Popkomm Trades Up

The trade fair for this year’s Popkomm attracted 886 exhibitors – an increase of 8 percent on last year – but it’s still not known how many delegates paid to go to the conference.

The exhibitors came from 57 countries September 19-21, and Popkomm’s published figures show more than 15,000 visitors passed through over the course of the three days.

The festival that takes place around Berlin in the evenings reportedly attracted 82,000 fans.

About 450 bands and DJs from 35 countries showcased in and around the central Kulturbrauerei.

The organisers are still to reveal the delegate numbers but this year’s event had more of a live music industry slant and they’ll no doubt be hoping for more faces from that sector.

The live focus was unwrapped at the start, with Carl Leighton-Pope (whose Talking Shop session starts ILMC) making an opening keynote speech that was based on the same model.

His often bolshie humour had the same effect, including when he described The Netherlands as "a country not much bigger than this room," ensuring the event got off to a warm start.

Panel attendances haven’t been released, and one moderator further muddied the water by writing a piece in a trade newswire that said that the three he ran, covering the themes of Pop and Politics, Festivals, and the Changing Roles Of Agents And Record Companies, pulled "up to 50 percent or more people than last year."

Next year’s Popkomm, the 20th and the fifth to be held in Berlin, will take place September 17-19.