Sound City reaffirms its commitment to gender equality and its role as a Keychange advocate, aiming for gender balance across events and programming.

The festival sustains strong industry support and partnerships, including Arts Council England, BPI, PRS, PPL, PRSF, AIM, UK Music, TuneCore (Apply to Play), Off Axis, and SESAC, plus regional and educational partners.

Sound City 2026 unveils a rising stars lineup for its Liverpool festival, with headliners including Jalen Ngonda, Keo, Westside Cowboy and a raft of emerging acts performing across Liverpool city centre on May 2–3, 2026, with the Sound City+ Conference on May 1.

Confirmed acts include The Rolling People, TIDETIED, PISS, Brooki, Tom Rowley, Adult Leisure, AKA/ Zander/ Jamie McIntyre/ Ben Ellis, Tough Cookie, Bleech 9:3, Basht, The North/ Dolder, Talia Rae, Dirty Circus, Girl In The Year Above, Palembu and Remee, among others.

Sound City+ Conference remains a key industry gathering for trends, innovation, and best practices in UK and international music, backed by major bodies like BPI, PRS, PPL, PRSF, AIM, UK Music, and Arts Council England.

An announcement adds 21 new rising acts alongside already revealed artists like Westside Cowboy, Jalen Ngonda, Keo, and Brooke Combe, underscoring a forward-looking, diverse lineup.

The festival emphasizes discovering rising talent and creating connections among artists, audiences, industry professionals, and fellow musicians.

Becky Ayres, Sound City’s Managing Director, underscores the event’s talent-spotting identity and its role in connecting emerging artists with audiences and industry, via Sound City+.

A stage at The Shipping Forecast will be named in honor of SESAC Vice President John Sweeney, reflecting the festival’s industry connections and commemorations.

Sound City highlights its philosophy of catching artists at the moment they are about to break, a track record that includes acts like Charli XCX, The 1975, Ed Sheeran, and Stormzy.

Ticket details and full information are available at soundcity.uk.com, with social channels for updates.

Emerging R&B spotlight Talia Rae, who has collaborated with David Gray, is highlighted as an artist to watch at Sound City.