Cannes or Bust » Midem

Music tips for MIDEM 2010

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:01:45 +0000

I thought it might be interesting to create a tipsheet for Midem. If you have any tips, feel free to add them as a comment below. If you are involved with the act, add your details or company name at least so people can reach you. But be selective!

The video above is “Se ne va” by the Italian pop quartet Millionaire Blonde, which I think could be a pretty strong summer hit (so much so that I just did the English lyrics, which is why I give them star billing!). If interested for licensing, get in touch with me. Click through for some other great music tips.

The MIDEM Talent section has a few artists that I think are really worth following. Variety recently picked out my three recommendations from a few weeks back: Irish singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan, French spiky girl group The Plasticines and Switzerland’s jazz singer Sophie Hunger. Check the Midem page for their shows.

I’d add to that a strong Canadian presence with notably Jason Bajada and Matthew Barber. Both are playing on the Canadian Blast night at Morrison’s on Tuesday 26. Stay tuned for more tips.

On the African front, check the conscious rap of Zulu Boy or the accomplished songwriting of The Parlatones (who appeared last year as well – how many times has this happened?).

MidemNet Lab: the 15 innovative digital companies

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:34:12 +0000

This year, MIDEM is introducing a special section for companies that bring innovative digital services. Some are consumer-based, others provide services that could be used by artists, labels or brands. All were chosen by a panel of experts from the music and digital sectors and will be at MIDEM in January, presenting their services

I’ve included here the presentations as they come from MIDEM. In other words, I haven’t road-tested the services myself. Find out more about MidemNet Lab.

Aviary/Myna (USA)
Myna, the new audio editor by Aviary, is a free online artists’ tool. This creative suite allows users to create, arrange and remix music tracks and audio clips, composed from Aviary’s library of 3,000 loops and beats and/or user‐recorded tracks. They are currently working with artists, like Major Lazer, to run remix contests, allowing musicians to engage with their fans on a creative level.

Awdio (France)
Awdio is the first internet platform enabling you to listen to clubs and venues in real‐time from all around the world. With more than 5000 Events broadcast per mMonth from more than 150 TOP clubs and venues worldwide, Awdio aim to become an alternative to music piracy by offering a real‐time music experience, with both an ad‐supported model, and a premium‐paid model.

BandCentral (UK)
BandCentral is revolutionising band management for a new music industry by helping bands to manage themselves online. BandCentral gives bands their very own online ‘Band HUB’ with all the tools they need to communicate with each other, store files, manage gigs, merch, music, money, fans, contacts and everything else associated with their band in one central, secure and instantly accessible place.

Band Metrics (USA)
Band Metrics is a data analytics and decision support system for the music industry that provides comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analytics with in‐depth geographical reporting on social, radio and fan segmentation.

DigiClef/Release Consulting (UK) ‐
DigiClef is a brand new way of retailing sheet music via smartphones. Our mobile apps display legal professional quality tabs with touch‐sensitive controls that allow Musicians to adjust the tempo of the music easily. DigiClef unlocks the value held in sheet musical arrangements, packages it in state‐of‐the‐art technology, and then delivers it directly to musicians on their iPhones.

GoMix (UK)
GoMix is an interactive music format that lets users create personalized remixes of major artist’s songs. Distributed via Social Networks and digital album bundles, GoMix brings labels new revenue and promotional opportunities through advertising and digital retail products. In 2009 GoMix has been adopted by a succession of major artists and advertisers. 2010 will see very significant evolution, adding virtual goods, a mobile platform and a game changing User Generated Content approach.

Kickstarter (USA)
Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative projects and ambitious endeavors that’s radically different from traditional funding channels. Kickstarter is not about investment or philanthropy. Instead, people get rewards and share experiences that are unique to each project. Kickstarter launched in April 2009 and is based in Brooklyn, NY.

Pops Worldwide (Vietnam)
POPS develops, aggregates, and distributes media content, delivering it through cross‐media platforms in Vietnam. They offer digital music to mobile users through a range of WVAS platforms over mobile networks and the Internet. POPS markets its services online and offline through telecom operators, as well as through non‐operator channels, such as online stores, handset vendor partnerships and mobile retail chains. POPS launched the first digital music kiosk throughout Vietnam.

Radionomy (Belgium)
With Radionomy, everyone can create its webradio for his community. It’s easy, free and fun. It’s easy because Radionomy provides free software to create and manage the radio, vast music, jingles and content libraries. The Radio Creator can integrate his own music, creations & audio content. It’s free. Radionomy covers Streaming and Rights. Radionomy inserts 4 minutes of advertising in the radio to cover its costs.

Silence Media (UK)
Silence Media is a cost per engagement (CPE) advertising network for banner advertising. Its clients only pay when people engage with their banner ads by rolling over them. Silence works with Europe’s and America’s leading entertainment websites and was responsible for them working with the CPE model for the first time. Its clients include Sony, Universal, EMI, Beggars and PIAS.

Songkick (UK)
Songkick is the home for live music online. Fans can track their favorite artists and we email them tour alerts with links to buy tickets. After the gig, they can see and share photos, videos, posters, and setlists. Songkick is the largest database of concert information in the world with over 1.2 million concerts from 1960 to the present day.

Streamjam/The Electric Sheep Company (USA)
The Electric Sheep Company’s latest product, StreamJam is a free application for putting live concerts and music events online. Fans need no plugins or downloads to enter 3D virtual clubs, meet other fans, dance, and watch, hear, and interact with their favorite artists. Event holders, at no cost, generate new revenue from virtual goods, tips, and tickets.

Thesixtyone (USA)
Thesixtyone is a fun way to explore new music: artists submit their work, but rather than allowing a boardroom to decide what’s cool, the listeners do. We’ll help you discover new artists and let you earn reputation and unlock achievements for recommending songs that other may enjoy. On thesixtyone, experiencing new music becomes spontaneous, engaging, and trackable.

Tracksandfields (Germany) ‐
Tracks and Fields is the web service that connects musicians, producers and the music industry to work on new projects. Artists from all over the world find the right people to write, produce or remix music and collaborate through dedicated tools. Companies post briefings for remixes, film, game scores or production jobs, receive custom‐made pitches and hire professionals with a few clicks. Tracksandfields.com has been in beta through 2009 and officially launches on the MIDEM 2010.

Tunewiki (US)
TuneWiki is the internationally award‐winning social media music player with the largest legally‐licensed lyrics database in the world. TuneWiki is revolutionizing the mobile music experience by combining subtitled lyrics with music and music videos, lyrics translations into over 40 languages, real‐time mapping, geographical charting and social networking. Our lyrics centric mobile games create new music monetization opportunities to music owners.

MySpace’s CEO to keynote at MidemNet 2010

admin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:37:35 +0000

MySpace's Owen Van Natta for MidemNet 2010

Monetisation will be the buzzword this year at MidemNet. And topping the list of must-attend conferences will be the keynote address by Owen Van Natta CEO of MySpace. He will be there to outline MySpace’s vision of the future of musical content on digital platforms, the evolution of the company as a next generation content distribution platform and the new revenue opportunities for MySpace and its partners (many of whom will be sitting in the Palais des Festivals listening to him).

The reason, of course, is that after establishing itself as one of the foremost music addresses on the web, MySpace has to make serious headway to monetise its traffic. It recently launched MySpace Music Videos and a comprehensive back-office function for artists and labels on MySpace. Will this be enough? What else will he announce at MidemNet?

Currently, most monetisation on MySpace occurs through gaming (see the developer’s open platform). In music, MySpace is up against both Google and Facebook, who are about to launch direct music sales using their massive subscriber and user base. So many people will be carefully watching Van Natta at MidemNet and his template for music on the web.

MIDEM 2010: 3 money-saving deadlines on October 31

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:43:21 +0000

Midem people should keep an eye on the date of October 31. If you haven’t signed up yet, this is the last day to get the Early Bird rate of €675 (+VAT), which represents a discount of €450 on the walk-in rate in January. October 31 is also the cut-off date for getting the new MIDEM+ rate of €300 (instead of €400). MIDEM+ offers select participants the chance of getting personalised consultancy from top new business experts and personal network introductions from people such as Ted Cohen.

Lastly, if you attended last year, October 31 is also the last day you will be able to access the MidemWorld database. The new database will start to be implemented the day after, becoming functional again on November 3. So if you have been meaning to connect with any people through the database, it’s now or never. Click here to access MidemWorld.

Incidentally, if you are looking to reduce the overall cost of Midem, there are a few deals you should be aware of. People that attended last year can bring extra people this year and pay 30% less for each additional participant. People under the age of 26 that are attending for the first time pay only €280 if they register online. For full details about these deals, visit the Midem participant page. All prices are subject to 19.6% VAT, a proportion of which you can recover if you attend from outside France. Sign up up to our Twitter account to be kept informed of these and other deals.

Universal head to keynote at Midem publishing summit

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:54:39 +0000

Chairman & CEO of the massive Universal Music Publishing Group, David Renzer, can afford to smile. His group is perhaps the most successful in one of the few healthy sectors remaining in music: publishing. He is uniquely placed to talk about the opportunities and challenges facing music publishers today. Hugely successful worldwide with multi-awards going to his artists and indeed the group itself, Renzer is nonetheless acutely aware of the challenges facing music as a business. As there are increasing calls for the industry to pull together to solve the numerous licensing issues that are blocking expansion, will he be able to lead? What are the options and opportunities for publishers moving forward? His keynote address to the music publishing summit at Midem provides the perfect opportunity.

Click through for his full biography.

David Renzer, Universal Music Publishing Group

At the helm of the music industry’s leading global music publishing operation, David Renzer, Chairman & CEO, Universal Music Publishing Group, is responsible for overseeing the activities of over 50 offices in 43 territories worldwide.

Since Renzer joined the company (then called MCA Music Publishing) in 1996, UMPG has grown exponentially through both direct signings and catalogue acquisitions, which include most notably the BMG Music Publishing, Zomba, Polygram, and Rondor catalogues. UMPG is also a global leader in the areas of Production Music, Christian and Classical Music. In 2008, UMPG became the first major publisher to offer their clients online access to their royalty accounts with RoyaltyWindow.com.

Recent accolades under Renzer’s leadership include: No. 1 Global Market Leader by Informa; Publisher of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Producer of the Year, and Song of the Year at the BMI Urban Music Awards; Publisher of the Year and Songwriter of the Year at the BMI Pop Awards; Publisher of the Year and Songwriter of the Year at the SESAC awards; Songwriter of the Year at the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards; Publisher of the Year and Songwriter of the Year at the BMI Christian Music Awards; Music Week’s Albums Publisher of the Year; and a publishing interest in 27 GRAMMY awards in 2009.

Renzer sits on the Boards of ASCAP, NMPA, the International Music Publishers Association, and the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. He also serves as Chairman of the Music and Entertainment Division of the City of Hope, and founded the Songs of Hope events which have raised over $1,000,000 for the City of Hope.

South Africa, Midem’s country of honour

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:47:40 +0000

It’s easy to fall into clichés when talking about South Africa. The news that they are the country of honour at Midem 2010 is good news. South Africa is at the same time a fantastic gateway into the most musical continent and a fantastic music destination in itself. But rather than trot out the usual suspects, check the recent compilation “Cape of Good Dope2″ from the pioneering electronic and Hip-Hop label African Dope. Scroll through to check different tracks.

Cape Of Good Dope 2 [Mixed] by africandope

Midem 2010: stay tuned for news and tips

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:36:33 +0000

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 to MidemNet is now included in the entrance fee for all participants. This is where the huge changes in the digital sphere are debated by speakers from Nokia, Google and the like. The keynotes this year are Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Mushroom Group boss Michael Gudanski.

To keep up with the changes, sign up for our RSS feed or Twitter. We will be announcing and explaining the changes, making sure that you can benefit from them. And to start off: the first word of advice is to either sign up for the early bird rate of €575 (excl. VAT) or via a country stand. BUMA in the Netherlands is already accepting submissions for the Dutch Sound stand. UK readers might want to attend Midem briefings. We’ll be looking at accommodation tips and the options for organising showcases over the coming weeks.