U.K. MUSIC BIZ ESCAPES TO BRIGHTON

The British music biz is heading down to catch some more rain at the seaside for MAMA's annual new music jaunt The Great Escape this week, where over 450 artists will perform across 30 venues. In between soggy fish and chips and as many free drinks as we can stomach, we look forward to seeing Sigrid, The Japanese House, Joe Fox, Isaac Gracie, Marika Hackman and Raye.

An industry conference arm will feature discussions on the issues of the day, and a long list of networking events hosted by The Orchard, the Association of Independent Music, PPL, PRS and more will ensure delegates are drunk before 5pm.

On Thursday, our schedule includes Island priorities Sigrid and Joe Fox, Polydor artist Raye (who’s just signed to Interscope in the U.S.), The Japanese House and Marika Hackman (who are both signed to the label that brought us The 1975, Dirty Hit).

On Friday, we’ll be fighting our way through the crowds to see new Virgin EMI artist Isaac Gracie and independent pop duo IDER, plus whatever else takes our fancy. Stay tuned for the verdict.