Guillemots Spread Wings

London-based band Guillemots will hope to duplicate its UK success on a global scale when headlining this year’s British Music at MIDEM concert.

The bill for the showcase at the Martinez Hotel, Cannes, Jan. 24 was put together by Caroline Reason from Creative Artists Agency’s London office and also includes Lizzy Parks and indie rockers One Eskimo.

The evening will start with an acoustic showcase featuring Dave Gibson, Kill It Kid, Sam Roman & Jonathon Powell, topped off by a short solo set from Guillemots frontman Fyfe Dangerfield.

The British Music at MIDEM concert is coordinated by Phil Patterson from UK Trade & Investment and is supported by various trade organisations and royalty collection agencies including UK Music, AIM, the BPI, PPL, and PRS for Music.

MIDEM – along with Popkomm – is one of the conferences that’s suffered most from the recession and record company cutbacks, with last year’s crowd of 7,000 being 13 percent down on 2009.

The 2009 crowd of 8,000 was roughly the same percentage down on the 9,100 that showed in 2008.

Based on the premise that venture capitalists are becoming increasingly interested in the entertainment business, MIDEM has invited several of them to the 2011 gathering.

Saul Klein, a partner in Geneva-based Index Ventures, which has money in Skype, Viagogo, and Lovefilm, will be giving a keynote speech on the opening day.

MIDEM 2011 is Jan. 22-26.