Indigenous Music Conference Offers Career-Building Opportunities, May 16 & 17

Dancers, singers, musicians and entrepreneurs from many nations across Turtle Island and around the world are gathering in traditional Anishinaabek and Métis territory for the Manito Ahbee Festival this month.

The annual festival, which runs from May 15-19 in downtown Winnipeg, celebrates Indigenous culture and arts through an music conference, international pow wow, marketplace and trade show, art expo, open mic, and an awards ceremony.

The Indigenous Music Conference has become a key component of Manito Ahbee, offering a unique opportunity for Indigenous-identifying artists to further develop the business aspects of their music careers, make important connections, and get some insight into important topics like release strategies, marketing, and more. Running May 16-17 at the RBC Convention Centre, the conference offers panel and roundtable discussions, networking opportunities, one-on-one meetings,  with local, national, and international industry professionals and entrepreneurs, as well as a fishbowl conversation about Indigenous music development. Some topics being covered this year include release strategies, 

Guest speakers for the conference include Digging Roots' ShoShona Kish, NCI FM's Dave McLeod, Lindsay Knight, APTN's Sky Bridges, Sound Culture's David Chavez, DJ NDN and nêhiyawak manager Jenna Rogers, SiriusXM Canada's Jeff Leake, Beth Cavanagh of What's The Story?, Hillside Festival's Sam Baijal, Desiree Dorion, Six Shooter Recrords's Matt Maw, Tre Mission manager Ricardo Chung, Warner Music Canada's manager of social strategy and marketing Connie Chan, and Nathalie Kleinschmit of Prairie Mix and BreakOut West.

Find out more about the conference at manitoahbee.com/events/indigenous-music-conference/about