As we excitedly announced months ago, we’re returning to our original home of Bethlehem, PA this August for the Musikfest Music Industry Conference, a three-day meeting of the industry minds set to occur in the middle of the nation’s largest free, non-gated music festival.
If you want to get in on the action for the lowest rate possible, you’d better hurry: Early Bird badge rates expire this Wednesday, April 1.
The Musikfest Music Industry Conference (MIC for short) will take place from August 2-4 inside of the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks brings together artists, educators, producers, industry professionals, and students for three days of conversations, workshops, mentoring, and performances focused on the real world of music today. (Also, rumor has it that someone you may know is a featured presenter once again this year…)
View conference badge options and get yours here. While you’re in town, don’t forget to enjoy the entire Musikfest experience, taking place throughout Bethlehem from July 31-August 9 (with the popular Preview Night taking place on the South Side on Thursday, July 30).
For the past two years, we’ve concluded October — and the year’s tour schedule — by taking a trip to New Orleans for NOLA MusiCon, a platform for artists and industry professionals to connect, learn, and inspire during three days of informative panels, inspiring interviews, and unparalleled networking.
This October 28-30, we’ll make it three in a row. NOLA MusiCon is BACK for 2026!
We hope you’ll join us once again in The Big Easy, and we’re excited to be a part of this incredible community once again. Details on conference and live music programming are sure to come in the weeks and months ahead. In the meantime, keep an eye out, because early bird badges will soon be made available for just $99 until July 1.
Want an inside look at our experience at NOLA MusiCon 2025? Relive the magic with our official vlogumentary, produced by our friends and fellow UnderDogs at NuRenaissance.
A number of folks asked if we would be offering The A&R Foundation’s Music Business Accelerator program virtually, for those who are unable to attend weekly on Saturdays in Nashville this spring.
So, we got together… and we decided to open this thing up. Now, virtual attendees — UnderDog or not — are eligible to join us for this 12-week program!
The Music Business Accelerator is a 12-week program tailored for performing musicians and creative arts businesses within the music ecosystem who are looking to strengthen business acumen and build sustainable, long-term creative ventures.
The program is divided into two core tracks:
Entrepreneurial Fundamentals: Covering the foundations of starting, structuring, and operating a creative business.
Music Business Essentials:Â Diving into industry specific topics, real world application, and developing a healthier, more intentional relationship with money.
Throughout the program, you will gain practical tools, frameworks, and guidance you can immediately apply to your careers, whether you are just getting started or looking to level up an existing project.
With this news comes another update: we’re extending our application deadline one final time to Tuesday, March 24! This is an opportunity to receive FREE access to the information you need to structure your creative business – no matter where your journey takes you this spring!
Austin Breckenridge is the Executive Director of The A&R Foundation, a 501(c)(3) Texas nonprofit entity dedicated to transforming creative passions into sustainable businesses, by providing independent musicians and creative arts businesses with tools, resources, and education on entrepreneurship.
The A&R Foundation offers the Music Business Accelerator cohort, a 12-week program which teaches musicians and creative entrepreneurs the fundamentals of building their businesses. Austin joins us on The Quinn Spinn to discuss the program, which is coming to Nashville for the first time this spring, alongside details on how to apply.
In any sense, leadership begins with an example. The best leaders are those who are willing to make the first effort. They’re often the first to arrive, and the last to leave. When they communicate expectations, they are willing and able to follow up with a demonstration. True leaders will never ask someone to do something they wouldn’t. Leaders understand the operation and can step in whenever needed… but they know when and what to delegate, and empower those around them to seize opportunities.
True leaders are not threatened by your growth. Instead, they encourage it, because they know that the success of any community rests on their ability to develop prominent, capable, impactful leaders.
Leaders don’t gatekeep; they open doors to new possibilities.
Leaders don’t dictate; they communicate.
Leaders don’t micromanage; they guide.
Leaders listen and encourage healthy discussion, and remain calm and measured when delivering feedback. Leaders hold others *and* themselves accountable to the same standards. In times of conflict, leaders work toward solutions that make all involved parties better.
Leaders build and participate in a community in order to understand its needs, and to determine how they are best equipped to serve those needs. Leaders are not interested in power, but in doing their part as tone-setters to produce impact at the collective and individual levels. To accomplish this, leaders must have good judgment as to when and how to get involved – and sometimes, that means stepping back from the spotlight to let others shine. Leaders don’t need credit for your accomplishments. Seeing you achieve is credit enough, as it signals your emergence from the stable, nurturing environment they have helped produce.
Leadership is not a trait or a title bestowed upon us from somebody else. It’s an intrinsic understanding of the challenges facing our communities, and our ability to produce solutions.
Regardless of title, experience level, or one’s station in life, there is a leader inside each of us.
We find that leader by first getting in touch with our own values, utilizing our experiences and the perspectives gained to inform our idea of a better world. We adopt the consistent actions that align with those values, and make it our mission to address anything standing in the way. From there, our vision takes shape. What does that better world look like? Sound like? Feel like? What impact is brought about by the change we create, and who benefits?
How is that impact bigger than any one individual’s success?
Once we’ve answered that question, it becomes much easier to attract and build alongside our fellow builders. We offer each other support, accountability, and guidance. We approach each other with humility and respect for the unique perspectives, traits, and abilities that each individual possesses. All the while, each individual’s sword is sharpened by the growing sense of community. As we continue leading ourselves to do our part, the example we set inspires those around us to develop the leader within.
Leaders produce more leaders, and leaders grow together.
P.S.: We’re growing our own international community of leaders – artists and creatives alike – as we re-define the music industry. If this piece resonated with you, consider becoming an UnderDog!
We met Austin Breckenridge of The A&R Foundation last year during SXSW. We loved their mission, and we knew we had to work together.
Just about a year later, we’re bringing their Music Business Accelerator program to Nashville for the first time — and it’s an exclusive offering for the UnderDogs!
For independent creatives, producing art is just one piece of the puzzle. To build a fully functioning creative ecosystem — and turn it into a viable career — there comes a time when we must all get down to business.
That means leaning into a world that may be entirely new, and learning a whole bunch of things that you don’t yet know. Once it becomes business, things get serious. The pitfalls in this strange wilderness seem to multiply. The question of “what if I fail?” becomes more prevalent.
Scary, isn’t it?
It doesn’t have to be. In fact, we’re teaming up with The A&R Foundation based out of Austin, TX to make it feel like a breeze. We’re excited to offer their Music Business Accelerator cohort for the first time ever in Nashville — and it’s free to all current UnderDogs members!
Music Business Accelerator is a 12-week program tailored for performing musicians and creative arts businesses within the music ecosystem who are looking to strengthen business acumen and build sustainable, long-term creative ventures.
The program is divided into two core tracks:
Entrepreneurial Fundamentals: Covering the foundations of starting, structuring, and operating a creative business.
Music Business Essentials: Diving into industry specific topics, real world application, and developing a healthier, more intentional relationship with money.
Throughout the program, you will gain practical tools, frameworks, and guidance you can immediately apply to your careers, whether you are just getting started or looking to level up an existing project.
The Music Business Accelerator is offered for FREE. The only two requirements to apply are that 1) you live in the greater Nashville area (because sessions take place in-person) and 2) you are a current UnderDogs member. You can learn more about how to join here.
Once you become an UnderDog, you can apply to be considered any time between now and Friday, March 6 at 11:59 p.m. CT. Selected applicants will be notified no later than March 11, 2026, and the program is scheduled to begin on April 4, 2026 for orientation and end on June 27, 2026. A tentative graduation celebration is scheduled for July 18, 2026.
About The A&R Foundation The A&R Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Texas nonprofit entity dedicated to transforming creative passions into sustainable businesses, by providing independent musicians and creative arts businesses with tools, resources, and education on entrepreneurship.
More instructors. More subjects. More opportunities to learn, grow, and connect with the music industry.
We’ve had the opportunity to travel all over the world, learning from independent artists and industry professionals alike. A common thread in these conversations? While there are countless people with talent across the musical landscape, talent is only part of the equation.
The modern creative landscape makes being an independent artist so much more complex than write-record-release-perform-succeed-repeat. Embarking upon a career in the music industry requires us to challenge ourselves in new and evolving ways. We must learn how to communicate our messages, foster genuine relationships, and create opportunities. Building a career as an independent creative means keeping an open mind to possibility, a willingness to learn new skills, and the ability work in community with others moving in a similar fashion.
We’ve built that community — and it’s full of professionals who are ready to equip you with everything you need, as you scale the mountain toward your creative destiny!
Introducing UMC Academy 2.0
Our revamped UMC Academy gives you the power to build your own curriculum, based on your needs at this point of your creative journey. Our Faculty is skilled, well-versed, and successful in a variety of disciplines across the entertainment landscape — and they’re here to pay their knowledge forward!
Each UMC Academy Faculty member gives you the option to join them on a free discovery call, giving you the opportunity to share what you’re working on, while helping them understand how they can best serve you. From there, you and your Faculty member work together to decide your best path forward, developing a roadmap for greater success and visibility in the greater creative landscape.
Click the image below to meet our new UMC Academy Faculty!
A New Year has begun, and with it, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to connect with the music industry (and the creative world at large) throughout 2026.
We have seen first-hand that venturing out into the world and exploring the greater creative landscape can be transformative, leading to new ideas, partnerships, and collaborations that will elevate not only your creative platform, but those of the people around you. Not to mention, traveling gives you an opportunity to see new places, meet new people, and create unforgettable experiences.
With that, we’re here to give you a list of some of our favorite music industry conferences and festivals that will be well worth your time to check out in 2026.
You know about this one, right? Going strong since 1987, SXSW is the crossroads where creatives from all over the world come together to push creativity, technology, and society forward. Music is still very much a core component of the annual conference and festival.
The networking opportunities at SXSW — and all throughout Austin that week — are second to none. In our travels last year, we connected with so many new friends and collaborators whom either led to or enhanced our involvement in some of the other events on this list. If you’re looking for a tone-setter to kick your year into overdrive, this is the one!
A brand-new conference from the folks at Jump Global, Hits Home bills itself as “your space to reconnect — with the music, the mission, and the community that makes it all possible.” While speakers and schedule details are still forthcoming, the conference promises an alternative approach, pledging to“feature people and perspectives instead of topic-specific panels” alongside surprise moments peppered throughout the experience. Color us intrigued!
This also fills an important need in the Nashville landscape. With Music Biz migrating to Atlanta last year (and with other planned locations in the works), Nashville was left without a music conference that isn’t genre-specific. Hits Home has the potential to become Music City’s signature industry event.
Now in its second year as the re-imagined Canadian Music Week, Departure presents an opportunity to learn everything there is to know about the music industry North of the Border. The conference’s programming continues to expand, with seven planned conference tracks spanning music, technology, marketing, and more. Speakers at last year’s conference included Bryan Adams, Shaggy, Lindsay Ell, Chantal Kreviazuk, and many more.
In similar fashion to its U.S.-based cousin, SXSW London provides a global stage for the creators driving society forward. Based in Shoreditch in the heart of East London, this event (and the city in which its based) provides you and your music a gateway to the other side of Planet Earth, as well as an opportunity to discover new artists and iconic venues.
Musikfest (Bethlehem, PA) July 31-August 9 (Conference Aug. 2-4)
Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without the nation’s largest free, non-gated music festival (and the pride and joy of our original hometown)!
Now in its 43rd year, Musikfest features close to 500 free performances by independent artists from over the world, as well as a full slate of renowned headliners every year. This year also marks the return of the Musikfest Music Industry Conference, a three-day opportunity to network, learn, and connect within the music industry. (Did we mention that we’re already planning to be involved?)
Heading a bit further into Ontario, this three-day, all-indie festival has become a staple of our year. A community-grown effort started by Russ and Valerie Robson, Gussapolooza features three stages, a vendor and artisan village, educational opportunities, on-site camping, and plenty of opportunities to connect before, during, and after festival hours. Not to mention, the lineup always provides a healthy sampling of North America’s hungriest, most talented independent artists. Our summer simply wouldn’t be complete without this one!
The Queen City is alive with arts and culture, and Confluence does an excellent job bringing the region’s top creative minds together to explore the many gems Charlotte has to offer. Of course, this occurs within the greater context of music industry education, with Charlotte’s reputation as a financial powerhouse playing a key role in helping independent artists and other changemakers move toward building sustainable careers.
NOLA MusiCon (New Orleans, LA) Dates TBD (Late October)
For the past two years, NOLA MusiCon has served as our grand tour finale. You can bet that we’ll be back again for the third consecutive year!
NOLA MusiCon brings professionals from across the musical world to the Big Easy. Attendees have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the city’s unique culture while learning from some of the best and brightest the industry has to offer. Overall, NOLA MusiCon combines New Orleans’ rich cultural heritage with the latest industry knowledge, all while advocating for a richer and more diverse music ecosystem.
Previous speakers include Nardwuar the Human Serviette, Dawn Richard, Samantha Fish, Todd Rundgren, and many more.
We exist in a music industry that seeks to convince artists and consumers alike that efficiency and optimization matter more than truth; that creating as a means to an end is more important than the sanctity of the creative process itself.
For years, the industry-prescribed blueprint for artist success has been as follows: Chase trends. Go viral. Write and record the music that we know will sell, regardless of what *you* want to pursue creatively. Oh, and get those social and streaming numbers up. Otherwise, we won’t take you seriously, and we won’t even have a productive conversation with you in the first place.
Oh, and that’s not even getting into all of this AI stuff. Personally, I’m not against AI as a companion tool to enhance your business processes. For example, if you need something to help optimize your email marketing process, so you can get back to what you’re *actually* here to create – and you can’t afford to hire a human – it’s reasonable to delegate that work to your hypervirtual assistant. In that case, you’ll free up time to focus on your piece of this – the creation itself.
However, this notion that AI could somehow *replace* the artist – that, for the sake of optimization, it can and should be used to generate music, images, video, and tell the stories that human artists have been telling for centuries – is a slap to the collective face of creators everywhere. The art that inspires us (and whose data exists within these servers to be replicated, not duplicated, and certainly never improved upon) was created from genuine human experiences by living creative beings. Each song, image, novel, or film tells the story of the individual moment and its own unique conditions – events that can only truly be experienced alongside other living things, and the world in which we live.
But, I digress…
The over-optimization of the creative process – where the focus is not on connection, but consumption – is at odds with the innovative spirit of the independent artist. Straighten up, fly right, and do what we say… or we’ll just find the next person who will, and you’ll be left fighting Spotify for fractions of a cent with all of your other aUtHeNtIc, oRiGiNaL indie buddies.
Feels hopeless, doesn’t it? Especially when you consider that those who put this structure in place are also the ones who hold the cards…
…under this model of the industry.
We need an alternative.
The industry is in dire need of people with fresh ideas. The artists have them. They’re the ones who have observed from the bottom of the totem pole for as long as there has been a music industry. They’re crafty, resourceful, and they know what it takes to persevere and keep going. They’ve also seen everything that’s wrong with this version of the music industry, and therefore, have the best perspective on how to make it better.
Artists understand business. They understand that, to build your passion into a career, it takes more than just talent, good looks, or a viral moment. It takes waking up every morning – sometimes after a long night – and putting in consistent effort over years. Decades, even. It takes balancing the creative process with other jobs, school, business responsibilities, relationships, family obligations, and their own checkbooks. It means a lot of trial and error; each time they get something wrong, big or small, they must learn to trust themselves all over again, and strive to get it just a little more right the next time.
You want dedication? You want commitment? You want someone who has meticulously developed a versatile skillset? Someone who is going to keep working, and who will keep getting back up every time they’re knocked down? Look to your local independent artist. A savvy one is the best business partner you could ever have.
Oh… and did I mention that they’re the reason we even *have* an industry in the first place? There is no art without artists. And there certainly wouldn’t be any AI slop without them, either.
The artists deserve seats at the table, and we all need to hear what they have to say.
As we head into 2026, Underground Music Collective pledges to provide a forum for these artists. Through our multimedia content, live experiences, expanding suite of Artistpreneur services, and travels to music industry events across multiple continents, we will elevate our creative community to have their music and their voices heard around the musical world.
Here in Nashville, 2026 also provides an opportunity to enhance our ability to serve the local community with our own dedicated physical creation spaces. Updates on that project are expected soon.
Thank you for making 2025, without question, our Best Year Ever. We’ve loved every minute.
If you loved that, though? Wait until you see what’s to come.
