Fort Worth to host music conference day before Fortress Festival

Fortress Festival Saturday 2018

The Fortress Festival is coming and bring with it a bounty of music stars such as our own Leon Bridges and Scottish rockers Chvrches. But the day before Fort Worth will be host to a new, one-day music conference.

Visit Fort Worth and The Texas Music Office, Office of the Governor announced Feb. 4 a conference called Texas Sounds and Cities. The conference will be held on Friday, April 26, 2019 at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.

The conference will bring together Texas cities, music educators, musicians and music fans who aspire to keep the Texas music scene moving forward. Conversations will be led by music industry representatives from organizations like Sound Diplomacy, the Texas Music Office, Niles City Sound and others.

“We understand the importance of music to the visitor economy,” said Mitch Whitten, Visit Fort Worth executive vice president for marketing and strategy. “The goal of the conference is to create an environment for music-friendly cities, other organizations and the music industry to learn, collaborate and keep the momentum going.”

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Fort Worth was designated the state’s first music-friendly city in 2017 by the Texas Music Office, Office of the Governor’s “Music-Friendly Communities” certification program. Since then, Visit Fort Worth has launched a series of programs to support local musicians including travel grants, SXSW submission fee reimbursements and a studio recording program with Niles City Sound.

The Texas Music Office’s Music-Friendly Community program provides the state’s communities with a network for fostering music industry development, and sends a clear message to industry professionals that certified communities are serious about attracting and developing music industry growth.

“Visit Fort Worth has done a great job of living up to their music-friendly city certification,” said Brendon Anthony, director of the Texas Music Office. “We are excited to partner with them and produce a conference that will provide an educational platform for cities to learn best practices, network and help even more communities achieve this designation.”

The full conference schedule will be released in early March with sessions including:

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· The Business of Music in Texas

· Cultivating Local Talent

· Developing a Music-Friendly City

· Music Tourism & Talent Attraction

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· Diversity and Inclusion in the Music Business

Attendees have the opportunity to register for a ticket that also includes a 2-day pass to Fortress Festival at a deeply discounted price. Registration will also include breakfast, lunch, refreshments, local beer and whiskey tastings, live music breaks and a reserved seat at the KERA 90.1 Art & Seek event at the Kimbell Art Museum following the conference.

• Sounds & Cities Conference + Fortress Festival VIP: $249

• Sounds & Cities Conference: $199

www.TexasSoundsandCities.com