Music Ally

March 4th will see London host the one-day ‘Music 4.5′ conference, which will focus on music startups and emerging digital music business models.

It’s just announced the programme, which will include a keynote interview with UK Music’s Feargal Sharkey and Brian Message (with his Music Managers Forum hat on), as well as panels with the likes of 7Digital and PRS for Music.

We’re most looking forward to the session where music startups will pitch their services to a panel of teenagers, though – like Dragon’s Den except with every judge wondering ‘How is that better than BitTorrent, bruv?’

More details can be found on the official website.

MidemNet and Music Ally are on the lookout for the hottest new digital companies for 2010. MidemNet Lab aims to seek out the most enterprising, innovative and inspiring new digital business models and provide a high profile showcase for their talents throughout the whole of MidemNet and the overall MIDEM event.

MIDEM is the world’s music market which takes place in Cannes, France from 23-27 January 2010. The MidemNet Lab is a project taking place in a dedicated area in the trade show. MidemNet Lab will showcase the talents of 15 start-ups bringing exciting new digital solutions to the music industry. Each company will be able to present their business models through presentations, video demonstrations and face-to-face meetings with MIDEM delegates.

The deadline for submissions is Tuesday 27th October 2009. Successful applicants will be notified during November 2009 and the event takes place from 23-27 January 2010.

Please visit: www.musically.com/midemnetlab for more details and to apply.

The organisers of music industry conference Popkomm have announced that they’re cancelling this year’s event, with the aim of returning next summer with a new format.

“Despite positive reactions to the new event location and a satisfactory number of bookings by exhibitors, because of the economic situation we anticipate a considerable decline in trade visitor attendance,” says MD Dr Ralf Kleinhenz. “Out of responsibility towards the exhibitors we have therefore decided to postpone Popkomm for one year.”

This means that Popkomm IMEA contest will, of course, be unable to run this year as originally planned. Look out for further information on this in due course.

There’s no digital link here, but we thought the L4 festival in London was worth a mention nonetheless, for readers based in the UK capital. Held over four nights in venues in the north, south, east and west of London, it’ll showcase a bunch of the city’s best unsigned bands.

Tickets cost £5, and all proceeds go to independent charity Tesfa UK, which raises funds to provide early childhood education to children in Ethiopia. It kicks off on Thursday at The Ginglik in west London, before moving to the Dogstar (south), Camden Head (north) and the Vibe Bar (east) on the following nights.

Headlining acts include My Drug Hell, Ich Bin Fin, The Moonjets and Clones.

The countdown has begun for the Popkomm “Innovation in Music and Entertainment Award” – UK industry analysts Music Ally partner in this business award – Information and applications at  www.popkommawards.com

The search is on for the best new business ideas, the smartest companies and the hottest new start-ups in the worlds of music, media, technology and entertainment. Popkomm-IMEA (Innovation in Music and Entertainment Award) is an opportunity for new start-ups to present their ideas to an audience of managers and executives from international music and technology companies at Popkomm. Popkomm-IMEA is regarded as the main networking and matchmaking event at Popkomm.

Last year saw over 70 entries Popkomm-IMEA entries with the finalists being mentored by Julie Meyer, Charles Grimsdale, Michael Bornhausser for their final presentation. Previous Popkomm IMEA winners include PlaylouderMSP, Sonicbids, Gracenote, Royalty-Share and Kyte.

* To apply, please visit the Popkomm-IMEA entry page HERE.

Music Ally readers can take advantage of a special GBP £199 + VAT offer on tickets for the Music Week Making Online Music Pay conference. To take advantage of the offer, call +44 (0) 207 921 8039 or visit http://www.musicweek.com/momp and enter MUSICA as a promotional code.

Full line-up and further details on the event after the jump…

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The Mobile Entertainment Forum has announced that it’s calling for entries for this year’s Meffys mobile entertainment awards, due to be given out at a glitzy event on 23rd June in London as part of their MEM conference.

As in previous years, there’s a dedicated Music Service category. Previous winners have included mBlox and Myxer’s Myxer Mobile Music (2008), Omnifone’s MusicStation (2007), Warner Music’s WAMO packs (2006), Vodafone’s full-track download service (2005), and Chaoticom and Eurotel Praha’s Eurotel Jukebox (2004). Happy days.

Other categories for which music services or apps may be eligible include Games, Technology Innovation, Ad Campaign, Application, Quality of Experience, Mobile First Innovation, and Innovative Business Model.

We wonder if it’s music’s turn again for the Outstanding Contribution award. In 2004 Vesa-Matti Paananen won it for his work commercialising the ringtone, but since then it’s been luminaries from games (2005), mobile TV (2006), mobile internet (2007) and social networking (2008).

For full information on how to enter this year’s Meffys, check the official website.

Live from London, we’re liveblogging our own Mobile Music In The Dock event, for which we’ve gathered expert witnesses, canny prosecution and defence teams, and a raucous (we hope) jury to decide whether mobile music is living up to the industry’s expectations. Read on, and refresh for the latest entries…

18.35: We’re about to get underway, but here’s a rundown of who’s who tonight. The prosecutor is Jeremy Silver QC from Sibelius Software, while the defence counsel is Ralph Simon QC from the Mobile Entertainment Forum.

Expert witnesses include Paul Kenny (Global Head of Music, Vodafone), Tim Grimsditch (Global Product Marketing, Nokia Music), Mark Mulligan (Senior Analyst, Jupiter Research), Scott Cohen (Founder, The Orchard), Paul Lee (Deloitte) and Gary McClarnan (Sparklestreet).

The judge? Our own Paul Brindley. No, he’s not wearing a dusty wig. We did try to persuade him. Read on for the report of what happens, as it happens.

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Tickets are going fast for next week’s Mobile Music In The Dock event, which we’re holding at the Deloitte Auditorium in London on Tuesday 25 November.

Here’s some more info on the plan for the night. Mobile music is charged with promising more than it can actually deliver, with Jeremy Silver from Sibelius Software making the case for the prosecution, and Ralph Simon from the Mobile Entertainment Forum making the case for the defence.

There’s a stellar line-up of expert witnesses too, including:

• Paul Kenny, Global Head of Music, Vodafone
• Tim Grimsditch, Global Product Marketing, Nokia Music
• Mark Mulligan, Senior Analyst, Jupiter Research
• Scott Cohen, Founder, The Orchard
• James Bates, Media Director, Deloitte

Who’s the jury? Everyone in the audience, that’s who! We’re looking forward to a great night full of debate and discussion, before a final verdict. With booze and nibbles, obviously. It all kicks off at 6pm next Tuesday, and tickets are £60, or £40 if you’re a Music Ally subscriber. For more details and to buy tickets, click here.

Simon Gavin is the head of A&M Records (part of Universal Music Group), whose current roster includes The Police, The Horrors, The Courteeners and Duffy. We spoke to him about his involvement in the series, and what makes it an interesting platform for artists and labels. (more…)