Last year’s Midem, coming just after the credit crunch, inevitably saw a fall in attendance figures. But the fair has since revamped a number of key parts of the event, making it again the must-attend for anyone involved in the business of music (particularly as PopKomm has been cancelled this year). Foremost amongst these changes is the fact that access [...]

Renowned manager of the New York Metropolitan Opera Peter Gelb has been announced as the keynote speaker at MidemNet, part of Midem 2010 in January next. He will be talking about his ambitious programme to broaden the Met’s audience and will notably use his keynote to outline how new technologies have revitalised the Met, both widening and monetizing its audience.

MIDEM, the worldwide music community event held at Cannes each January, has announced that South Africa will be the guest of honour, following Russia last year. South Africa is musically a pretty cool place. For one thing, it is the tip of the vast African continent, and has connections to the east and west coasts, as well as the centre. [...]

MIDEM, the leading international music market, today announced the dates for the 44th edition with a major announcement. Recognising the degree to which digital is now an integral part of the music business at every level, it is offering access to the renowned MidemNet conferences to all participants. This is a major innovation, as access to MidemNet required a separate [...]

According to the event’s president Dominique Leguern, attendance of Midem was down 1,000 people to 8,000 this year. “As Chuck D said, it’s not a music industry crisis, it’s a CD crisis,” she said. “At Midem, we have lost physical distributors and manufacturers and small labels that have not been able to survive the economic crisis that hit on top [...]

I don’t know if it’s a sign of the times, but there are some good last-minute deals on hotels for Midem 2009. If you want to stay in town, you can find good rates at the Amarante Cannes (photo) which is located on Boulevard Carnot, with double rooms under €500 for 4 nights. A few doors away, the Residence Excel [...]

In a surprising move, the real estate company EverythingCannes is running a promotion that echoes Radiohead’s famous album launch. They have 40 apartments available on a pay-what-you-think-is-fair basis. There are a few pre-conditions, but nothing that will put you off. The company has a range of 1-7 people studios and apartments up for grabs. When you pay after Midem, you [...]

Once again, MidemNet will be debating the future of music this year prior to Midem itself. Won’t the current financial mayhem only make life more difficult? What is left for music as a business? Well, I’d say the relatively good news is that music as a business has already sunk 50% in value since 2003. So logically, there is not [...]

Midem has introduced an interesting promotion. If you attend Midem 2008, you can bring colleagues to 2009 and save 30% on their registration. It’s a good way of covering the market with more feet, as in my experience, two people are more than twice as efficient than one. There are simply so many things happening in terms of appointments and [...]

Brian Message, who co-manages Radiohead, will deliver a keynote speech at the 2009 MIDEM in Cannes, Jan. 18 to 21. Message, who also represents singer songwriter Kate Nash and dance act Faithless, is a steering committee member of the recently formed Featured Artist Coalition. He will be addressing the second international manager summit about new business models, following Radiohead’s experimental [...]