Cannes and Midem was the place to be today if you wanted to immerse yourself in the latest crop of music/tech startups. 20 were pitching as part of the Midemlab contest, across four categories.
The four category winners were HumOn, Truelinked, Soundcharts and Vinci Smart Headphones. You can read our report on the announcement, as well as a panel of former Midemlab finalists talking about their experiences of startup life.
Read our Midemlab winners + alumni panel report.
If you want a deeper dive into the 20 Midemlab startups, check out our individual blow-by-blow accounts of the four pitching sessions, during which the startups tried to sell panels of industry judges on their tech and business potential.
The first pitch session focused on the music creation and education category. HumOn, Roadie 2, Studytracks, Uberchord and Skoog were the five finalists. Read our report.
The second pitch session was the music discovery and distribution category. Disco, Atmosphere, Yokee Music, Diggers Factory and Truelinked were the five finalists. Read our report.
The third pitch session saw the music marketing and data/analytics startups parading their wares. Soundcharts, Rotor Videos, NPREX, The Bot Platform and Instrumental were the finalists. Read our report.
The final pitch session focused on experiential technologies like AR/VR, hi-res audio and hardware. ORB, TheWaveVR, Pacemaker, SYOS and Vinci Smart Headphones were the finalists. Read our report.
Day two of Midem 2017 wasn’t just about startups, of course. One of the most anticipated sessions was Warner Music Group’s keynote, which explored the potential for western artists to break big in China.
Specifically, the session explained how Danish artist Christopher became a Chinese chart-topper, aided by his management and label.
Besides Christopher, speakers during the session included Beth Appleton, SVP of global marketing at WMG; manager Thomas Børresen; Jonas Siljemark, president Nordics at WMG; and Simon Robson, president Asia at WMG. The moderator was CMU’s Chris Cooke.
“Music comes from everywhere today. That’s a very important message for everybody. But it could also break everywhere. By history labels have been looking mostly at the big western countries… but one of the biggest markets in the world is east!” said Siljemark.
Robson talked about the work that’s gone in to making Christopher a hit with Chinese audiences. “You have to come regularly… if you can come to China say for a week or half a week on a regular basis, it makes all the difference. And this is what Christopher and Thomas have been doing: they have been to China five times in two and a half years. Every six months. It’s perfect,” he said.
“If you look at south east Asia, the way they think about connecting with audiences and fans is future-progressive. We can learn a lot,” added Appleton.
Read our full report of the WMG keynote
Also fun: a keynote session where Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda and Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus wrote a new song together, live on stage:
.@mikeshinoda of @linkinpark and @markhoppus of @blink182 are writing a new song together live on-stage at #midem… @midem pic.twitter.com/LFnQ4Kh5In
— Music Ally (@MusicAlly) June 7, 2017
Our other Midem 2017 coverage today
Life as a young European indie label in 2017
The European Perspective on the ‘value gap’
We’ve also been interviewing more Midem attendees from UK-based companies to find out what they’re excited about – both here at the conference, and for 2017 as a whole:
Music Ally’s Midem 2017 coverage is supported this year by Music is GREAT, the British government’s campaign to promote UK music exports.
The UK and British Music are represented through the British Music at Midem stand, with the Department for International Trade joining forces with music industry associations AIM (Association of Independent Music), BPI (British Phonographic Industry), MPA (Music Publishers Association), PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) and PRS for Music.
Together, they will support over 150 UK music businesses and member delegates as they seek to pick up on the latest trends, connect with international companies, sign deals and develop trading and export opportunities.
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