Jérôme Delhaye (Director of Entertainment Division of Reed MIDEM)

 

Mario Christiani: Most music professionals know about MIDEM but can you tell us about MIDEM for those people who don´t already know about it?

 

Jérôme Delhaye: Midem is a unique event with participants from 80 countries. It is a B2B event for the international music industry and the only place where people come together for their music and their business to start and maintain relationships.

The full international dimension of the music ecosystem will be at the core of Midem 2016, and will act as the central theme of the conference programme. Key players from the international music industry ecosystem will be attending Midem 2016 including labels, artists, publishers, platforms (Pandora, Deezer etc…), music industry startups…

 

 

Mario Christiani: This year Midem will celebrate its 50th year. So what was the very first year like?

 

Jérôme Delhaye: Midem was created by Bernard Chevry and was launched in Cannes, France, in 1967. The concept was not to be a music festival but from the start a business event. It was scheduled just after the San Remo Music Festival and Bernard Chevry sent a fleet of 100 cars to San Remo to pick up industry executives and bring them to Cannes! The first Midem was the only one of its kind anywhere in the world and it was a great success. It was the first time that so many music business people could meet up, exchange products and ideas and discuss mutual challenges and projects.

 

Mario Christiani: How did it develop and grow over the years?

 

Jérôme Delhaye: Midem quickly became an international success, bringing together a growing community of international music professionals. Over the years it has become a unique deal-making platform, enabling international representatives from the whole music sector to connect. After just five years 5,000 people from 40 countries attended Midem.

 

Mario Christiani: What were the main changes and challenges for Midem over the last 50 years?

 

Jérôme Delhaye: The many changes in the music industry obviously had an impact on Midem. Some of the most important changes were for example the development of music TV channels like MTV, the launch of the CD or more recently the Internet. As a purely B2B industry event these changes were integrated into Midem to reflect the industry we serve.

 

Key Face 2016

 

Mario Christiani: It appears that Midem has nearly always taken place in January. Last year, however, the event happened in June. What was the reason for the change and did it work well? Seems like it could not be easy to change the habits of so many people who attend each year.

 

Jérôme Delhaye: There was some reservation about Midem’s new dates but we wanted to give new energy to the event. The good weather in June makes a huge difference to our delegates’ mood and the long days and evenings extend the working hours and allow more time to meet people and network outside in the evening. The numerous concerts outside are also very enjoyable in the long summer evenings. Midem is all about networking and we felt that this would be enhanced in the summer.

The feedback we got from our clients to this change was really good. Most of them told us that they met more people and that they had a very positive Midem.

 

Mario Christiani: And what about the cost of Midem? Some people told me that they think that the hotel prices will be much higher than in January.

 

Jérôme Delhaye: About 50% of Midem participants go through our internal accommodation booking service and we have negotiated with the hotels we work with on the tariffs they apply which are approximately the same as in January.

 

Mario Christiani: What are the plans for Midem 2016? What can we expect?

 

Jérôme Delhaye: It’s the 50^th anniversary of Midem and we’ll be celebrating the past 50 years of music with past generations and the next 50 exciting years to come with the game changers of the new music ecosystem.

 

The 50^th anniversary will be a big event there will be 3 evenings of live concerts with a wide range of talent performing at the traditional Opening Night and Closing Night networking events, and also at the Midem 50th Birthday Party on Saturday night. It will be a great time to celebrate and also to benefit from more networking opportunities until late into the evening.

 

This year we will hold the inaugural International Midem Awards’ ceremony and leading industry competitions such as the Midem Artist Accelerator – the programme to fast-track budding musical talent into the global spotlight and Midemlab, the international pitching competition for innovative startups. We are looking forward to keynotes from leading industry leaders such as Timbaland, Pandora Founder, Tim Westergren; Glassnote Entertainment Founder, Daniel Glass; Warner Music Group’s Stu Bergen; Alibaba Music Group Chairman, Gao Xiaosong; Music Supervisor Marie Ramos and UTA’s Neil Warnock.

 

Mario Christiani: What are your future plans? What might Midem look like at its 60th year?

 

Jérôme Delhaye: We have many new projects that we are launching this year like the Innovation factory, the Copyright Summit or the Anchor Program. We move forward with the music industry so as to remain relevant to our clients, our aim is to maximize the return on investment for our participants.

 

Mario Christiani: Thank you very much.

 

http://www.midem.com

 

 

„Michael Leahy is a platinum lyricist that first attended Midem in 1997 tying to pimp digital services to labels. He has since done business development for African labels, marketing for Midem itself and pitched projects at the Cannes Film Festival. He has also coached music and movie people in the fine art of networking. He wrote the Cannes Starter Guide last year as a mind-map for getting results at Midem.”

A quick guide to pitching at Midem

Cannes is pitchville. You do it the whole time, sometimes even unconsciously. If you don’t have experience, it can seem daunting and like sex, there is a danger of having unreasonable expectations. But remember, lacking experience is a problem that is easily fixed (well, in pitching anyway). But Midem can be intense, as people try to maximise their time. Here are a few thoughts for being more comfortable and ultimately more successful when you pitch:

Determine what you want to achieve. In the majority of cases, you won’t physically sell anything at a face-to-face pitch at Cannes. What you are trying to do is to get permission to start actual negotiations at a later stage. You have to make a good impression and get the person to whom you are talking to say, “Cool, let’s talk about this next week. Here’s my card”.

Always start with a one-line account of yourself. “Hi. I’m Michael. I work with [company name], Europe’s biggest/newest/most innovative/latest writer/producer/label/publisher (or whatever). I’m at Cannes this year to check interest for a new [whatever].” Keep it short. Keep it focused. You are talking to this person for one reason, not three. As you have done your homework (hint: use the event database), you can comment on their company’s latest success, release or whatever is relevant. Show them you know their business. By this time, you will be nonchalantly fingering your promo material without really showing it. Hopefully, you will hear the magic words, “So how can I help you?”

Pitch in 25 words or less. The movie business has a wonderful discipline called “25 words or less”. Ultimately, it’s all you need to get some initial interest. If you’re pitching a service or app, start here with the basic premise in 25 words or less. If you’re pitching music, you’ll actually find that many people are not really equipped to listen to music at Midem as it takes a few minutes. Give them a short blast – but know when to switch back to verbal pitching. Never, ever read from a text. You have to be so convinced that your stuff is right for this person that you can keep eye contact at all times, only breaking it to show them some promo material. If you get him or her to nod their head, you can start going deeper into your pitch. In music, labels are mainly interested in indications that a potential audience is out there. From 25 words, you’re into a 10-minute conversation. So far, so good.

Keep the radar on. As you are talking, keep a very close eye on the other person’s body language. Some people are comfortable with stopping you in your tracks if your pitch is not relevant to them. It saves time. Others sit and squirm, wondering why they took this meeting and hoping you can read the signs. If you get a negative vibe or a request to “get to the point”, take the appropriate steps. If it’s negative, ask politely why. Accept that whether they go for your pitch or not, they are probably making the right decision for their situation. You can learn a lot from being brushed off. You’ll find that either your product is a total dud, or that you are selling it badly – which is an important learning. Most people will be grateful you don’t oblige them to become impolite. You might also get great market info such as “We did something similar two years ago and lost money; we found there was no market” or “We’re getting right out of that genre, and here’s why”. Make rejection pay.

Get out of the meeting. As I said, it is vital not to wear out your welcome. If you get a positive response, aim to be out of the meeting on a high note within 3 minutes. Don’t bother with small talk or comments about the view over of the bay. Just get out and look forward to being in touch later. If you got a negative response, thank them for the insights, shake their hand warmly and tell them you might be in touch at some distant future date. But let them understand you won’t be chasing them with this project. Then run around the corner and write down what you learnt. You can review it later back in the office and draw up plans.

 

These are broad rules. Each of them can be broken, depending on whether you have a relationship with the person you are pitching to and individual circumstances. One other thing that is worth mentioning: if this is your first or second time, a lack of interest might be dispiriting. Remember that some deals are just not worth signing.

 

 

As a reminder:

Links:

Cannes Starter Guide: http://amzn.to/1C4H07H

Midem 2015 Cheat Sheet: http://amzn.to/1DUCGp8

Cannes or Bust: First time in Cannes http://cannes-or-bust.com/first-time-in-cannes/

Midem: http://www.midem.com/

 

 

Discussions:

https://www.music2deal.com/groups/internationalhangoutlodge/hang_out_introduction/2754

https://www.music2deal.com/groups/mmfgroup/information/2755

https://www.music2deal.com/groups/ambassadors/promotion/2756

https://www.music2deal.com/groups/songwriter/news/2757