MUSIC showcase Liverpool Sound City is to hold its biggest-ever Expo event in May to promote the latest innovations in music, art and technology.

Sound City is best-known for its gigs, but organisers also want it to inspire Mersey music firms. It has always held a conference alongside the gigs, but the new Expo – to be held at the Echo Arena – will be its biggest yet.

Meanwhile, London rapper Professor Green has been confirmed as one of the headliners at the music festival, which will run from May 17 to May 19. Other acts confirmed to play include Texas rockers White Denim and “psychedelic electronic innovators” Death in Vegas.

Sound City will also host the UK Music Student Awards at the Echo Arena on May 17. The awards, run in collaboration with Access to Music and hosted by DJ Edith Bowman, are designed to showcase stars from the UK’s music schools and colleges.

Dave Pichilingi, chief executive of Sound City, said the expo “takes its inspiration from the golden age of Expos, where the new, the innovative and the exciting were brought together under one roof to delight and amaze”.

He added: “We’re thrilled to announce the first wave of bands that’ll make up the line-up for Liverpool Sound City 2012 – an eclectic mix of genres that makes our festival such an interesting, innovative, must-see event.

“We’re taking Sound City to a whole new level this year by bringing in Access To Music and co-hosting the UK Music Student Awards, which shows our commitment to the new breed of musicians and those who work in the music industry, as well as being a great excuse for a party.”

Sound City, which has already held sister events in Norway and the Middle East, will hold another event in New York next month.