Tag: MIDEM
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What’s next for smart speakers? Metabait, Antitrust and ‘limitless’ discovery

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According to research firm Strategy Analytics, 86.2m smart speakers were shipped in 2018, up from 32m the year before. Meanwhile, rival Canalys reckons that the global install-base will be 207.8m by the end of 2019. Oh, and the same company thinks that China has just overtaken the US as the biggest market for these devices.

So much for market stats, but what’s coming next in terms of the features for smart speakers, and what that means for how we interact with music and musicians through them? A panel at the Midem conference today offered some predictions.

The panelists were Scott Ryan, VP of Nielsen Music / Gracenote Music; Darryl Ballantyne, CEO of LyricFind; and Benoit Rebus, head of global innovative partnerships at Qobuz. Tag Strategic’s Ted Cohen moderated.

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Are Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube the new record labels?

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Spotify is signing direct licensing deals with some artists and testing the ability to allow others to upload directly to its platform. YouTube and Apple Music are creating content and putting marketing budget behind artists. And Apple Music has also acquired Platoon, the British startup which helped a number of emerging artists to develop, including Billie Eilish.

Are streaming services turning into record labels? Or at least providing more of the services that used to be the sole domain of labels? And if so, what does that mean for artists, not to mention labels? A panel at the Midem conference this morning chewed over the implications.

Speakers included Marie-Anne Robert, global head of artist development at Believe Digital; Scott Cohen, chief innovation officer, recorded music, at Warner Music Group; Diego Farias, CEO of distributor Amuse; and Martin Nielsen, CEO of African streaming service Mdundo. Veva Sound’s director of industry relations Helienne Lindvall was on moderation duties.

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Gully Boy inspiration Divine talks hip-hop, India and independence

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The film Gully Boy has been a huge hit in India, and it’s also reflected the emergence of an exciting new independent hip-hop scene in the country – something journalist Amit Gurbaxani wrote about for Music Ally in September 2018.

Gully Boy is inspired by real-life rappers Divine and Naezy, and Divine (aka Vivian Fernandes) was on-stage at the Midem industry conference this morning, to share his views on Indian hip-hop.

He was joined by Priyanka Khimani, founder and partner at law firm Anand & Anand & Khimani, and Kataria Chaitanya, business head of Gully Gang Entertainment. The moderator was Outdustry MD Ed Peto.

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Music streaming in 2019: radio rivalry, Spotify sustainability and ‘west versus east’

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Streaming was the big driver behind the recorded-music industry’s 9.7% growth in 2018, according to the IFPI. In fact, streaming revenues grew by 34% to $8.9bn, accounting for 47% of the global total. At the end of 2018, there were 255 million users of paid streaming subscriptions, up from 176 million at the end of 2017.

This was the backdrop for the opening session at the Midem conference’s ‘streaming summit’ this morning, with Midia Research’s Mark Mulligan presenting his take on how streaming has been growing – both in mature western countries, and ‘high-potential’ markets like China and Latin America.

“There’s a real danger about looking at the future and just thinking it’s going to be a bigger, brighter, shinier version of today,” said Mulligan. “It’s a really important time to think about what’s coming next.” He noted that just before the recorded-music industry embarked on its decade-plus decline 20 years ago, the industry’s revenues and growth looked as rosy as they do now – fuelled then by CD sales, and now by streaming.

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TheFatRat on music and esports: ‘The potential is growing every year’

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TheFatRat is a German dance artist and producer (real name Christian Büttner) who’s also one of the early musicians to get involved in the world of esports – professional gaming.

In November 2018, he was announced as the first artist to be signed to Enter Records, the label joint-venture founded by Universal Music and esports organisation ESL. Büttner will also be speaking at the Midem conference this Thursday, in an esports-focused strand. Ahead of that, he offered some views on the crossover between music and esports to Music Ally.

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Indie labels and tech: ‘We’re not going to start building our own blockchain…’

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How can independent labels make the most of disruptive new technologies, from blockchain and AI to virtual and augmented reality? A session at the Midem conference last week explored the issue.

The panel included Jason Reed, head of digital at Domino; Becky Brook, business development consultant at Jaak; and Luke Dzierzek, CEO at Scored. The moderator was Music Ally’s Chiara Michieletto. Reed started by talking about the importance for indies of taking time out to track tech trends.

“First and foremost, it’s ensuring we remain ahead of the curve as a sector, and remain competitive,” said Reed. “Making sure that we are aware of new technologies and how they can create tangible impact. It can be a bit of a minefield in terms of keeping up with new startups and various ways of working. But for us it’s about finding those solutions that can deliver something tangible.”

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Midem to launch music awards in 2019 based on Soundcharts data

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The Midem 2018 conference only finished on Friday, but organiser Reed Midem has already announced one of the key planks in next year’s event: the Midem Music Awards.

The twist: “Entirely based on platform-enabled fan data and verified by an independent adjudicator, this innovative concept will introduce a completely new way to measure and reward outstanding success, bypassing the usual methods of discerning awards by jury or a voting system”.

French startup Soundcharts will be responsible for collecting and qualifying the data from audio and video-streaming services; audio-identification platforms (i.e. Shazam); social media services and live-music data sources. UK production firm Whizz Kid Entertainment will produce the awards, which will take place during Midem 2019.