Tommas Arnby (YUNGBLUD team) – photo by Patrick Gunning

Beyond The Music is much more than simply a music festival, from the 6-9 October Media City welcomed key industry figures, artists, music executives and music lovers to talk about what the future of music looks like. The 2026 theme was ‘Art is a human right’ meaning the conferences mainly focused on supporting emerging artists, how AI is impacting the industry and how much work really goes on behind the scenes. As well as hosting professional panels, in the evening Media City transformed into a hub of live music, transforming the atmosphere from industry conversations into a celebration of emerging talent, showcasing over 100 grassroots artists as well as more established names such as The K’s and Tom A Smith.

As I attended the festival over the 3 days, I got the opportunity to explore the conversations, performances and people shaping the music scene right now. What stood out to me the most was how welcoming everyone was. Although these were professional conferences including some of the biggest names in the industry, the conversations were relaxed and you could tell everybody was genuinely interested in what was happening. Nothing seemed overwhelming. It was particularly interesting to see people with different viewpoints come together to discuss the future of music, each telling us their own stand points.

Imogen Heap – photo by Patrick Gunning

One of the Panels that stood out to me on the Wednesday was the talk by YUNGBLUD’s team. It was super interesting learning about what really went on behind the scenes for such a big artist and getting a true insight into their day-to-day. Their main focus was centred around building a community within music, which they have done by running multiple fan pages, involving themselves within the fan base and even creating their own festival called ‘BLUDFEST’. It was fascinating hearing his team talk about YUNGBLUD and seeing how down to earth they all are, a huge part of their brand is reframing failure and learning from it, to come out of the other side even bigger and better. However, I think the day that interested me the most was the final day. The Friday focused on AI, how it’s currently used in the music industry and what the future could look like. I started off the third day with a talk by Imogen Heap and Vince Lynch. As a musician, Imogen Heap has witnessed first-hand how AI has changed the industry for artists. Many musicians face issues with their work being fed into generative AI algorithms, meaning if AI wants to train off music it doesn’t currently have to have permission off the artists to do so. In response to this, Imogen decided to create ‘Auracle’ a platform built to help musicians fight this and give them a choice. Many people were split between the use of AI, some saying it’s positive, some saying it’s negative and some saying it’s completely neutral.  A lot of people argued machine learning isn’t new and AI is just a different form of this whereas others argued to truly create music your heart has to be in it, which is something AI is incapable of doing.  These conferences definitely opened my eyes and helped me see multiple viewpoints I wouldn’t have thought of beforehand. The main thing that stuck with me from the last day was being told ‘If we don’t write the answer, someone else will’ reminding me how fast moving AI currently is and if you want to make a difference it’s now or never.

The K’s – photo by Lucy Craig

Moving into the evening, Media City became a stage for live music, transforming the waterfront into a vibrant performing space. They presented a wide mix of genres, ranging from indie to rap to RnB. Once again it showed itself to be an important event for grassroots artists, giving them a platform to showcase their talent as well as connecting with the wider community. It’s great to see emerging artists are given a place to help them further their career. Night 2 particularly stood out to me as we saw the likes of Tom A Smith, Bank Holiday and even The K’s perform. From starting the summer performing to 8,000 people at Castlefield Bowl to around 700 people in Salford, The K’s kept the energy high all night from their intimate performance. Jamie Boyle (the lead singer) also told us they would be performing at Manchester Academy next year, which hasn’t officially been announced as of yet. It was great experiencing them in this smaller environment as it was easy for them to connect and talk with the crowd. I also got the opportunity to experience other artists I hadn’t heard of before such as JayaHadADream, Holly Head and Kofi Stone. Being introduced to new sounds and styles of music I don’t usually listen to felt refreshing and allowed me to step out of my usual listening habits.

Overall, Beyond The Music offered a great insight into the ever-changing music industry. Bringing together artists, professionals and creatives under one roof. Across the 3 days, the festival allowed you to gain industry knowledge, experience new music and enjoy live performances, highlighting the importance of collaboration and creativity.