MUMBAI: Aiming to bring together fans and rising YouTube stars from across the globe, Branded Ltd has announced Digital and Music Matters 2013 with a YouTube fanfest powered by HP. The two night fest will be held in Singapore and showcase a roster of over 20 global sensations.

The YouTube stars performing at the fest have a combined subscriber base of 12.5 million and over 2.5 billion views. The fest will showcase live performances and live debuts of new content along with an interactive meet and greet session between stars and fans.

The line-up of international music professionals include Dub FX (Australia), Little Boots (England), Indus Creed (India), GAC (Indonesia), Weaver (Japan), Eastern Sidekick (Korea), Electrico (Singapore) and the London Souls (USA) amongst others.

Digital & Music Matters president and Branded Ltd CEO Jasper Donat said, “YouTube’s influence on today’s digital consumer is undisputable. Every month, one billion unique users visit YouTube to discover and share content and videos like never before. They have also given birth to the new wave of celebrities, whose influence can be seen across pop culture, politics and today’s marketing campaigns. Our partnership with YouTube and HP helps us to further our vision to bring the best of today’s emerging artists to the delegates of this year’s Digital & Music Matters, and their fans in Asia.”

The eighth edition of Music Matters will feature a line-up of music industry heavyweights like Johnny Wright manager of artists including the Backstreet Boys and Justin Timberlake, Gurrumul Yunupingu, Australia’s triple-platinum selling artist, Rob Wells president global digital business Universal Music Group International, Frances Moore CEO The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Nikhil Chandhok group product manager YouTube and more. It will cover topics ranging from the future of ticketing to how artists can use Social Media to their advantages.

This year, the convention will also feature two days of mentoring sessions and workshops at the Music Matters Academy with HP, allowing industry experts from the music and entertainment industry to share tips and advice to help grow the local talent base, including the members of the Singapore Music Society.

“We want to give back to Asia’s music industry and to help budding artists with a platform to be seen and heard. With so many music industry experts from around the world gathered here for a few days, this is a great opportunity for talent to learn tips and tricks of the trade and network with the Music Matters delegates who can help them open up more opportunities,” added Donat.

Digital Matters, which returns for the third year, is presented by Windows Azure and produced in association with Movideo and CASBAA. This year, it will focus on the steady innovation in digital technologies across the music and entertainment industry, which has opened varied and lucrative opportunities to monetize content. International brands like Microsoft, The Coca-Cola Company, YouTube, SingTel and more will share ideas on how brands and companies can make use of the latest technology to grow and cultivate their fans, customers and stakeholders.

The lineup of speakers includes Taras Bugir worldwide managing director media and cable Microsoft, Wendy Clark senior vice president integrated marketing communication and capabilities The Coca-Cola Company, Brad Ramsey director consumer marketing Google Asia Pacific and Simon Joyce CEO MCM Media amongst others.

The week that matters will conclude with the three-night music festival, Music Matters Live with HP, featuring over 50 bands from 20 countries across seven venues in Clarke Quay, Singapore, including Burma’s first all-singing, all-dancing, all-girl group Me N Ma Girls. The artistes will be performing over 160 shows at the music fest.

“We want to help create new stars by supporting upcoming artists and the independent music community. With Music Matters Live with HP, these artists will get the chance to perform to a truly international crowd while at the same time, connect with their fans in this part of the world,” he mentioned.

Online participants this year can look forward to a dedicated YouTube channel and tune in to the YouTube FanFest. Digital & Music Matters will be held at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore from 20 to 25 May 2013.