With an impressive speaker line up and an uptick in attendees, last week’s Midem expo in Cannes had a spring in its step.
According to owner Reed Midem, delegates at the annual music industry event were up 9% year-on-year to 4,800.
That represented a jump of 400 ticketholders in real terms on both 2017 and 2016’s events – although it was down by around 700 on the number of attendees (5500) who came in 2015.
Positive signs, but Midem has a way to go to beat its attendee count during the music industry’s high point: back in 2001, Midem counted over 10,000 delegates at its event.
2018’s expo featured keynote interviews with the likes of Scooter Braun, the senior management of Concord Music, BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch, lawyer Dina LaPolt, Empire founder Ghazi Shami and Rhapsody/Napster boss Bill Patrizio, amongst others.
The content of Africa was given a special focus, with local reps from Tencent and other countries presenting as Nigerian star Davido performed.
In addition, Midem announced that, in 2019, it will host the data-driven Midem Music Awards which will celebrate regional and global talent.
At a June 7 press conference, Midem Director Alexandre Deniot (pictured) also announced a two-day Midem Latin American Summit to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 29-30 2018.
The Summit paves the way for the 2019 Midem Latin American Forum in Cannes, as part of Midem’s on-going High Potential Markets Programme.
“In line with Midem’s commitment to the global music community we have introduced a multitude of new initiatives. In particular, the High Potential Markets Programme supports regional industries that have incredible talent and a desire to structure themselves. With Midemlab we recognise innovative tech solutions for the music industry.
“With the Midem Artist Accelerator (MAA) programme we showcase young artists to international executives. And with the Songwriting Camp we are actively creating the songs of tomorrow,” said Alexandre Deniot.
Midem’s attendance numbers in recent years
- 2018: 4,800
- 2017: 4,400
- 2016: 4,400
- 2015: 5,500
- 2014: 6,150
- 2013: 6,400
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