Photo Credit: Andreas M
Gotham lights up this week with a gaggle of major music industry events, including A2IM Indie Week, the Music Investor Conference, and New York Music Month. And that’s just scratching the surface on a panoply of workshops, shindigs, and awards ceremonies dotting the city.
New York City is about to press play on the 2026 edition of several major music industry events this week. These include the 9th Annual New York Music Month Festival, the invite-only Music Investor Conference (MIC), and the 18th annual Indie Week conference — among a smattering of other industry events.
Let’s do a quick helicopter tour, shall we?
New York City Music Month
With 60-plus free events and resources across the five boroughs, New York City Music Month aims to showcase and strengthen New York City’s music ecosystem through performances, professional development, networking, and conversations that help shape the industry.
The full slate of programming for the 9th annual New York Music Month (NYMM) includes fireside chats with Bronx jazz phenom Samara Joy, Ariana sib Franke Grande, and Reservoir Media Founder and CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi, and panel discussions with culture-movers like Cautious Clay, L’Rain, Anik Kahn, Margaret Glaspy, and Anand Wilder.
As part of the crammed itinerary, the Radio City Concert Series aims to showcase the importance of independent radio in New York via events curated by local noncommercial radio partners. Station mainstays like WNYC, WFUV, WFMU, The Lot Radio, Shereos Radio, East Village Radio, Maker Park Radio, and WKCR are among the many participating.
Finally, the NYMM Concert 3 Part Series will feature concerts at Le Poisson Rouge, SOBs, and Herbert Von King Park featuring Timi Dre, Jubilee, Ultra Violet, Quiana Parks, The Antlers, Dariel Amant, SALIMATA, and more.
Music Investor Conference (MIC)
On the uptown tip is David Israelite’s ultra-exclusive Music Investor Conference, an invite-only confab focused on the high-stakes, high-dollar world of music catalogs and associated IP. According to a schedule floated to DMN, the itinerary this year includes a keynote conversation with Jody Gerson, Chairman & CEO of UMPG; a ‘View from the Top’ interview with Concord CEO Bob Valentine; a ‘Center Stage’ interview with BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld and Chief Strategy Officer Johannes von Schwarzkopf; conversations with Goldstate Music Founder & Managing Partner Charles Goldstuck; and fireside chats with Primary Wave CEO Larry Mestel and Kobalt CEO Laurent Hubert.
In other words: this one’s gonna be stacked.
Additionally, the conference will include interviews with the aforementioned Reservoir Media Management CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi, Melody Holdings Chairman & CEO John Josephson; and a marquee panel featuring Warner Chappell Co-Chair & CEO Guy Moot, Co-Chair & COO Carianne Marshall, and Bain Managing Director John Ezekowitz. There will also be several panels from law firms, investors, expert services, and many more.
A2IM Indie Week Conference
Anchoring Times Square will be A2IM’s always-packed Indie Week Conference, a tentpole for the always-powerful and culture-driving indie sector. Just this morning, the Foundation for Independent Music has announced additional programming for the 18th annual Indie Week conference, which takes place June 8th through June 11th at the InterContinental New York Times Square.
Produced with support from the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), the event will feature a conversation with Nat Zilkha, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Firebird Music Holdings joining Jason Peterson, CEO of GoDigital Music Group to discuss new business models for indie labels.
In addition, Ian Harrison, CEO of A2IM, will join Rob Jonas, CEO of Luminate, for a fireside chat. They join previously announced keynote speakers: Tom Becci, Chief Executive of Concord Label Group in conversation with Steven Victor, Founder of Victor Victor Worldwide; Shira Perlmutter, Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office; and Charlie Lexton, CEO of Merlin.
This year’s programming will also feature a wide range of timely conversations with hands-on sessions, including the Spotify for Artists Masterclass, workshops by ONErpm, Chartmetric, Musixmatch, ElevenLabs, SoundExchange, LyricFind, UnitedMasters, EMPIRE, and Music Services.
Symphonic will also present sessions focused on the LATAM market and the modern label playbook, with DataArt, OpenPlay, Too Lost, and beatBread presenting IndieVest ‘26, which will feature panels directly connecting the financial investment sector with the independent music community.
The conference will also include expanded community events, including the SoundOn Happy Hour, SonicOrigin Listening Challenge, official after parties, and partner events with DISCO, Groover, KitBetter, WIN, SonoSuite, Bandcamp, Secretly Distribution, IRP, IDOL, ADA, Billboard, TuneCore, SoundCloud, Amazon, Genius, STEM, and many more.
Of course, DMN will be bouncing around any-and-all of these events, so feel free to tackle anyone on the team to share your latest good news!
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