Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Diplo, Louis Messina, Jay Marciano, Ty Stiklorius, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Dicky, Matoma Among Billboard's 14th Annual Touring Conference Panelists & Awards Honorees

NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Billboard's annual Touring Conference returns to Los Angeles, November 14-15 and will be held at the Montage Beverly Hills. The two-day gathering will be jam-packed with programming that highlights the touring industry's newest opportunities as well as current challenges. The conference will bring together some of the biggest executives and artists in the touring industry to discuss the ever-changing live music business. Industry veteran and Billboard Senior Touring and Live Entertainment Correspondent Dave Brooks will program this year's conference for the first time.  

Grammy Award-winning superstars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill will be named this year's Legends of Live honorees, Billboard's highest accolade in the live entertainment space. McGraw and Hill will also be speaking alongside touring veteran and long-time promoter Louis Messina.  

Billboard will once again lead the dialogue on the most important issues in the live music space with the two-day conference featuring an impressive lineup of artists and executives including Reggie Watts, Diplo, Matoma, Lil Dicky, Michele Bernstein, Partner at WME; Sam Hunt, Music Agent at Paradigm; Jay Marciano, Chief Operating Officer at AEG Worldwide and Chairman and CEO of AEG Presents; Ty Stiklorius, Founder and CEO of Friends at Work, to name a few.

Billboard will also introduce its first-ever Hip-Hop Power Panel, showcasing some of the genre's top players including Brent Smith, Partner at WME; Cheryl Paglierani from UTA; Erin Larsen from Paradigm; Omar Al-joulani, VP of Touring at Live Nation; Dre London, Founder, London Entertainment; and Robert Gibbs, Partner at ICM.

"As the live music business continues to grow and expand its influence, Billboard's TC&A celebrates the individuals and companies involved in bringing the magic of live music to fans everywhere," said John Amato, president of The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group. "Sadly, live music events have become ground-zero for some of the most horrific moments in recent history. While we cannot make sense of these acts of violence, live music remains a bedrock of our culture and will continue to serve as a common thread of inclusiveness and celebration. I'm proud that Billboard continues to bring together the touring community to commemorate the spirit and significance of live music."

The Billboard Touring awards will be held the evening of Tuesday, November 14th. The awards will be hosted by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Senior Correspondent, Hasan Minhaj, and will pay tribute to the artists, executives, companies and venues behind this year's top tours. Lil Uzi Vert will receive the Breakthrough Artist award and this year's Humanitarian Award will be given to Everytown for Gun Safety, the most influential gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country.  

All of the 2017 Finalists and Honorees include:

Legends of Live
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Everytown for Gun Safety

BREAKTHROUGH Artist
Lil Uzi Vert

TOP TOUR
Coldplay
Guns N' Roses
U2

TOP DRAW
Coldplay
Guns N' Roses
U2

TOP FESTIVAL
Coachella
Stagecoach
Outside Lands

TOP ARENA
Madison Square Garden, New York
O2 Arena, London
T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

TOP VENUE - UNDER 10,000 SEATS
Auditorio Nacional, Mexico City
The Axis at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas
Radio City Music Hall, New York

TOP VENUE - UNDER 5,000 SEATS
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
Fox Theatre, Atlanta
Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis 

TOP PROMOTER
AEG Presents
Live Nation Entertainment
OCESA-CIE

TOP INDEPENDENT PROMOTER WORLDWIDE 
Another Planet Entertainment
Frontier Touring
Mercury Concerts

TOP AGENCY:
Paradigm Talent Agency
Creative Artists Agency
William Morris Endeavor

CONCERT MARKETING & PROMOTION
Bruno Mars Paint the World Gold Campaign for 24K Magic Tour
Khalid Summer #F21xMusic Digital and We Are Forever campaigns for Forever 21
Lady Gaga's "Dream Ticket" promotion with Verizon for her Joanne World Tour
Taylor Swift's Super Saturday show with AT&T and Swift-curated channel on AT&T's DirecTV Now streaming-TV service
Foo Fighters Cal Jam and North American Concrete and Gold Tour with Capital One

TOP MANAGER
Jeffrey Azoff
Pat Corcoran
Scooter Braun

TOP COMEDY TOUR
Dave Chappelle
Amy Schumer
Jerry Seinfeld

TOP CLUB
The Fillmore Philadelphia
House of Blues Boston
9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.

TOP AMPHITHEATER
BB&T Pavilion, Camden, N.J.
Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles
Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, N.Y.

TOP BOXSCORE
Guns N' Roses, London Stadium, June 16-17
Phish, Madison Square Garden, New York, July 21-Aug. 6
U2, Stade de France, Paris, July 25-26

To learn more and for the full conference schedule visit: http://www.billboardevents.com/event/touring-conference-awards-2017/

About Billboard Media Group:
Billboard is the world's largest voice in music, built on the most complete and well-respected database of charts across all music genres. The Billboard charts define success in music. From the iconic Billboard magazine to Billboard.com, the ultimate consumer-facing destination for millions of passionate music fans, to the industry's most elite conference series and influencer events including the Power 100 and Women in Music – the Billboard brand has unmatched authority among fans, artists and the industry alike. Billboard has a social media footprint of 16.4 million social followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and creates more than 200M cross-platform video views per month. Billboard magazine has published major news-generating covers recently including Miley Cyrus, Miranda Lambert, Ariana Grande, The Chainsmokers, Nicki Minaj, Future, Selena Gomez, Fifth Harmony, Migos, Justin Bieber, and an open letter to Congress signed by 180+ of the music industry's biggest stars and executives. In December 2016, the Billboard Women in Music ceremony, which honored Madonna as Woman of the Year, was presented to a mass audience via Lifetime, the exclusive broadcast partner. 

In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group acquired SpinMedia's storied music assets Spin, Vibe, and Stereogum, establishing the world's largest music brand by digital traffic, social reach, and audience share. The combined entity of music and entertainment properties now reaches 47 million unique visitors and one in every three U.S. millennials. 

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SOURCE Billboard Media Group