Midem Bullish Despite
Lower Numbers

Attendance at this year’s Midem was down thanks to the “difficult economic climate,” uncertainty as “the industry reinvents its business models” and a “tightening of public-spending budgets,” according to event director Bruno Crolot.

The gathering attracted 6,400 to Cannes, France, 7 percent down on 2012, but – more alarmingly – 20 percent down on the 8,000 who attended three years ago.

Crolot did find a silver lining in the sense that some regions, such as Asia, saw increased activity at Midem, including with new national pavilions from Malaysia and Korea.

“In total, Midem welcomed five new country pavilions, in addition to the numerous countries that all returned and which continued to attract plenty of traffic,” he said.

“Following the changes we introduced in 2012, this year we have again focused on bringing together the core music business with the key players operating in the tech field, as well as leading brands and advertising agencies and, of course, the artists who create the music that we listen to,” Crolot explained.

For the core music industry attending Midem, one of the key discussion points was the ongoing relationship between the music industry, the Internet giants and ISPs. Getting in on the discussion were collection agencies including France’s SACEM and Germany’s GEMA, label executives such as Beggars Group founder Martin Mills and internationally renowned artist and musician Jean-Michel Jarre.

Other highlights of the event included keynote addresses from senior executives representing American Express, Samsung, Ford and Chinese classical pianist and cultural icon Lang Lang.

There were also discussions involving the music community and major brands such as MINI, Nike, Red Bull, Heineken and The Coca-Cola Company on how best to work together, the Midemlab startups and app developers competition, the expanded Midem Marketing Competition and a packed programme of Midem Festival concerts.