On the weekend of September 18th through September 20th, TuneCore hosted a successful Indie Artist Forum at SIR Studios in LA, bringing hundreds of artists from all over the country together to brainstorm and share what it means to be an emerging artist in the contemporary music landscape.

With Mirrored Media by their side producing the event, TuneCore brought insightful programming to artists who have been using its distribution services to sell their songs but are looking to elevate their careers. On Friday night, artists were invited to an exclusive Happy Hour event to mingle and get familiar with each other before a weekend of breakout sessions, discussions, and artist showcases.

On Saturday, Indie Artist Forum attendees were introduced to TuneCore’s key leaders such as CEO Scott Ackerman and Creative Director Joe Cuello. The casual, personable nature of the forum allowed for all parties to speak with each other. Other notable speakers included musicians Bonnie McKee, David Garza, and Ricky Reed (also known as Wallpaper.), who took questions from the audience and spoke openly about their work and their successes.

Towards the end of Saturday, Peter Asher, legendary Grammy award winning musician, manager, producer and record executive, graced the crowd with his incredible story of rising to the top of the music industry, followed by a very special performance! His stories included his tales of working with The Beatles, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Carol King, Neil Diamond, Elton John, and so many others. His presence was felt widely as attendees took to social media to post pictures about his appearance and quote some of his words of wisdom.

Jesse Boykins III rounded out the evening with a stripped-down performance of his hits. His set served as a reminder of how freeing it is to be an independent artist who’s worked hard for his fanbase and his accolades.

The Indie Artist Forum continued with its motivational programming on Sunday, with artist showcases as well as a few last panel discussions with artists and music execs, such as Chris Brown of Trapt, Lawrence Breaux, and Carlos Sosa, and Bob Moczydlowsky.

Through all the hard work and planning that went into producing the Indie Artist Forum, we were blown away by the graciousness of established artists and music industry leaders who want to help emerging artists grow their careers. We learned a lot ourselves about the importance of fostering a community for independent artists to empower each other. This was truly one of the highlights of our year!