Ovelin, a Finland-based start-up, is announced as the winner of Match Point, a Pitching Competition for Digital Music Start-ups. The company’s music game WildChords grabbed the €7500 first prize in the competition, which took place on Saturday, October 22nd at the Music & Media Finland conference in Tampere, Finland.

The Music & Media Finland 2011 conference in Tampere, Finland will host Match Point – a pitching competition for digital music start-ups on Saturday 22nd October. Seven start-ups will compete for the Northern Dimension Music Innovation Award and a cash prize of €7500.

There’s always someone around who’s ready to swear that you can’t totally rock out on a synth or much less a laptop. Beware. Giving this thought mindspace is demonstrably one of the first steps people take on the way to becoming card-carrying members of the <insert name of old school guitar-centric popular music genre here> Taliban! You know them. You’ve seen them at shows, standing motionless next to the mixing booth. And 100% of people who say dumb-ass things like that have never seen Huoratron live. It’s a fact.

The Finnish music organizations unite the operations of Music Export Finland Association Musex and Finnish Music Information Centre Fimic under one new organization. The new association extensively promotes the awareness of Finnish music, including the availability and use of Finnish live music, recordings and sheet music in Finland and abroad, as well as helps the Finnish music industry increase its export revenue.

Mirel Wagner is a classic, old school singer-songwriter, right down to the brass tacks of her ascendance as a musician. She started going to open mics in Helsinki and as a result, she sprang upon the world seemingly fully formed out of nowhere with her eponymous debut album. She’s equally at home picking on her guitar and at the scabs of your deepest fears in the corner of a dive bar or opening for a death metal band.

The relationship between Finland and Germany, that started with alternative, punk and indie tours in the 90s and grew to encompass big time bands like HIM ten years later with new stars like Sunrise Avenue following yet another decade later, just keeps growing closer every year. And the grassroots is still active, too. That is a sign of healthy musical ecosystem.

The Music & Media Synch Summit is selling out fast. The one-day program dedicated to international music synch and licensing at the Music & Media Finland Conference is proving to be one of the most anticipated sessions of the event.

Match Point – a pitching competition for digital music start-ups from the Nordic countries, Baltic states and Russia – invites submissions until September 14. Match Point takes place at Music & Media Finland conference on October 22 and is a part of Music & Media Innovation Forum – a dedicated program for digital enterprises and professionals looking to vest in the digital business of music.

If one were to characterize one’s relationship with one’s own neighbors on Facebook, “It’s complicated” would work much of the time. This is, to a degree, an accurate description of the relationship between Finnish music exports and Sweden, the musical superpower right next door. MOI! Sounds from Suomi project is all about turning this relationship into a full-on love affair! And the four-day MOI! Stockholm festival and YouSay Hej We Say Moi conference is the cherry on top!

When UK urban music kicked off its latest chart renaissance nearly two years ago many heralded it as the gold rush era for a set of young, fresh, talented and predominantly Grime-focused artists.  Many of these got signed, many simply dreamt of the day it would happen.