Westway LAB 2020: Digital Music Days

The world has changed but we insist on finding new ways of living with this future way of life. Westway LAB 2020, to be held exceptionally this coming month of October instead of April, presents a hybrid configuration of physical participation along with digital access to its concerts and conferencing.

While we cannot all gather in Guimarães this year, we will kick off our 7th edition by celebrating the legacy of the first 6 years of co-creation and artist residencies on the Wednesday evening, from Guimarães, with a live-streamed soirée of amazing music created in Guimarães, by previous artists-in-residence.

The concert programme will be reduced to 9 shows by national artists, while we also find ways to showcase international artists via live streaming. The PRO Conferences will be hosted in the CCVF Small Auditorium, without an audience but rather streamed online via our Digital Conference Platform, in partnership with AMAEI, the Portuguese Independent Music Trade Association.

Further digital surprises are also planned so we can continue to show Guimarães, from Westway to the world. The irrefutable demonstration of artist talents and sharing of professional information shall continue, inevitably, in this new context, where the meetings take place in physical as well as virtual spaces, a combination of forms that is here to stay. Because musical creation cannot wait, and it will never be stopped.

- Rui Torrinha, Festival Director, CCVF / Westway LAB

We are thrilled to partner with Westway LAB for the 2020 2nd edition of AMAEI's Digital Music Days conference. With MERLIN's support we will make this entirely virtual 2nd edition of Digital Music Days a jam-packed agenda of Digital Music News from DSP's, metrics platforms, digital marketing and playlisting best practices, and other digital-related content. All delegates coming for either Digital Music Days or Westway LAB will have complete access to all conference tracks. See you in Guimarães and online!

- Nuno Saraiva, Conference Director, Westway LAB  and President of AMAEI