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Selina is a nomadic lifestyle brand offering new physical and digital platforms to accommodate the needs of a new generation of travellers and remote workers. Blending beautifully-designed accommodation with coworking spaces, recreation, wellness and local experiences, Selina is developing a dynamic platform and creation of holistic stay to inspire meaningful connections with people, places and communities around the world. Today we have 53 hotels in 13 countries and we are growing fast targeting more than 400 locations and 130.000 beds in 19 countries by 2023.

How does music fit into this ethos?

Music is part of Selina’s DNA; nothing can trigger an emotional connection to a place or time like music, which is why this is an important piece of Selina’s experience. We have every Experience Manager setting the atmosphere in each property, backed up by a selection of playlists curated by locally selected partners. We also have performances from both local and international talent, ensuring that 70% of the content that we are playing in each location is giving local artists a platform to showcase their music.

Can you tell us more about the Selina Music Studio and the Selina International Music Summit?  

Selina Music Studios are set to become a key pillar of Selina’s 360-degree music platform, which includes live events, festivals, summits and education — the studio is a critical development in the brand’s vision to create physical and digital ecosystems that facilitate the future of digital nomadism for creators.

The studio platform aims to discover exciting new talent – whether it’s to take part in music summit event showcases, tour other Selina locations or to connect international guests with a roster of local talent for session work and collaboration projects. Selina’s flagship recording studio launched in Medellin, Colombia in early 2019. We’re also proud of Selina SIMS – a global music industry summit that brings together the international music industry to focus on ideas, opportunities, and investment. Featuring dozens of live music showcases, it represents both emerging and established talent from Colombia, Mexico and around the world. SIMS has merged education, professional networking opportunities, lifestyle, food, and of course insane amounts of local and international music culture over the years, with events in Colombia Miami and Mexico. 

Selina is clearly expanding rapidly into the UK – you’ve already transformed a former Manchester printing press factory into a venue which also houses nightclub Cotton. But what can we expect over the next 12 months? 

We opened Selina NQ1 Manchester this summer which offers a range of room categories from suites to community rooms, bar and restaurant Wilson’s Social, a dedicated Irish Pub Corner Boy, a brand new 200-capacity club, Cotton, which focuses on gender and LGBT+ balanced line ups, and an on-site cocktail club launching later this year. Hot on its heels is Selina Birmingham which has just opened in the Jewellery Quarter alongside restaurant La Mariposa, and we have an exciting pipeline of new openings in the coming months, including Selina Liverpool in the world’s first YMCA building, another Manchester property and launches in London and Brighton in early 2020.

Selina has very generously offered the winner of our Artist of the Year category an all expenses paid trip to Medellin. That sounds pretty amazing. What can they expect from that? 

Selina will not only host the winner at Selina Medellin for a week, but also offer the use of our Selina Music Studios to record material as well as feature an interview and photo-shoot with winner in our in-house publication, SMAG. We’re also keen to offer some exciting opportunities by tapping into our SIMS network of record labels, producers and musicians to help connect them with tour and festival opportunities, and offer a venue to perform in with a 1,000 capacity. 

And finally, what is your message for UK artists and music managers?

We’re thrilled to be bringing opportunities to more local artists around the world and now in the UK. We want to keep growing these platforms, and are excited to discover new talent to take part in music summit event showcases, tour other Selina locations, or to connect international guests with a roster of local talent for session work and collaboration projects.