In this article, we will be discussing the importance of the major music event MIDEM. We will outline a few of the key factors of the event as well as hitting you up with some important information that you need to know!
So, what is MIDEM?
Stay tuned for everything you need to know!
What Is MIDEM?
Midem is a music event organised by Reed Midem that is held annually for all music professionals around the globe.
It gives everybody in the industry a chance to network with thousands of other professionals including artists, managers, agents and more.
The event is usually held annually at the end of January-Early Feb in Cannes, France.
In 2013, the festival was attended by nearly 6,500 professionals from 3,000 companies around the world.
What Does MIDEM Do?
Getting yourself out there into the music industry can be one of the toughest sectors in the world to get into. With there being so much fresh talent constantly on the rise, sometimes it can feel like you’ve hit a wall.
Nobody seems to be listening to your work. You can’t seem to find any artists that suit your needs. You’re struggling to find a label or producer to work with. MIDEM is the perfect place to fix all of these problems.
A lot of the time, the world we’re living in can feel like it’s almost getting smaller, don’t you think? In this sense, you may be finding it more difficult to branch out to a wider network.
How Do They Do It?
The MIDEM music festival works its magic by bringing people from all over the world together in one place. This gives you the opportunity to create a bigger fan base worldwide or to meet other music professionals from around the globe.
They have also recently set up a meeting place called ‘The MIDEM Lounge’. This is where everybody can greet each other. Sometimes it can be really difficult to put a face to a name. That is what this lounge has been created for.
They do this by setting up a large TV monitor listing all the parties and their specific meeting times etc.
Who Is Behind It All?
So, who runs this event you might ask. A company called Reed MIDEM. They develop and manage business events that are key networking, learning and deal-making platforms for all professionals in the sectors concerned.
For example, music, TV and digital content, esports, real estate, commercial real estate, and PropTech. The company reed MIDEM were founded in 1963 organising leading back to back events that facilitate and enrich the business relations between their international clients and assist them to grow their business.
A few facts for you about Reed MIDEM:
- 6 sectors of activity
- 20 events
- 11 cities
- 140+ countries represented
- 72,000+ participants
- 30,000+ participating companies
- 9,000+ exhibitor companies
- 80,000+ m2 exhibition space
- 2,000+ journalists attending
Their goal as a company is to foster business relations between their clients to help them attain their business objectives at an international level.
The company provides them with the appropriate platform for successfully combining the best of physical and digital. They aspire to be the best at what they do and want to be seen as a valued and trusted partner for their clients internationally.
MIDEM Music Festival
This festival is an event held for thousands and thousands of musicians, producers, agents, managers, lawyers, executives, entrepreneurs and journalists from around the globe.
Midem music conference started in 1967 and is still being held to this present day.
The event is usually held annually at the end of January-Early Feb in Cannes, France.
In 2013, the festival was attended by nearly 6,500 professionals from 3,000 companies around the world.
Where Is MIDEM?
Although people attend Midem Cannes France from all over the world, the vast majority of attendees have been from Western Europe and North America. This international event provides a unique business and networking platform for all music professionals around the world.
While professionals involved in recording, artist management and music publishers network, artists are able to showcase their work. During the evenings, there is live music on show for you to either search for new talent or to just sit, relax and enjoy the event!
With that being said, this festival is an amazing place for music professionals to network and showcase their work but it is also an unreal experience for all festival goers around the world!
MIDEM Pricing
So how much would something like this be to attend? There are a few things you need to think about when thinking about attending the MIDEM music festival. As it is an international event, a lot of attendees will be flying overseas.
Obviously this in itself can break the bank a bit depending on where you’re flying from! You would then need to pay for accommodation if you are spending a number of nights there. So, the best thing to do is SAVE UP!
However, due to the pandemic that hit the world in 2020, Midem has now gone fully digital for 2021 and is completely free to attend but will hopefully return to a physical event in June 2022.
Midemlab
Something interesting to know about MIDEM is they also run a music startup competition called Midem lab.
This competition features the most promising international music tech startups, helping the music industry build new consumer experiences. Since 2007 this competition has grown in its importance.
Companies such as SoundCloud, Spotify, and Songkick have risen to prominence after showcasing there. There are a few key reasons why music professionals find taking part in this competition beneficial.
These are:
- It’s 100% free to apply.
- Pitch on stage to a professional jury in front of an international audience.
- Gain visibility and recognition from the global music industry.
- Meet advisors, new business partners, international media and investors.
- Bring your business to the next level.
- Winner’s receive free legal, PR and marketing advice, mentoring, individual pitch to VC firms, one free registration to MIDEM.
They do however have some criteria that you need to meet to be able to enter the competition. This criteria is as followed:
- Available to attend Midem if selected to pitch
- A new company that is less than 5 years old
- Business-ready: Already launched or in beta stage
- Independant. Not affiliated with a group
- Genuinely original and innovative, with international viability
There are 4 categories that you can choose to enter from. These are: Music Creation and Education, Music Distribution and Discovery, Music Marketing and Data/Analytics, or Live Music Experiences.
A few success stories from Midemlab are Soundcloud which is now one of the most used music streaming platforms on the scene, The WaveVR which raised over $12 million since their participation in Midemlab, Asaii which was bought by Apple 4 months after participating to Midem and loads more! Think what you could achieve from attending yourself. What do you have to lose?!
Midem Forum
Midem have created a number of different forums for different genres of music. Some are Asian, African and Latin American. If we take the Asian music forum for example, it will help to connect all Asian music professionals with the rest of the world.
These forums aim to highlight creative and business opportunities for both local and international acts. The Midem Forum is also there to encourage artist discovery and export of music artists globally.
Online Sessions
As well as online forums, there are also online digital networking sessions that you can take part in. This allows you to meet with leading professionals in the industry in a one-to-many- session! You can participate in these networking sessions by adding your session to your schedule on Midem Digital.
Then you will want to block yourself out on the session’s date and time to make sure you’re completely available for this session and get a reminder. On the day of the session, you will want to make sure you have the latest update for Zoom. There will be a Zoom link in the description box of the session and you will be able to choose which virtual room you would like to join. You can also gain access to different parts of the digital program including live sessions from some amazing artists!
Midem digital also offers you the option to organise your own virtual meetings. This means you can network with the 10,000+ MIDEM international delegates on the platform. Setting up a virtual meeting with another attendee requires you to have mutual interest in each other, using the ‘interest’ tool.
These forums are designed to develop and sustain the structuring of local and regional music ecosystems and international business in different countries.
They are also a great way to get more involved with different communities within the music industry and to learn new things about different cultures!
What Are The Benefits Of Going To MIDEM?
Pros
- Cross-platform compatibility
- Large community and resources available
- Easy to use and learn for beginners
- Supports both 2D and 3D game development
- Offers a wide range of features and tools for game development
Cons
- Can be resource-intensive and may require a powerful computer
- Not ideal for developing certain types of games, such as text-based or non-interactive games
- Limited customization options for certain features
- Can be expensive for certain licensing options
Our Final Thoughts On MIDEM
We’ve covered a lot about the MIDEM music festival and we hope it’s helped you decide to get yourself there as soon as COVID allows us to all be together again!
Until then however, remember that this year it is being held digitally and completely for free, so make sure you don’t miss out! Music can really be a tough industry to be involved in. With the help of this amazing festival, it helps to bring a community together who may not have ever come into contact with each other, had it not been for MIDEM.
Мusic Gateway as a company also provides a similar platform which includes artist and label services! We’re all here to help every single artist and musical professional feel they are only a click away from finding the exact help that they need.
In a world where a pandemic has forced us all apart, let’s let music bring us all back together!
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