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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

MIDEM – THE International Music Conference in Cannes France

You can't afford to MISS THIS!!

I think my first trip to Cannes (pronounced CAN not CAHN) was in January of 1991 or 92. I had a friend of mine that was staying at my house in Nashville for an extended period of time as it was a good fit for the both of us. His name: Ralph Murphy. Ralph is currently VP of ASCAP Nashville and had been to Midem since – well before I had gotten out of high school. Ralph and I had a deal that he would introduce me to everyone he knew as I was new in Nashville and even though I had a Law Degree with a focus on International Law – I didn’t have much experience on the international scene either and if you are looking to break into work on the international level in the music business then MIDEM is the place to do it! So we planned our trip to Cannes and off we went.


It’s held at the end of January every year and is the most incredible trade show you could ever attend. Imagine if you will, people from all over the world showing up in the same place and all having their first of the year budgets ready to spend. You will find that you will end up meeting more people and making more deals that you could in MONTHS of working the phones and corresponding or even attending any other event in the music business. It’s like a feeding frenzy and be prepared to not get much sleep as I closed more deals after MIDNIGHT than I did all day as that’s when things slow down and you get a chance to sit and visit with people for an extended period of time.

Just BE PREPARED if you go – ship as much of your accoutrement ahead of time and have it waiting at the Hotel as you do NOT want to be lugging around a ton of CD’s or Promo Items, etc as it’s a long trip and also pack an extra change of clothes in your shipment as my first trip there – the airlines lost my luggage so I was without my suits for a couple of days – but that’s a whole other story. Also, there are plenty of shuttles so do NOT stay on the main strip if you want to save some money! I usually stayed at Cannes Beach Residence and could literally have several of my friends stay in my Beach Suite as it had two bedrooms, a couch, a bed under the couch and you could get MORE beds if you like. Want you privacy? Don’t worry about it – you won’t be in your hotel room very much as there’s just TOO much going on and you don’t want to waste a second.

The most important thing is to pay for floor access – you don’t need a booth (unless that’s your thing) but you get there early, grab a couple of espressos and hit the floor! Bring comfortable shoes as you’re going to be doing a TON of walking and that’s what you do – walk from one end of the place to the next which is sort of laid out like a baseball field – you hit one side and then the other and every 10 feet or so, you’ll hit a booth with plenty of people to talk to! So have your business cards ready – I found that I could literally not just pitch my clients for international deals but that there were PLENTY of people trying to work with somebody from Nashville so I would end up getting enough work to keep me busy for 6 months after the show.

Go to as many seminars that are of interest and plan your day from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. as that’s the kind of days your going to face – remember people are coming from ALL time zones so there’s going to be people up and out to mingle with 24/7. I could go on and on – but I could literally write another book about this show, the stories and experience I had but the MOST important thing I would like my readers to get out of this Blog is that if you don’t go – you’ll never know and it is one of the most amazing experiences you’ll ever have in your life – I made that trip many, many times and am working my way back to being able to go more often as well as perhaps hitting the multi-media show that’s held in March before the international film festival in May which are all held at the same place! The Palais De Festival…and don’t think you can’t afford it – you can’t afford NOT to go! And if you do it right – you WILL MAKE MONEY! So if you can, get your passport ready, book your hotel and flights way in advance, get a game plan so you don’t waste any time and JUST GO! It will change your life forever! For more information check out: http://www.midem.com/

Happy, yet safe travels and go take on the world!

SM @ MSO