To celebrate five years of the global music network for women shesaid.so, the inaugural female-first music conference MEETSSS is to take place in Portugal 3-6 October in the small village of Portimão.
Speakers include Chidera Eggerue (author and activist), Georgia Taglietti (Sonar Festival), Maria May (CAA), Vanessa Bakewell (Facebook/Instagram), Shakira Payne (Sonos), Ben Turner (Graphite/International Music Summit) and more.
The conference will host she.grows at MEETSSS, a mini-mentorship scheme supported by YouTube Music that will pair five mentees and mentors. Partners include Kickstarter, British Council, InChorus.org and Spitfire Audio.
The event opens with an evening dedicated to the Portuguese music scene, curated by Village Underground Lisbon at the Museu de Portimão. Open to delegates and the general public, the first of three music showcases features DJ sets by Studio Bros and live performances by Portuguese artists Surma and Fabia Maia in the museum theatre. Delegates will then enjoy a cocktail reception sponsored by Portimão City Council inside the museum, with a discussion panel on the current music scene in Portugal from Village Underground co-founder Mariana Duarte Silva and journalists Rui Miguel Abreu and Nuria Rito Pinto.
The following day the conference programme kicks off with an interview hosted by a ‘Resident Advisor’, that will be recorded and published as an RA Live Exchange podcast post-event. Session contributors that day include Universal Production Music’s Dina Liberg and Áine Tennyson, and Manners McDade managing director Harriet Moss.
Private and semi-private sessions will be available throughout the event by music mental health specialist – and one of the first female A&Rs in the UK – Clare Scivier. The second half of the day will explore the concept of music export through the lens of international collaborators the British Council, Le Bureau Export and Italia Music Export, plus a fireside chat with shesaid.so founder Andreea Magdalina and longtime collaborator, artist manager and International Music Summit co-founder Ben Turner.
The official closing party takes place on the beach and is presented by The Orchard. The night features a music showcase curated by Italia Music Export, plus live performances by Germany-born / LA-based Delhia de France and Roundhouse Kick (Portugal); DJ sets by Tokyo-born / Barcelona-based Hanakito; and Portuguese rising star Da Chick. The headline act is Deena Abdelwahed, a Tunisian producer and DJ, who arrived in France at the age of 26.
Find out more at shesaidsomeetsss.com
