MUMBAI: United Kingdom's Department for International Trade and Mumbai-based music promoter, Submerge will present The Exchange, a day-long conference that promotes ties between music industry professionals from India and the United Kingdom on 28 March 2017 at antiSOCIAL, Mumbai.

The conference will see some of the UK and India’s music industry professionals – from DJ/performers to music entrepreneurs and digital marketers – and facilitate a series of discussions designed to stimulate conversations around global trends in music production and consumption, and how key stakeholders in both the markets can create new collaborations and partnerships.

The Exchange is a platform where business, education, expertise and talent is exchanged between the two nations, and delegates include artists, managers, promoters, record labels, digital distribution companies, festival bookers/directors/organisers and promoters, covering all genres of music.

OML founder and the man many credit as the indie movement initiator Vijay Nair will deliver the opening address with Phil Patterson, DIT music specialist.

The first panel of the day, ‘Infrastructure and sound technology in the live music industry’ will see views being presented by Fali Damania, counted as one of the best sound engineers in the country, and Jayesh Veralkar, marketing manager at Dolby Laboratories alongside others.

With more and more Indian artists looking to make it internationally, and Western artists looking for new frontiers, opportunities for artists have increasedmanifold. Artists like Nerm of Shiva Soundsystem and Asian Underground pioneer Talvin Singh will share their experiences and expertise on the ‘Opportunities for glocal artist’ panel alongside singer Nischay Parekh of the up-and-coming act, Parekh and Singh.

One of the highlights of the day will be the vinyl showcase that will celebrate the revival of the format with a presentation by DJs and collectors like Uri and Pramod Sippy in association with Mahim’s vinyl store, Revolver Club.

The Exchange is a part of the trade mission that UK delegates are undertaking from 27 March to 1 April 2017. The week-long mission will act as a catalyst for collaboration, exploration and expansion of the British music industry in India. Part of that means more touring opportunities for UK artists in India and a panel of festival bookers, venue owners and promoters in India will attempt to shed light on what it takes to build a touring circuit in India.

There’s no denying the future of music lies in digital streaming services. Live streaming app Streo co-founder Prerana Dhawan, online digital music distributor Ditto Music founder Lee Parsons and music distributor Horus Music’s Nina Condron will attempt to demystify the digital ecosystem in India on the ‘Digital music in India’ panel.

An international trend that is slowly but surely making its mark in India is the rise of boutiques music festivals, which are smaller and more intimate on scale and offer more than just music as an experience. Founders and organisers of the recently concluded GOAT Festival in Goa, Dave Gaydon, Naariyal Paani’s Emanuelle Decker and BASSCamp’s Sohail Arora will speak on opportunities that Indian boutique festivals present to UK artists.

This event takes place as part of the UK/India 2017 Year of Culture, a celebration of the long-standing relationship between the UK and India, which will see cultural events, exhibitions and activities taking place in both countries throughout 2017.