„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.”

Making contacts at Midem (or any other event for that matter)

We attend trade fairs basically for two reasons: to meet people and get industry news that will give us an edge. That’s it. Everything else is an add-on. If you think you are not doing enough business, then get out and meet more people. Business comes through people (which is also basically why I hang out on Music2Deal – I still have a great Spanish song to offer if you know someone that needs one).

So how do you go about this in the context of a trade fair? At a basic level, there are three ways of doing business at trade fairs: through people you know; people you know about; and people you don’t even know exist.

• Trade fairs offer exceptional opportunities to catch up with people you know or might have known. Be sure to let them know you are attending. Has your contact gone cold? This is an opportunity to warm it up a little. That guy you knew that used to book bands in a youth club might be the brand manager of Shure microphones by now, or Luc Besson’s music supervisor. You’ll find that telling them you are attending Midem will make them curious. You might be able to get a meeting with people that are not even attending!
• Everyone knows the names of a few key players in their field. Trade fairs offer an opportunity to reach out to them. Just make sure you do your homework before contacting the head of Universal Publishing. Run their name through Google News. Check their latest job title on LinkedIn. These things are not difficult to do. Then tailor your message to what they are doing right now. Don’t waste their time. Be courteous and get to the point.
• There are literally thousands of people that you don’t even know exist doing good business in small niches or territories you had not initially thought about. This is particularly true since the arrival of the digital economy where extra services or apps can create exciting new products. Last year, I saw some sensational new tools for generating income on YouTube and improving merchandising sales at concerts.

So much for the principles. How do you go about grabbing appointments?

• Set up your profile in the event database. Very important: specifically mention the key reasons you are attending and who you are looking to contact. Be very clear about this. Some databases now run match-making services that will suggest targeted leads for you. The clearer you are, the better the results. Tip: check and double-check all your e-mail and contact info in the database to ensure it is correct. A guesstimate is that about 5-10% of e-mail addresses or web links don’t actually work. Add all the photos and samples you possible can. Take those extra 10 minutes to present yourself completely. Unless you work for Universal, do not expect people in another country to know what you do. Also, resist the temptation to tick all the boxes in the database. A one-man company without an ID photo that claims to be a DJ/label/music supervisor/distributor/manager/artist is not credible and will be ignored. Sorry.

• Set up meetings with key people you want to meet at the show. Mine the event database to set up meetings, over and over again. Prioritise. Start by trying to reach key people in key territories, and then work your way down. Keep at it. Tailor each message to each individual. But also leave room for people that might contact you. Are there any media people, show organizers, current or prospective suppliers or perspective employees you want to hook up with? When it comes to actually meeting, would a meeting or a coffee be more appropriate? If you are lucky, you might find yourself booked from 8.30am to 10.30pm. If so, try and group the meetings in the same areas so you don’t have to run from one end of the building to another. Boring tips? Sure: drink lots of water and take lots of notes. You’ll have a hard time remembering what you said ten days from now.

Hopefully, this will bring you your first appointments. As the pre-event e-mails start rolling in from Midem, check them to see if anyone they mention could be useful to you. Then dip into the database to try and set up an appointment.

In the next article, I’ll go over how to pitch and handle yourself in one-on-one meetings. So drop by the Music2Deal blog next week.

 

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

The 12th annual MUSEXPO (www.musexpo.net) is set to take place this April from the 17^th – 20^th, returning to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. As N. America’s leading globally focused music business and boutique showcase event, MUSEXPO draws some of the most influential executive and creative minds from all sectors of the music, media and technology businesses. This year’s event has confirmed some of the leading visionaries from across the global musical landscape. Among those in attendance will be an inspiring group of leading executives from labels, publishers, live entertainment platforms, booking agencies, law firms, digital companies, music supervision platforms and brands, from both independent and major sectors, who will participate across the event’s programming for 2016. Collectively, the group has been responsible for the world’s most successful artists, events, media platforms and more.

 

This year, MUSEXPO is also teaming up with music and media platform, WorldArts, as the official presenting partner for MUSEXPO 2016 and exclusive showcase submission platform for the events’ artist showcases. WorldArts is a global resource for music artists to connect directly with fans, brands, and industry leaders. Alongside WorldArts, MUSEXPO and its team will be selecting several dozen artists for showcase opportunities across MUSEXPO events.

 

MUSEXPO’s Global Keynote will kick-off with legendary TV newsman Larry King moderating a forum featuring leading music supervisor Alex Patsavas – Founder, Chop Shop Music Supervision and Chris Barton – Head of Mobile Operator Development, Dropbox and Co-Founder of Shazam, as well as others to be announced.

 

Among the programs other speakers are included leading minds from all sectors of the global music industry including A&R, publishing, radio, live, digital/tech, film/TV, brands and more. Already confirmed to attend are: Kevin Weatherly – Sr. VP/Programming, CBS Radio & Program Director, KROQ/JACK-FM/AMP RADIO Los Angeles, who will also be receiving MUSEXPO’s highly-coveted “International Music Industry Person of the Year” award; Ben Weeden – COO, House Of Blues Entertainment (A Live Nation Company); Byron Cooke – Presenter, SCA’s Hit Network (Australia); Daniel Kuypers – Director Of Music, ENERGY BBDO; Emmanuel Legrand – U.S. Editor, Music Week; Evan Lamberg – President, N. America, Universal Music Publishing Group; Jason Fielding – CEO, The Sound Campaign; Jay Cooper – Vice Chair, Global Media & Entertainment Practice, Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Jens-Markus Wegener – Managing Director, Imagem Music Publishing (Germany); Kathy Spanberger – President/COO, peermusic; Kyle Hopkins – Head of Music Supervision, Xbox/Microsoft; Mamie Coleman – VP of Music & Production, FOX Broadcasting Company; Mandar Thakur – COO, Times India; Marisa Baldi – Co-Founder, Zync Music; Mike Knobloch – President/Film Music & Publishing, Universal Pictures; Neil Warnock – Head Of Worldwide Music, United Talent Agency; Peter Szabo – SVP/Head Of Music & U.S. Ad Sales, Shazam; Ralph Simon – CEO & Founder, Mobilium Global; Ritch Esra – Publisher, The Music Registry; Ron Fair – President & Founder, Faircraft Music; Scott Burnell – Global Lead, Business Development & Partner Management, Ford Motor Company; Seymour Stein – Co-Founder/Chairman, Sire Records; Steve Knill – EVP, Global Sports & Ent’t Consulting, GMR Marketing; and many more to be announced!

 

MUSEXPO 2016 will kick-off once again with the A&R Expo taking place on Sunday, April 17^th. This year’s edition will once again bring together leading A&R minds to provide their insight into the future of artist and song development worldwide and finding creative and commercial success. The A&R Expo will be open to all registered MUSEXPO delegates.

 

Additionally, MUSEXPO 2016 will host the return of the Global Synch & Brands Summit which, over the past six years has resulted in 1,000+ synch licenses for its attendees. Past participation has included music supervisors from film, TV, gaming, ad agencies and brands such as: Pepsi, Glee, C.S.I., Nike, Coca-Cola, EA Games, FOX TV, NBC Television, Universal Pictures, Disney Films, The Weinstein Film Co., Sundance Film Festival, Activision/Blizzard, Trailer Park, Hit The Ground Running Music Supervision, Grey Advertising, Houlihan Film Music, Lionsgate, GMR Brand Marketing, Omnicom, Viacom, Chop Shop Music Supervision, Ford Motor Co., Red Bull, The Engine 360 Motion Picture Music Supervision, Sizzer Music Supervision and many others.

 

Also returning for its 3rd edition is the annual “International Music Industry Awards,” presented in partnership with Shazam, which will take place on April 20th as part of the MUSEXPO 2016 program. These awards have no territorial boundaries and recognize the work and vision of leaders and creators from all sectors connected to music from communities in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Eastern Europe, Australia and beyond – be it the emerging, independent or major executives, or sector, of our industry.

 

Thousands of global music industry citizens have cast votes for their nominations for the most inspiring, visionary and best in class for various sectors of the international music industry. Voting is now open for the industry to choose who they feel is most deserving of the “International Music Industry Award” from each of the categories listed based on the nominations. The final voting period closes at 12:00PM PST on Friday, February 26th 2016. The voting form can be accessed by clicking HERE (http://www.allaccess.com/anrw/vote).

 

 

The selected winner/s from each category will be announced at the formal “International Music Industry Awards” gala dinner at MUSEXPO Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 20th 2016 in the same ballroom that gave birth to The Oscars at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
For more information and to register for MUSEXPO 2016, the Global Synch & Brands Summit and the “International Music Industry Awards” gala dinner, log on to www.musexpo.net or reach out to Tyler Polzin at tyler@anrworldwide.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.”

 

 

 

 

What do you hope to achieve?

If the music business can be said to exist in any one place, it would most likely be Midem. For the past 50 years, the industry has come to meet in Cannes every year to meet, discover new “product”, do deals and celebrate. For the past 10 years, the celebrations have been scaled down – as has the quantity of deals – but is still represents place where many labels and increasingly artists and music tech companies break internationally. For me, there are only two questions – each as important as the other: when should I go? And when should I not go?

When should I go?

Midem is a worldwide market. The companies and people that do best here are ones that already have a level of business and want to bring it to the next level by finding international partners. This could be labels with a few releases that are actually selling, with artists that are actually touring and some publishing rolling in. The same is true of managers and publishers. If they are on a roll, Midem could bring in sub-publishing deals, contacts with other artists or connections with major brands for sponsorship deals or festivals.

The same is also true of artists that have a level of success on their own (even though I really do recommend having a personal or business manager for a whole bunch of reasons). I regularly meet professional songwriters there, although I always feel they are taking a bit of a gamble. But if you are an organised professional that can pimp your material without being either a nuisance or a drama queen, it might be worth considering.

If you are lucky enough to have some sort of back catalogue, such as all the work of a given songwriter, or compilations of 20/70s music or whatever, you can meet compilers or music libraries. Or you can meet people that can put the whole lot online and monetize the catalogue for you.

When should I not go?

Don’t go if you only have a few demos of your songs, no matter how nice you think they are. It might be an idea to work your local market before. Why? Because scale matters at Midem. Labels want to meet other labels, or managers of bands with some back catalogue and some activity already. Or songwriters with a few hits under their belts. Don’t go if your label only has one or two releases of local bands, unless you are willing to use the trip as a learning experience (it certainly is that!). You might pick up some contacts, but will you be in a position to exploit them?

In short, don’t go until you know what you want and who can bring it to you

You need a perfect vision to get the most from Cannes. What are your short and mid-term priorities? Who will help you get there? Attending Cannes is an investment in time, energy and money. Setting priorities is absolutely essential. If you are attending on your own, this should be quite easy to define, such as “Licensing my product in XX number of territories, including at least two major ones”. If you are attending as a company or team, sit down and draw up a series of priorities and ensure everyone subscribes to them.

You also have to put in the time. It’s not just four days of networking. Count another week of mining the database to find likely partners, plus the follow-up. There are a lot of music-related businesses out there, many you will not have heard of. You have to do your homework.

Does this sound like hard work? If so, you need a business manager (see?). There is a shortcut: the Cannes Starter Guide: 17 years of Midem experience for under $7 [link]. And over the coming weeks, I will be providing the outline of a plan for getting the most out of Midem. Start planning now by shooting off any questions you have.

 

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/