Manitobans head to Cannes for 41st Annual MIDEM

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Plenty of Manitobans have skipped out on the cold winter to spend a week in Cannes, France. Before you resent them, though, they are working. They’re there for the 41st edition of MIDEM, the world’s biggest music market and conference with over 10,000 international delegates. Music industry bigwigs from across the globe converge in Cannes every January to wheel, deal, network, and see the hottest, newest music.

Manitoba and Canada in general have a strong presence with this year being no exception. Representatives from Smallman Records, Arbor Records, Balanced Records, C12 Records, and Rising Sun Productions have all made their way to France along with folks from MARIA and Manitoba Film & Sound. And if the Manitoban delegation wants to get a good night’s sleep, it might want to skip out on MIDEM’s non-stop tradeshow and impressive concerts.

Manitoba-based cafesonique.com, the world's first and only 3D global virtual music community, also had a strong presence at MIDEM with one of three Canadian stands at the tradeshow. cafesonique.com also hosted a successful showcase featuring up-and-coming Winnipeg chanteuse Katelyn Dawn as well as several international artists.

The sheer number of music-related people and businesses in attendance is can be an overwhelming element of MIDEM, but many of this year’s Manitoban participants are experiencing MIDEM for the second or third time. This allows such labels as Smallman to maximize developing business relationships by meeting many of their international contacts in person after extensive electronic dealings. MIDEM has proved key to Manitoba labels in continuing to export local music beyond our Canadian borders to countries like Australia, Germany, and Japan.

Funding for attendance at MIDEM came through Manitoba Trade and Investment, which has allowed for smaller Manitoban business to strengthen our province’s visibility in an international market, which undoubtedly will be felt by the local music industry for years to come. Manitoba is already known for its disproportionate number of incredibly talents musicians and with the impressive local participation in Cannes, the opportunities are boundless.

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