu-Tang Clan.

Before Downtown, Smith worked with Warner/Chappell UK and Columbia Records UK. He also led Mercury Records and Virgin/EMI.

His past signings include Blur, The Smashing Pumpkins, PJ Harvey, Elastica, Gorillaz, The White Stripes, Scissor Sisters, Arcade Fire, The Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Calvin Harris, MGMT, The Chemical Brothers and Bruce Springsteen, among many others.

Smith joins an impressive roster of music professionals who will speak at ACCES 2022, including Tanzanian superstar Diamond Platnumz, Magic System founding member and frontman A'salfo (Ivory Coast), Sony Music Publishing Nigeria director Godwin Tom, Boomplay Tanzania general manager Natasha Stambuli, Empire Publishing Africa managing director Munya Chanetsa (South Africa), TuneCore West and East Africa head Chioma Onuchukwu (Nigeria) as well as musicians Octopizzo (Kenya), Abigail (Tanzania) and Sholo Mwamba (Tanzania), among many others.

Register for ACCES 2022 here. African delegates register for free.

View the full ACCES 2022 programme here.

About ACCES

ACCES is a pan-African trade show for music industry players to exchange ideas, discover new talent and create business linkages. ACCES is held in a different African city every year, attracting active music industry players from across the globe. ACCES 2022 is organised by the Music In Africa Foundation, a non-profit pan-African organisation, in partnership with Siemens Stiftung, Goethe-Institut, Alliance Française, Ziiki Media, Wasafi Media, the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Sports of Tanzania, the National Arts Council of Tanzania (BASATA), SACEM, and Salon des Industries Musicales d’Afrique Francophone (SIMA). See all our wonderful ACCES 2022 sponsors and partners here.

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