Growth was boosted by developments in music export companies and diversification of sources of revenue.

Jazzahead! is an event that combines a jazz festival, conference and trade fair in one neat package. This year’s event is very heavy on the Finns.

Labels and artists have been experimenting with apps ever since Apple launched its App Store in the summer of 2008, with varying degrees of success. However, all the trends point to the fact that apps will only get more deeply embedded in the relationship between artists and their fans in the coming months and years.

Fan remix contests have been popular for a while now, but some artists are going a step further, inviting fans into the creative process itself for their songs and videos. Is crowdsourcing more about gaining headlines, though, or will it have a real impact on the way artists engage with their fans? There is certainly no shortage of initiatives to pick over in an effort to find out.

Finland's frontline artists gather funds for the casualties of Japan earthquake and tsunami in Helsinki at Tavastia on Sunday March 27. Pelasta Punainen Pallo (Save the Red Globe) charity concert is presented by Michael Monroe, Jenni Vartiainen, Paleface, Ismo Alanko, Von Hertzen Brothers and Tuomari Nurmio.

Gigswiz's David Hazan and Mobile Backstage's Paavo Bäckman take part at panels closely relating to their businesses.

Tech firm ChompOn says the value of a Facebook Share is $14, in terms of the likelihood of people clicking through and buying something if a friend posts a link. Its study – published this week – outlines smaller values for Facebook Likes, Twitter tweets and Twitter follows. Does this have any relevance to music marketing though?

Sunrise Avenue was the black horse of the Finnish music exports game. It took them 102 visits to various record and production companies to conjure any interest in what they were offering. Since then, they have sold more than 500 000 records worldwide.

LCMDF set the blogosphere afire with a run of infectious pop confections. Songs like "Something Golden" and "Ray-Ban Glasses" made the girls nascent stars in many a European capital, in addition to the hype hungry back alleys of Internet’s music blogs. Their debut album "Love & Nature" was snapped up by the legendary London-label Heavenly Recordings.

With 600 million users, Facebook is now the dominant social network. Its sheer scale – plus popular B2B tools like RootMusic – have made it a powerful venue for music marketing, as artists and the teams around them look for the best way to engage more directly with fans. The question is whether this power comes with the proper responsibility from Facebook.