The 2021 South African Music Week will be held from January 26 to 28.

The free event is a three-day conference and webinar event with high profile speakers, artists, producers and songwriters discussing the “Business of Music.”

The virtual event seeks to “explore potential ways to maximize the convergence of music, technology and business, and aims to forge a new successful path for musicians,” according to a statement by the organizers.

The theme for this year’s event is “Music in the (4IR) Fourth Industrial Revolution.’

Panels as part of the show will discuss topics like ‘The Future of Music Business: Surviving COVID-19,’ ‘Digital World: Music Streaming, ‘Sync & Gaming,’ ‘Turning Artists Into Brands,’ and ‘Music and Copyright Law.’

“We are excited to write a new chapter for the South African music industry by bringing the world to our doorstep, using the digital age to unearth emerging talent and plugging it into a global audience,” remarked Michael Moeti, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of South African Music Week.

“Thanks to the phenomenal inspiring success of Master KG’s ‘Jerusalema’, South African talent is being recognised globally. SAMW is therefore the ideal platform from which to entrench this interest and build a robust cross-border music industry based on collaboration and making the most of music in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

Andrew Mitchley, the head of A&R at David Gresham Records, Erin Benjamin, Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Live Music Association CEO, Jake Gold, Chief Executive Officer of The Management Trust, Jotam Matariro, Chief Executive officer of Composers, Authors and Publishers Association and Munyaradzi Chanetsa, Sony/ATV A&R manager for Africa are some of the speakers for this year’s event.

Others are Neill Dixon, president of Canadian Music Week, Mpumi Phillips, Creative Manager of Sheer Publishing, Antos Stella, Chief Executive Officer of Content Connect Africa, Siya Metane, Chief Executive Officer of Slikour on Life, and Canadian music journalist and Digital specialist, Erin Ashley Lowers.