The Foundation Of Independent Music announces tickets are on sale now for Indie Week 2026, the 18th annual conference held June 8-11 at the InterContinental New York Times Square, supported by A2IM and featuring a keynote address from Merlin CEO Charlie Lexton. Each year, Indie Week welcomes attendees from around the world to an environment where conversations turn into collaborations and relationships evolve into long-term partnerships, with this year featuring an expanded slate of panels and networking opportunities designed to foster meaningful connections and real-world exchange.
Charlie Lexton was recently appointed CEO of Merlin, the digital music licensing organization representing independent labels and distributors worldwide, with his keynote drawing on his global perspective to examine the evolving position of independent music companies within the digital economy. A2IM CEO Ian Harrison says, “We are thrilled to have Charlie Lexton deliver his first U.S. keynote address since taking the helm as Merlin CEO. Indie Week has evolved into the place where the future of our industry is written and where the most dynamic music companies and entrepreneurs come to connect.” Lisa Hresko, President of the Foundation of Independent Music and COO of A2IM, adds, “Indie Week continues to be a vital gathering point for the global independent community where ideas are exchanged, partnerships are formed, and the next chapter of independent music takes shape.”
The Foundation for Independent Music is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the growth, sustainability, and innovation of the independent music community, producing Indie Week as the world’s largest international gathering of independent music professionals and presenting the annual Libera Awards, the premier independent awards ceremony recognizing artistic and commercial excellence in independent music. A2IM is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization headquartered in New York City that exists to support and strengthen the independent recorded music sector, with membership currently including a broad coalition of over 700 independently-owned American music labels representing 37.32 percent of the music industry’s U.S. recorded music sales market based on copyright ownership, making independent labels collectively the largest recorded music industry sector, and in 2025, A2IM was named a Best Place To Work by the non-profit Women In Music.