TuneCore's second annual Indie Artist Forum took place in the musical hot bed of downtown Nashville, TN on February 19th & 20th, 2016.

The event kicked off with an industry luncheon, followed by an industry mixer Friday evening. TuneCore teamed up with Mirrored Media to produce this two day event, held at Acme Feed & Seed.

The goal of the event was to hold discussions with independent music makers and songwriters, share wisdom from folks in the field, and revel in performances by talented TuneCore Artists based in the creative city. Attendees began to line up outside the venue as early as 9:00 AM, and not long after, the Forum was underway! Eager artists and songwriters checked in, mingled and grabbed some breakfast, all while catching a performance by singer-songwriter Justin Klump.

The event was hosted by Kelley James, who jumped on stage to introduce TuneCore CEO, Scott Ackerman. Scott connected with the crowd, sharing notes on TuneCore’s 2015 growth, and where the company is headed in 2016.

“Our ultimate goal is to be on the journey with TuneCore Artists, from that first song all the way through their career,” Ackerman explained.

Next, legendary Grammy award-winning producer, artist and songwriter Charlie Peacock took the stage, followed by rock star Peter Frampton and a lunch time performance by Nashville-based duo Like Strangers.

After lunch, guests welcomed accomplished publisher/songwriter Craig Wiseman to the stage. (whose worked with Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Blake Shelton, to name a few) Craig captivated the room with his candid advice on starting and growing your music career.

Genevieve Thompson and Drew Simmons were summoned to the stage after Mr. Wiseman to share insights on growing a music career in 2016 and utilizing social media to build your audience. Thompson is a partner at Back 40 Entertainment – a label, publishing and management company – and Simmons is the artist manager behind Young the Giant and GM of Foundations Artist Management.

Our final speaking guest of the day was John Marks – taste making SiriusXM music programmer and current Head of Global Programming, Country Music at Spotify. R.LUM.R capped off the day with a live performance with his edgy and thoughtful R&B tunes.

Just a couple hours after R.LUM.R wrapped up his set, the Acme Feed & Seed was transformed and TuneCore Live: Nashville was underway!

Up first was the brand new Nightly, followed by country artist Ray Scott and and country singer Meghan Linsey (who was also featured on The Voice in 2015!)

A special thanks goes out to all of the guest speakers, performing artists, sponsors and the independent artists who took time out of their weekend to work on their career and join us for what turned out to be an amazing day of learning and discussion. We cannot wait to do it all again!

This event recap was originally featured on TuneCore's blog HERE.