OLAF FURNISS

Olaf Furniss is the co-founder of Wide Events, which hosts the Wide Days international music convention, the Born To Be Wide seminar/social evenings, the Off The Record youth initiative, and, in partnership with the Edinburgh Fringe, Made In Scotland Gigs. The company is spearheading Scotland’s music export initiatives and, in addition to promoting the Scottish presence at ESNS, SXSW and The Great Escape, has developed a training workshop for music-makers and rights holders to become sync-ready. It has also developed collaborations with music professionals in Mexico. An expert in music tourism, Olaf organised the world’s first international conference to bring the two sectors together and has hosted numerous workshops/panels on the subject. In 2023 he launched the Music Tourist podcast. As a journalist, Olaf has reported for the BBC, The Guardian, Billboard, Musik Woche and I-Q, and he co-writes the Under The Radar column in the Scotland on Sunday, focusing on emerging Scottish talent.