Midem, held in Cannes on January 28-31, is one of the world’s biggest gatherings of music business professionals, drawing more than 7,000 participants from some 80 countries. This year 26 Finnish companies from across the music field are taking part, sharing space with other Nordic exhibitors.
Representing Finland are companies such as Comusic Productions, which manages the rock band Sunrise Avenue. Since winning the European Border Breaker Award, the band has sold gold and platinum in many countries around the continent, yet still has great potential to expand its popularity. “We’re looking for partners to boost the band’s career in other parts of Europe, South and North America and Asia,” says Anne Laaksonen of Comusic Productions. Also on hand in Cannes are übercool Finnish labels Spinefarm Records, Rockadillo Records and Texicalli Records, cutting-edge studio production firms such as Chartmakers, Finnvox Studios and TomFloor Production, as well as Elements Music, whose songwriters have recently scored hits in Germany, Greece and elsewhere.
Like last year, midemlab will reward the most exciting music-related tech start-ups. This year’s finalists include Finnish developer Ovelin. Its guitar-instruction iPad game Wildchords scooped up the Northern Dimension Music Innovation Award at last autumn’s Music & Media Finland Innovation Forum. As another example of Finnish technology know-how, LiveMusicStage.com will present an interactive online show with Postyr Project, an electronic vocal group, on Sunday, January 29 at 3pm. Two live gigs from Denmark can be seen at the Nordic Pavilion.
Music Export Finland jump-starts Midem by hosting its own showcase in Paris on Friday, January 27. The Helsinki Mon Amour show at the legendary Flèche d’Or club presents three up-and-coming Finnish indie acts: French Films (GAEA Records), Burning Hearts (Solina Records) and Zebra & Snake (100% Records). The artists were hand-picked with three local partners: promoters Super Agency, PR agency Boogie Drugstore and media partner Tsugi magazine. The Finnish Institute in France co-hosts the evening.
“These three bands are a great fit for the French market, and since we’ve excellent feedback from this club event before, we decided to do it again,” says Music Export Finland project manager Sami Häikiö. “There’s a lot of buzz around Finnish indie bands worldwide at the moment, and now Parisians have a chance to check out some of the most promising new acts themselves.”
More information
Music Export Finland
Sami Häikiö, Project Manager
Tel. +358 20 730 2230
Email: sami@musex.fi
