T T T T h h h h e e e e g g g g l l l l o o o o b b b b a a a a l l l l m m m m u u u u s s s s i i i i c c c c & & & & m m m m e e e e d d d d i i i i a a a a c c c c o o o o n n n n f f f f e e e e r r r r e e e e n n n n c c c c e e e e & & & & f f f f e e e e s s s s t t t t i i i i v v v v a a a a l l l l . . . .

Name: Beyond The Music 2026
Start: 2026-10-06T10:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-10-09T23:00:00+01:00
Location: MediaCity

150+Artists
100+Speakers
3Days + 4 nights
1Location

Delegate Passes from £99 3 Day Festival Ticket from £70

Countdown to Beyond The Music 2026

Tuesday 6 October 2026 · MediaCity, Salford

Days

Hours

Minutes

Seconds

Just Announced

Beyond The Music, Thursday 8th October 2026, MediaCity, Salford. The K's, Tom A. Smith, The Wran, Marie Franc, Teleshopping and Secret Artist TBA. Stage curated by Chris Hawkins (BBC 6 Music) and SXSW.

Just announced · Thursday 8 October · MediaCity, Salford

The K's, Tom A. Smith, The Wran + more

With Marie Franc, Teleshopping and a secret artist. Stage curated by Chris Hawkins (BBC 6 Music) x SXSW.

Get Tickets £39.85

Limited pre-order · BTM 2026 Edition

Pre-order Peter Saville's Exclusive Beyond The Music 2026 Prints

Peter Saville is the Manchester designer behind some of Factory Records' best-known sleeves. His work for Joy Division and New Order helped define how a record could look. Now he has made five prints, 'Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness', for Beyond The Music 2026. Pre-order one, or the complete set, for a limited period only.

See the Peter Saville prints

New · On WhatsApp

The Beyond The Music Concierge is live

Plan your week. Find your people. Ask anything.

🎵 Set times for every stage
🧠 The summits worth your time
🤝 People worth meeting, only if you both say yes
📍 Where's The Kitchen? What time are doors?

Join on WhatsApp

Find out more

Opening Lunch · Wed 7 Oct

Billboard UK's 40 Under 40 launches at Beyond The Music.

The first ever UK edition of Billboard's 40 Under 40 debuts at the 2026 Opening Lunch, honouring the music industry's rising stars and future leaders. Nominations are open now.

Read the announcement

Conference · 6 to 9 Oct

The conference schedule at a glance.

Four days of Summits, keynotes, workshops and networking, from the opening-night film premiere to The Creative Industries AI Summit. Timings, briefs and speakers for every session are on the day by day programme.

See the day by day programme

Tue 6 Oct

18:30 – midnight

Opening night and film premiere

18:3024 Hour Party People Keynote

Wed 7 Oct

09:30 – 18:00, then evening events

Opening day

10:45Stacey Tang
11:15Tom Gray
16:45Shani Gonzales and Amber Davis

Thu 8 Oct

09:00 – 18:00, then evening events

Day two

10:15Jo Charrington
10:45Tom A. Smith and Seb Lowe
12:00Dr Jo Twist OBE
13:30Alastair Webber and Jin Jin
16:20Sophie Jones
17:00Martin Goldschmidt

Fri 9 Oct

09:30 – 18:30

The Creative Industries AI Summit and closing day

10:15Ian Murray MP
11:10Clive Dickens
11:30Bev Craig
12:35Baroness Beeban Kidron
15:55Dave Stewart
18:00Tiffany Calver

Conference · 7 to 9 Oct

The first wave of speakers, announced.

Label presidents, trade body chairs, managers, A&Rs, politicians, entrepreneurs, artists and broadcasters, the first wave of the 2026 conference line-up. The Summits, keynotes and timings announced so far are on the day by day programme.

Tommas Arnby // Stacey Tang // Bev Craig // Tom A. Smith // Dr Jo Twist OBE // The Anchoress // Tom Gray // Nazir Afzal OBE // Sophie Jones // Nina Nesbitt // Daudi Matsiko // Dan Lambert // Catherine Martin & many more

Meet the speakers Day by day programme

Opening Night · Tue 6 Oct

24 Hour Party People

A 24th anniversary premiere, with a keynote from Michael Winterbottom and Steve Coogan.

Conference · 7 to 9 Oct

The 2026 conference format

Three days of summits, keynotes and The Creative Industries AI Summit. Convened by Andy Burnham, and taken forward by Ian Murray MP, Bev Craig (Mayor of Greater Manchester) and DCMS.

Read the announcement

2026 Annual Theme

Art is a Human Right

Everyone who makes creative work has a moral and material claim on it: a right to be credited, and a right to be paid.

The Creative Industries AI Summit

Friday 9 October.
The Creative Industries AI Summit

The first global summit where every content industry agrees a position on AI, built around four anchors: licensing, provenance, attribution and enforcement.

Convened by Andy Burnham, and taken forward by Ian Murray MP, Bev Craig (Mayor of Greater Manchester) and DCMS. Grounded in a simple principle: art is a human right.

Festival Second Wave Lineup Announced

ALT BLK ERA // Bawo // GANS // JayaHadADream // The Slow Readers Club // Tom A. Smith

BEX // Cody Frost // Cutscene // GETNER // JD Cliffe // Lady Ice // Mouth Ulcers // OneDa // SILVERWINGKILLER // The Small Fortunes // SpaceAcre // Superlative // walt disco // The Wran // The Zangwills

Another Country $$$$ // Bloodworm // Boo Kickz // Bruise Control // Che3kz // cruush // Ewan Sim // Freya Beer // Gen and the Degenerates // Georgian // Hana Lili // Holly Head // Lei Hope // LIINES // Loren Heat // Marie Franc // Naomi Kalu // Nessa May // Nico Harmony // Roukaya B // RTB Showcase // Ruby Duff // Sweet Gene // Swivel // Tana // Teleshopping // Third Kulture // Treehouse MCR Cypher // Treks // Venkappa // Yetti Tabai

+ more to be announced

View the full lineup

Who it's for

Music fans
Artists
A&Rs
Labels
Founders
Managers
Musicians
Composers
Producers
Students
Advocates
Journalists
Innovators
Brand partners
Tour managers
Venue owners
Tech developers
Publicists
Music supervisors
Lawyers
Policy makers
Agents
Distributors
Songwriters
Engineers
Promoters

Beyond The Music

Our Values

Industry and Cultural change

Building fairer ways for the music and content industries to work and grow.

Co-operative governance

What it means, who owns it, how to join.

A diverse and inclusive event

Inclusive on and off stage, with a diverse lineup and Pay It Forward access for all.

INSPIRE

Year-round programme connecting young people aged 16 to 25 across Greater Manchester with the creative industries.

Art is a Human Right

Our creative-rights principle and the AI questions it raises.

Greater Manchester

Civic positioning, social-change heritage, Salford centenary tie.

Don't take our word for it

One of the UK's most impressive industry events. O O O O n n n n e e e e o o o o f f f f t t t t h h h h e e e e U U U U K K K K ' ' ' ' s s s s m m m m o o o o s s s s t t t t i i i i m m m m p p p p r r r r e e e e s s s s s s s s i i i i v v v v e e e e i i i i n n n n d d d d u u u u s s s s t t t t r r r r y y y y e e e e v v v v e e e e n n n n t t t t s s s s . . . .

— The Line of Best Fit

The perfect environment for fresh new bands to bust their chops. T T T T h h h h e e e e p p p p e e e e r r r r f f f f e e e e c c c c t t t t e e e e n n n n v v v v i i i i r r r r o o o o n n n n m m m m e e e e n n n n t t t t f f f f o o o o r r r r f f f f r r r r e e e e s s s s h h h h n n n n e e e e w w w w b b b b a a a a n n n n d d d d s s s s t t t t o o o o b b b b u u u u s s s s t t t t t t t t h h h h e e e e i i i i r r r r c c c c h h h h o o o o p p p p s s s s . . . .

— NME

One of the most stacked, interesting conference x festival combos going. O O O O n n n n e e e e o o o o f f f f t t t t h h h h e e e e m m m m o o o o s s s s t t t t s s s s t t t t a a a a c c c c k k k k e e e e d d d d , , , , i i i i n n n n t t t t e e e e r r r r e e e e s s s s t t t t i i i i n n n n g g g g c c c c o o o o n n n n f f f f e e e e r r r r e e e e n n n n c c c c e e e e x x x x f f f f e e e e s s s s t t t t i i i i v v v v a a a a l l l l c c c c o o o o m m m m b b b b o o o o s s s s g g g g o o o o i i i i n n n n g g g g . . . .

— Clash

An unabashed celebration of music from Manchester and beyond. A A A A n n n n u u u u n n n n a a a a b b b b a a a a s s s s h h h h e e e e d d d d c c c c e e e e l l l l e e e e b b b b r r r r a a a a t t t t i i i i o o o o n n n n o o o o f f f f m m m m u u u u s s s s i i i i c c c c f f f f r r r r o o o o m m m m M M M M a a a a n n n n c c c c h h h h e e e e s s s s t t t t e e e e r r r r a a a a n n n n d d d d b b b b e e e e y y y y o o o o n n n n d d d d . . . .

— HUCK Magazine

At Beyond the Music, everyone wins, and Manchester is once again a city where we are beginning to see some important social changes in the music industry. A A A A t t t t B B B B e e e e y y y y o o o o n n n n d d d d t t t t h h h h e e e e M M M M u u u u s s s s i i i i c c c c , , , , e e e e v v v v e e e e r r r r y y y y o o o o n n n n e e e e w w w w i i i i n n n n s s s s , , , , a a a a n n n n d d d d M M M M a a a a n n n n c c c c h h h h e e e e s s s s t t t t e e e e r r r r i i i i s s s s o o o o n n n n c c c c e e e e a a a a g g g g a a a a i i i i n n n n a a a a c c c c i i i i t t t t y y y y w w w w h h h h e e e e r r r r e e e e w w w w e e e e a a a a r r r r e e e e b b b b e e e e g g g g i i i i n n n n n n n n i i i i n n n n g g g g t t t t o o o o s s s s e e e e e e e e s s s s o o o o m m m m e e e e i i i i m m m m p p p p o o o o r r r r t t t t a a a a n n n n t t t t s s s s o o o o c c c c i i i i a a a a l l l l c c c c h h h h a a a a n n n n g g g g e e e e s s s s i i i i n n n n t t t t h h h h e e e e m m m m u u u u s s s s i i i i c c c c i i i i n n n n d d d d u u u u s s s s t t t t r r r r y y y y . . . .

— Mancunion

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Countdown to Beyond The Music 2026

The K's, Tom A. Smith, The Wran + more

Pre-order Peter Saville's Exclusive Beyond The Music 2026 Prints

The Beyond The Music Concierge is live

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