Manitoba Music Heads to Cannes for 42nd Annual MIDEM Conference

Posted on

The Manitoban music community is sending some of its prairie spirit to Cannes, France. Nine local industry professionals and one artist will head overseas on January 26 for the 42nd edition of MIDEM, the world’s biggest music business conference.

MIDEM allows for the opportunity for members of our local music industry to expand their presence across the globe, as they host over 10,000 international music industry bigwigs. Artists, labels, record companies attend the conference to wheel, deal, and get exposed the hottest, newest music, from January 26-31 through trade shows, networking events, and showcases.

Yet again, a strong strong Manitoba delegation of labels and industry professionals is attending MIDEM, including: Aboriginal production company Rising Sun Productions’ Vince Fontaine, Aboriginal label Arbor Records’ founder Brandon Friesen, Ukrainian folk label Olesia Records’ owner Alexis Kochan, Cafesonique.com’s Ron Lamoureux, and electronic record label Balanced Records’ co-founder, Adam Hannibal. Attendance is funded in part through Manitoba Trade and Investment, which allows for smaller Manitoban businesses to strengthen their visibility in international markets as well as MARIA and MANITOBA FILM & SOUND’s jointly-administered Market Access Program.

This year Balanced Records artist Solidaze and his vocalist Sarah Michaelson will be collaborating with French label Spice and Ice to showcase his work on the January 27. This is the fourth year that Balanced Records has attended MIDEM, but the first time that the label will showcase an artist. Balanced's past MIDEM experiences has successfully led to an expansion of its digital and physical distribution across the world, in countries such as the U.S., Canada, U.K., Greece, Germany, and Japan. Solidaze is the second Manitoba artist to showcase at the very exclusive MIDEM. Eagle & Hawk showcased in 2006.

Representatives from MARIA and MANITOBA FILM & SOUND will also be hosting their second annual networking dinner at La Pizza on January 30, to give the chance for some more intimate networking with music industry professionals from around the globe. This will be integral in supporting Manitoba’s rich arts community by networking outside of our borders.

Read more news