Music startup contest celebrates 10 years

Midemlab has quite a reputation to live up to. Part of the MIDEM music trade fair (in Cannes from 6 to 9 June 2017), it has become the showcase for innovative music tech entrepreneurs.

References? Sure, SoundCloud, winner in 2009, now has more than 175 million users per month. The Echo Nest was bought by Spotify, 2010 finalist Kickstarter, has raised more than 1 billion dollars in crowdfunding since its launch. The competition also uncovered Dubsmash (formerly Starlize) and Next Big Sound, bought by Pandora. More recently, Stagelink, one of the winners of the 2016 edition, has achieved prodigious growth of 700%, and sold more than a million tickets to concerts (on the year ended last October).

Midemlab finalists chosen by experts

Nominations for the 10th edition of the Midemlab can now be filed in one of the following four categories:

• Creation and musical education,
• Music discovery and distribution,
• Marketing & data,.
• Innovative technologies such as virtual & augmented, reality high-resolution audio, connected objects & hardware.

The date deadline for nominations is March 20. The 20 finalists will be then chosen by selection of the Midem partners: Music Ally, and consulting company specializing in the music industry policy, bluenove, consulting firm specialized in Open Innovation and Northzone , investment company and leading investor of Spotify. The finalists will be invited to pitch their business plan and solution onstage, in front of the jury and the public of the Midem. It is for them the unique opportunity to meet with potential investors to find new partners and clients among the leaders of the music industry, and get an immediate return of all of the professionals.

The jury includes noted decision makers in entertainment and new technologies such as Sony Music, Warner Music, Google and Universal Music Group, alongside founders of growing businesses: Bandsintown, Ultimate Music China and Marathon Artists. The jury will also comprise representatives of STATION F and 500 Startups, flagship programmes dedicated to startups, influential such as France 24 and The Next Web media, and venture capitalists like Lattice Ventures.

“We’re very proud that Midemlab has served as a launchpad over the past decade for so many startups which have changed the industry and the way music is consumed. It is key for us to support entrepreneurship in music, and to foster links between our participants and these new players who are developing services that can help the industry add value,” says Alexandre Deniot, new Director of the Midem.

The Jury of the 2017 Midemlab consists of:

• Christian Behrendt , Creative Lead (EMEA ZOO), Google (Germany)
• Paul Brindley , CEO, Music Ally (UK)
• David Dufresne , Partner, 500 Startups (Canada)
• Martin Duval , President & COO, bluenove (France)
• Marwan Elfitesse , Head of Startups Relations, STATION F (France)
• Brittany Gorevic , Partner, Lattice Ventures (USA)
• Jacob Key , Angel investor and Founder, Jkey Strategy Consulting and Investment (Sweden)
• Cecil Kleine , Product Lead, The Next Web (Netherlands)
• Jimmy Mikaoui Co-founder and Managing Director, Marathon Artists andAssociate, Sushi Venture Partners (UK)
• Marjorie Paillon Presenter, France 24 and Founder, I Love Productions (France)
• TC Pan , Founder & CEO, Ultimate Music China (China)
• John Rees , Vice President, Head of Digital Strategy & Business Development EMEA, Warner Music Group (UK)
• Ty Roberts , Chief Technological Officer, Universal Music Group (USA)
• Fabrice Sergeant , Co-founder & Managing Partner, Bandsintown (USA)
• Andre Stapleton , Please Partner Development, Global Digital Business, Sony Music Entertainment (USA)

To sign up for Midemlab, check here.