Music and games industry unite at GameCity Squared

Blitz CEO Phillip Oliver and Positech boss Cliff Harris are to be joined by UK Music’s Feargal Sharkey at Gamecity Squared for a Curry Sessions panel titled ‘Stealing is Wrong: Beyond Filesharing’.

The panel hopes to address the potential and pitfalls as the digital business model continues to evolve, from the perspective of creative artists in a networked age.

"Clearly, we are entering a new era in terms of how creative content is made, distributed and consumed," said Feargal Sharkey, who found fame as the front man of UK punk legends The Undertones.

“For all who make and invest in games and music, this presents significant challenges. However, increasingly, it is also a challenge for telcos, device manufacturers and any number of technology companies. In truth, all our futures are intertwined, and it is vital that we can work together and deliver the high quality content fans want and love, on whatever platform they choose to consume it.”

The panel, which is set to explore both the music and video game industries, is to welcome audience input, and promises to address possible solutions to the apparent crisis in the creative economy.

"One of the things we’ve always tried to do at GameCity is not to look at games in isolation, but as part of a rich ecosystem of other cultural works. Having UK Music along to GameCity Squared is a great opportunity to look at video games in the context of the rest of contemporary culture," added GameCity director Iain Simons.

Designed to be as topical as possible, the session comes as discussions around Digital Britain continue, and with a Digital Economy Bill expected this November.

Click here to visit the event’s official website.