About the ILMC

When it began in 1989, the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) was the first ever dedicated gathering of leading figures involved in the world’s concert industry, many of whom had only ever spoken on the phone. It swiftly grew to become the most respected meeting place for live music professionals in the world.

Bringing professionals together to air their common goals, aims and issues, while providing unique networking opportunities, ILMC has developed into a year-round organisation that also publishes IQ Magazine and runs other offshoot events such as the ILMC Production Meeting, the Green Events & Innovations Conference (with A Greener Festival), E3S, and Futures Forum. The ILMC has also fostered the formation of most of the international industry’s current trade associations and it is used by those bodies as a means of regular communication.

Whilst the ILMC adapts and changes in response to innovations and events affecting the industry, two major factors have always remained constant: firstly, the ILMC is designed, organised and supported by active members of the concert industry not an outside organisation; and secondly, attendance is by invitation only. Only acknowledged professionals may attend and as a result, the conference always sells out in advance. The 1,200 delegates who attend annually hail from over 60 different countries, and include professionals involved in 35 different occupations.

Delegates attend for many reasons, both professional and social. For instance, ILMC is the only place you’ll find top industry professionals crooning into a microphone at the Delegates’ Jam, or losing their shirts at our poker tournament. Meanwhile, conference sessions are well planned and topical, and follow an open forum format alongside workshops, soapbox sessions and quickfire presentations – while chairmen and panellists are present, all delegates are encouraged to get involved.

In addition, IQ Magazine – the ILMC’s own journal – is now widely regarded as a leading publication within the international live music industry. The magazine is published six times a year and complements this website with additional resources, features, breaking industry news and reports. In addition, the IQ website attracts 50k+ users online each month, and incorporates an industry-leading Index news digest that’s sent out most days to over 15,000 subscribers.

Over the last thirty years, the ILMC has provided not just a discussion forum that has led to tangible change and evolution within the industry, but an essential opportunity for colleagues to meet, do business and most of all, have fun!

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