Three days at the Wallifornia MusicTech Summit, in the “Cité Ardente”
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The Wallifornia Music & Innovation Summit was held from Tuesday 9 to Thursday 11 July, bringing together professionals from the music and technology sectors from all four corners of the planet, at La Grand Poste, in Liège.
On the Wallifornia MusicTech programme: keynote speakers, round tables, networking, lots of discussions… as well as several soirées! In this article, we will take you with us through three intense days.
Tuesday, 9 July
18.00. The Wallifornia MusicTech team welcomes us to La Grand Poste. One of Liège’s iconic locations, it is very much a symbol of the city’s creative district – an environment conducive to emulation which aims to rally together and unite the entrepreneurs and the creatives of the Cité Ardente (the ‘Fervent City’) and its surrounding areas. A challenge which has been successfully met as today La Grande Poste is home to a coworking system in which community cohesion is ensured thanks to year-round programming, offices rented by several start-ups, a food market – tested and approved – and a rooftop bar with a stunning view of the wharfs of the Meuse – also tested and approved. This site, steeped in history and overhauled into a veritable hive of activity, is also home to the Noshaq, LeanSquare and Wallifornia teams.
Now that we have briefly set the scene, let’s get back to the programme for the evening of Tuesday, 9 July. Once we have made our way inside, we collect our access passes and head for the building’s rooftop. We are welcomed with a drink and the upbeat melodies played by the Belgian indie/folk music band, Winter Woods. The tone is set. The mood is chilled-out, the participants chat, laugh and enjoy the moment. Over 30 nationalities are represented and the whole of the music/tech ecosystem has turned up: Soundcloud, Pias, Spotify, Deezer, PlayRight, Sacem, Universal, MusicTech Chile – France – Europe – etc.
– We are a little awestruck, but we take to it like a duck to water, flitting from discussion to discussion, and it’s exhilarating!
This evening event, sponsored by Deezer, is brought to a close to the sounds of the mixes put together by JAD, a Deezer resident DJ.
Wednesday, 10 July
The themes explored during this 2024 edition of the summit are: the fusion between mental and physical health and music, as well the impact AI is having on this industry. At 09.00, the day kicks off with an opening speech given by the two people running the event – Gérôme Vanherf and Coralie Doyen.
Next, it is the turn of Xavier Péters to take the floor. An integral part of the LeanSquare team, he explains how and why this investment fund is supporting the acceleration programme for start-ups active in music and tech, organised through the Wallifornia MusicTech umbrella.
The keynotes and round tables get underway in La Halle and Le Club and seem to follow each other at breakneck speed. It is one of the striking features of the summit: the overall curation is so relevant and so very inspiring that the days simply whizz by. Taking a 360° perspective of the sector, the events are all aimed at entrepreneurs, investors, professionals and start-ups.
Here’s a brief overview of the topics covered during this first day:
Here’s a brief overview of the topics covered during this first day: ‘How AI can become an opportunity for musicians’; ‘Is the music industry ready to face the challenges of AI?’; ‘Royalty payment problems; could the blockchain be the solution?’; ‘Ready player one, improve the musical experience’, ‘How to find funding?’, etc.
– We did tell you, it’s intense!
Then it is time for ‘Demoday’ – the final stage which concludes the acceleration programme. Out of several hundreds of applications only 8 start-ups are selected, and it is they who pitch their project in 3 minutes in front of a jury of industry experts. At the end of the two-day summit, a winner is announced.
We look at our watches and it is already 18.00. We dash off to have something to drink and a bite to eat before the soirée organised by Wallifornia at the Reflektor. The soirée’s line-up features several artists: Jaffa (BE), YMNK (FR) and DJ Rena (JP).
– We are dying to go even though it will hurt when the alarm clock goes off the next day.
Thursday, 11 July
The alarm goes off at 07.00.
– Yep, that hurts!
We get ourselves ready and head for La Grand Poste for the second day of the summit. This time, we take the river shuttle arranged by Wallifornia to take us to the location. And even if it may appear off-topic for this article, we feel it’s important to mention it, because this little jaunt on the Meuse was very enjoyable.
– We feel a little as if we are in the kitsch series ‘La Croisière S’amuse’ (FR) or ‘The Love Boat’ (EN), and if you don’t get the reference, no worries, here’s a short clip for you:
Once we have arrived at the location, we join the audience for a private showcase by the talented musician Min-Jung Kym. With her Steinway piano, equipped with brand-spanking new technology, she shows us how to play a duet score, as a solo. A suspended and spellbinding moment, but also extremely impressive for the precision of her movements and her mastery of the technologies connected to her instrument.
After this musical interlude, the day’s lectures and keynote talks come thick and fast.
On the programme:
‘AIs to remain healthy’; ‘How AI is conquering more traditional art’; ‘How managers are coping with the AI revolution’; ‘Datasets, powerful tools to increase the potential of music’; ‘Superfans, indispensable for your music company’, etc.
And with all that, it is already 17.00.
Gérôme and Coralie take to the stage one final time to announce the accelerator’s big winner. It is the start-up MediMusic, represented by Gary Jones (UK), which wins the programme this year. The pitch for its project: ‘prescribe music as a digital therapy scientifically proven to reduce anxiety, pain, cognitive disorders and improve mental health.’
The duo then take the time to thank all of their team for organising and managing the summit, the volunteers, the partners, the sponsors and all the participants.
– The organisation was absolutely spot on, all the participants were seriously impressed.
One final glance at our watches, it is 18.00.
Heading out to Les Ardentes on the shuttle buses arranged by the organisers.
– It’s great not to have to worry about our travel logistics!
And then?
We danced, we laughed, we ate far too well, we made the most of it, we sang and for the rest, as the Vectors* team would say: ‘What happens at Les Ardentes, stays at Les Ardentes!’
One thing is certain, we will be back!
* Vectors is the Parisian communication agency which worked with Wallifornia to make sure we received summaries of all the lectures and the event’s key moments throughout the summit, so that we wouldn’t miss a thing. They were our ears where we couldn’t be and that was vital.
As well as writing this article, we also filmed several video interviews over the two days. They will be made available over the coming weeks on the kingkong and Wallifornia MusicTech social networks.
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