Virtual Conferences for the world’s largest music market Midem was unusually quiet. I remember the organized madness that Midem once shared. The LIVE performers scheduled hourly at selected spots within the exhibition hall, the continuous playing of music at a multitude of visitor stands. The Midem sponsored nightly concerts at multiple hotel ballrooms, parties held by different governments just to showcase their best music and musicians. Gone are the days of leaving one fabulous concert, just to walk next door or down the block to another. I miss the abundance of free music given out to attendees just so they may eventually listen, talk about and ultimately purchase quantities for sale in their respective markets.
The experience of discovery is lacking while digital media is supposed to bring the industry closer. Things aren’t what they used to be. Executives at this year’s Midem conference have come up with a unique usage of today’s technology. VIRTUAL CONFERENCING Oh, you say it’s not a NEW idea, well imagine this scenario. You register for the conference online, paying your registration fee digitally. You then troll the online database of the conference attendees and schedule your appointment for a private online meeting time. At your designated time you connect visually and have a one on one meeting digitally with the person you have chosen. During the meeting you share music or video file that be saved or seen and you get immediate feedback.
What I heard during Midem were facts and figures, “My song has 600,000 YouTube views, My Sound cloud has been downloaded 800,000 times, I now have over a million followers on Twitter. What I didn’t hear was the music itself. Sure a few people had MP3 players, jump drives, iPhone with a cloud file, one meeting I took from the UK even had a portable CD player with ear buds. Yet this was the exception NOT the norm. The numbers game was what ruled this conference. Most companies were interested in having 5,000,000 songs on file where anyone could research for the song they wanted or needed. I’m predicting that there will be a change in how the Business of Music selling works very soon. Most people are lazy yet want instant gratification while the successful industry executive works daily in developing lasting relationships and NOT online hype. The day of the Song Plugger is fast approaching, the need for personalize service for publishers, writers, musicians and labels is mandatory.
Will this happen virtually? Only time will tell…
by Allen Johnston
The Music2Deal Blog 
Thanks for your comments. Figures are important, but we agree they’re not the whole picture. We’ve listened to this and other feedback, and have made changes to the next Midem which we hope will address your concerns. Taking place for the first time in June (5-8, 2015), our next edition will notably feature an enhanced Festival programme, with countless outdoor events taking advantage of our new summery slot. In short, it will be more vibrant than ever! We hope to see you there. Thanks, James, Midem
Hello James, thank you for taking the time to comment on this article. We are looking forward to the next Midem!