July 30 – Franco Battiato, Marco Mengoni, Nicola Conte, and Erica Mou are only some of the talented artists that will animate Hit Week’s latest edition, the most important Italian music festival in the world, scheduled from September 7 to October 30 in the U.S. and Canada. A Sicilian singer-songwriter, the winner of the last of the Sanremo Festival, a DJ, and a young singer-songwriter who performed several times overseas: this group of artists will be joined by the Puglia Region and the “Canzoniere grecanico Salento.” Hit Week is a month of sounds, traditions and excellence that touch upon Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Toronto. After the success in China and Brazil, the festival (produced by Music Experience Roma Srl and Apple Inc Los Angeles) is ready to continue the success in North America. Created by the Italian Music Industry Federation, ICE, the Ministry of Economic Development, Puglia Sounds Promotion, and National Agency for Youth, Hit Week 2013 will end its journey in late October in LA where, with “Billboard,” it will introduce music industry professionals to the Italian musical scene. The winners of a musical and gastronomic contests, promoted by the National Agency for Youth whose finals were held at the Turin Traffic Festival will perform live on October 5 in Miami. “The strategy is to strengthen Italian music promotion in the world thanks to Hit Week International Festival. The Festival creates opportunities that could form the basis for large-scale operations involving a more extended supply chain,” said Enzo Mazza, president of FIMI, the Italian Music Industry Federation. “The Ministry of Economic Development, alongside ICE-Agency and IFPI, – added Carlo Angelo Bocchi, ICE-Agency Trade Commissioner in Los Angeles – has constructed a stable distribution channel for Italian records in the U.S, and this is evident in the 5th Hit Week edition. Music, films and books transmit sounds, words and images; the overall Italian products’ values come to light and are no longer a tool only concerned with aspects of cultural communication. Music is an industry that should be promoted and who needs to be supported to develop contacts with agents, distributors and major firms through digital platforms that make our music come alive in the United States.” Regarding the latest Hit Week edition, Princigalli Antonio, Coordinator of Puglia Sounds, declared: “We can confirm for the third consecutive year the collaboration with the Puglia festival, thanks to the synergy between the Puglia tourism promotion agency. Music, one of the region’s best-known elements, becomes the vehicle to promote Puglia as a tourist destination. We have already successfully tested the format in London and Paris and before arriving in Canada and the U.S., it will be replicated in the coming weeks in Budapest at the Sziget Festival.”
