Music Biz President Portia Sabin Reveals Conference Will Return to Atlanta in 2026

With more than 2,000 attendees converging on Atlanta for the annual Music Biz conference at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel and Convention Center Galleria, Music Business Association president Portia Sabin opened day 2 by reminding everyone of the “guiding belief” behind the Music Business Association and its conference — while revealing the conference will return to Atlanta next year.

“We’re all better together,” Sabin proclaimed. “We know we can achieve success and overcome any challenge in our way when we come to the table with open minds, foster collaboration, and develop solutions that truly support one another.”

Sabin pointed out that the music industry has become truly global in the past several years and, corresponding to that, international music companies now comprise one-fifth of Music Biz’s membership. What’s more, she said 15% of the attendees at this year’s conference (which runs from May 12-15) are from outside the U.S: “That’s 250 individuals, representing 168 companies and over 30 countries, ranging from Vietnam and Australia, to Japan and Egypt,” she said.

In order to better represent its membership and the global music industry, “we’ve embraced this shift by hosting our virtual Passport series — free webinars that dissect issues in music markets across the globe — as well as expanding our traveling Roadshow series with our first international event in Toronto this past March,” Sabin added.

Finally, Sabin pointed out that in preparing to hold the conference in Atlanta over the last year, Music Biz hosted a number of mixers and meetups to “build relationships with Atlanta’s vibrant music business community. Most recently, we partnered with the Mayor’s Office of Film, Entertainment and Nightlife for an event at City Hall, to connect local & global music professionals and preview some of the programming we offer at our conference.”

After holding the convention for the last 10 years in Nashville, the Music Biz conference is going on the road again, just like its antecedent organization, the National Assn. of Recording Merchandisers, did for decades by moving the annual convention to various cities. However, Sabin revealed that Atlanta will host the convention again next year, too, while thanking the city and the hotel for supporting it.

“Thank you to the team here at the Renaissance for making this year’s event possible, and to the city of Atlanta for being such gracious hosts ever since we announced plans to bring our conference here in 2025 and 2026,” Sabin said at the beginning of her remarks to attendees.