MIDEM Numbers Slightly Down

MIDEM’s decision to court the live music business is paying some sort of dividend as the delegate numbers from that sector were 18 percent up on 2006.

The organizers report 907 live music biz people turned up in Cannes, which bucked a trend as the overall number attending the conference-cum-trade fair was marginally down from 4,606 to 4,550.

The 42nd installment of the trade fair attracted 9,100 visitors, a little down on the 9,452 that attended last year, while the number of companies exhibiting also dropped from 2,376 to 2,238.

MIDEM director Dominique Leguern told Pollstar she isn’t too disappointed that the overall numbers were down just more than 1 percent, and feels they’ve held up well considering the changes that are going on in the business.

"We’re beginning to see some good results," she said in response to questions on whether the 18 percent increase from the live side shows that MIDEM’s often ardent courtship of the sector is starting to pay dividends.

She also feels that having such music biz heavyweights as U2 manager Paul McGuinness, R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs, and legendary international promoter Harvey Goldsmith among the speakers augurs well for the future.

MIDEM’s links with the live side of the industry were also strengthened by the inaugural Green World Awards, given to outdoors that demonstrate they’ve recognized the importance of ecologically friendly live event production.

Denmark’s Roskilde Festival, Switzerland’s Paleo Nyon Festival, and last year’s Live Earth shows were the first year’s winners