It took a while but finally the new organisers of Popkomm in Berlin have announced September 29 to October 1, 2004 as the dates for the first edition of the convention to take place in Berlin.

The Messe Berlin will announce further details at a press conference in November 2003. The latest insider gossip infers that Christian Hoeferle, deputy editor at the trade publication Musikwoche is in talks with the organizers and will probably move from Munich to Berlin to take up his new post. France is supposed to become the official partner country for the music fair in 2004. Like the international book fair in Frankfurt, Popkomm proposes playing host to a guest nation each year, featuring artists and products of the particular country.

Aftermath of Popkomm 2003:

Meanwhile, all 17 staff members of Viva Media Enterprises are leaving, or having to leave, the company. The company works committee have now released a letter complaining about the management and the decision to downsize the company. Viva Media Enterprises is a subsidiary of Viva Media AG. Actually the company was founded with the intention of running all other so called ‘off air’ activities of the music station as well as Popkomm. At the beginning of 2003 Viva took over Musikkomm, the former organiser of Popkomm, as an emergency rescue bid, prompted by debts of more than 1 million Euros. Kerstin Karpinski, who came from Viva and had been in charge of corporate affairs for the TV-Station, replaced former managing director Ulli Grossmaas.

The works committee disclosed that all employees of the company had been dismissed in September 2003. Due to reorganisation at Viva, board member Joerg Grabosch became responsible for Viva Media Enterprises. Grabosch is officially chief officer for content (COC) at Viva Media AG, the holding company of all Viva related companies. Grabosch has been jointly with Karpsinski and Viva CEO Dieter Gorny managing director of Viva Media Enterprises. Karpinski meanwhile has announced her departure from the company being dissatisfied with current developments.

Viva Media Enterprises was officially founded on July 1. On July 15 the management of the company announced the sale of Popkomm to the Messe Berlin.

Vip News talked to committee member Oliver Danielowski and asked for the reason for their letter to the media: “We as the works committee are very surprised, that only 2 months after the formation in July of Viva Media Enterprises as a new division of Viva Media AG, that the management has told the team, that the company is going to be closed. We as the works committee have a different opinion to the professional opinion of the management. We still believe that this business field could have become a profit center for Viva Media AG.”

So far the works committee had been told that the company is going to be closed. But due to the involvement of minority stakeholder Technomedia, a venture capital company that belong to the Stadtsparkasse Cologne, this might not be the case. In compensation for the debts of Musikkomm the bank received a 30% stake in Viva Media Enterprises and handed this stake over to Technomedia.

Insiders claim that Grabosch belongs to the group of decision takers who resorted to dismissal of employees via SMS. Since the announcement of the departure of Karpinski and the restructuring measures of Viva he alone is responsible for Viva Media Enterprises. Grabosch explained to Vip News that he now intends to undertake an “analysis of the potential” and will discuss the results of this research with the shareholders of Viva Media Enterprises and the supervisory board of Viva Media AG in November.

Nevertheless no member of staff has been reinstated so far and it is unlikely that this is going to happen.