Editor's note

So to the second major international music trade event of the year, and at time of writing still in the first month, no rest for dedicated music folk! This time to the South of France for MIDEM, the granddaddy, or should I say grandmère, of them all, this being the biggest of the trade markets presenting its 38th edition.

I have attended 17 of these and in most cases enjoyed a fair amount of sun and warmth, but this year was mainly wet and cold, perhaps reflecting the turmoil in the top end of the industry that Midem has come to represent. However not all was despair, in fact I detected more than a little resilient optimism in the Palais des Festivals, and in the still ludicrously over-priced bars where much of the business is still done. In fact the wind whistling down the Croisette could be a wind of change, the remnants of previously established business models are being displaced and radical adaptation is definitely in process.

Attendance figures were apparantly up by 6% on last year, due in part, I am sure, to judicious discount marketing, but still quite an achievement considering how bleak things looked throughout a large part of the preceding year.

The live industry is still not accommodated as much as may be good for the future of MIDEM, but conversations were seriously entered into and moves are being made to address this. The changing face of the industry will in fact speed this along, and perhaps more of us should make suggestions to the organisers, there is definitely business to be done in Cannes. We make a couple of suggestions in our reports from the event.

By the way, if you happen to have a drink on a Norwegian Export Music Stand don't mishear as I did what I took to be a comment on the weather addressed in affectionate terms, 'Rain, Dear Heart' - it does in fact refer to some very tough dried meat to be washed down with the booze!

 

We hear that there were some superstars in Cannes on the Saturday when most of the delegates arrived for MIDEM, ready to do business on the opening Sunday, names like Madonna were in town for the NRJ Radio Awards.

 

Without any doubt, this years Midem edition delivered strong political aspects. As the economic data for recorded music still remains very weak, it happened that either as planned or by sheer coincidence, several high ranking politicians and official decision takers showed up at the convention and on its various conferences.

 

This year's conference will again take place at London's Royal Garden Hotel from the 12th-14th March. The full list of Panels, Speakers and Meetings for the sixteenth edition of the International Live Music Conference is in the process of being finalised and will be made available on the website very soon. www.ilmc.com and confirmed and referred to in detail in the next Vip News.

 

This year's by:Larm conference will take place in Bergen on 12-15 February The organisers promise three days packed with knowledge and inspiration. Sold out clubs, 930 participants representing 300+ companies from 10 different countries, 250+ media people from the largest radio channels and newspapers in Scandinavia, 50 different panels, lectures, and workshops with speakers from all over Europe and the U.S., 90+ showcases on 11 stages and The Alarm Awards.

 

How Coca Cola and others brands seeks contact to the entertainment business:

If B2B-publications for the advertising business and analyst reports for the media industry are correct, in 2004 we will see a shift in the allocation of sponsorship money.

 

Antonio 'L.A.' Reid will not, as previously announced, be the keynote speaker at this year's South By Southwest Music and Media Conference and Festival. As we reported in the last News it appears that following his removal by BMG as head of Arista there has been an agreement that he should step down, although, as we said, in the light of today's precarious times for record company executives, he may have brought a very contemporary insight to his address.

 

New York City's famous live music club the Bottom Line closed down on January 22nd, just three weeks short of its thirtieth birthday.

 

In Cologne the owners of Live Music Hall (LMH), Micki Pick and Georg Schmitz have taken over the concert club Underground. From February 1 onwards, Pick and Schmitz will operate the 300 capacity venue.

 

DEAG announced moves to bundle and expand some of its business activities in a new unit named DEAG Classics AG. Based on an exclusive agreement with A-Pro Just Classics! the department will take care of the arrangement of classical concerts, opera and other live projects such as the "Italian Night" and the Spanish Court Riding School.

 

Clear Channel (CCU.NSE): Clear Channel stays where it was. 44.73 USD reported last time to 44.99 USD this time.

CTS Eventim (EVD.FSE): The rise continues. In Vip News January 19, 2004 CTS shares were indicated at 11.05 Euro.

DEAG (ERM.FSE): A. downward movement for DEAG shares. 2.33 Euro is the current price compared to 2.70 Euro in mid December 03.

Mean Fiddler (MEF.ISE) 36.00 Pence last time 39,5 Pence this time. Not spectacular yet and let's see how Mean Fiddler is going to perform for 2004.

 

European Talent Broker is an independent company within the Swedish music industry. Our main activities are to exclusively represent record-artists as tour agents, tour producers and/or as management. The company represents 10 artists today. (enclosure: roster) History/ The company Siljemark Production was founded by Lars Telbrant and Jonas Siljemark in 1992 and grew to one of the bigger agency’s in Europé within it’s niche during the 1990s, with clients such as Ace of Base, Dr Alban, E-type, Haddaway, Culture Beat, Rednex, Lutricia McNeal and many more.

 

MOJO Concerts was founded in 1968 and since then has become one of the largest and most important entertainment company’s in the Netherlands.

The main activity of MOJO Concerts is the organisation of concerts and festivals, artist bookings and the devellopment of new and innovating events.

Besides that MOJO Concerts is engaged with the corebusiness resulting in extra activities like production, theatre, management and publishing.

 

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