Hey, it's only MIDEM time again. Yep, it's that time of the year when the creative juices of the global artist community are reengerised by, erm, sending all the label execs to the
South of France for a few days by the sea.
As has been increasingly the case at music industry junkets of late, much of the talk so far has focused on technology, both at the pre-MIDEM digital music conference, and at the first day of MIDEM proper.
Yesterday centred on the relationship between the music industry and the mobile sector which, if Vodafone's Consumer Global Marketing
Director Guy Laurence is anything to go by, is moving along just swell: "Why is the music industry constantly bickering?
I've sat through industry meetings with two representatives from the same company who are arguing in front of us who was in charge of what".
Despite the bickering, the mobile sector is keen to develop its commitment to the music space (well, its commitment to making money from the music space anyway), and all the mobile firms were on hand in Cannes this weekend to encourage labels and publishers to play ball. Laurence: "If you have not invested in mobile yet or only in a small way you need to get on with it."
Not that the labels need much persuasion regarding the potential of the mobile music space, but Ericsson's Marketing Vice President
Johan Bergendahl brought some tantalising financials to the table anyway. He revealed that mobile media services, which include music, were worth $60 billion in 2004, and he reckons the annual income will be up to $190bn by 2009.
More importantly, Bergendahl pointed out that while some 10 million iPods are likely to be sold this year, some 600 million mobile phones will be bought. What both Vodafone and Ericsson seemed to be keen to communicate was that, while mobile music customers are not the big spending music buyers that Apple are targeting, the tel cos' collective consumer base is so big that in the future revenues earned by the industry through the mobile music sector could well outstrip those earned through the online digital music domain.
And what of that online digital music domain? Well, the online music space now gets its own day ahead of the main MIDEM proceedings though, coming so soon after the Consumer Electronics Show and
Apple's own Expo event in the US, most of the big news from the key digital music players has already been announced (though
Microsoft did tell delegates that profit isn't their main priority in their music ambitions, which was interesting!).
Of most interest at the MidemNet day was probably the platform involving the independent sector on which Alison Wenham of the
Association of Independent Music commented on the frustrations felt towards Apple's iTunes by many indie labels. She told delegates she felt Apple's disappointing record in dealing with European independents was down to misjudgement rather than any desire to rip them off. "Apple finds Europe very different to the US, to them we are series of federal states, with so many organisations to strike deals with. I suspect that the misjudgement was simply failing to understand that a US model just simply won't work here."
MIDEM continues through to Thursday 27 Jan - and if you care about these things you could do worse than follow Music Week's coverage. Especially as access to Music Week's website is free during MIDEM week - check it at http://www.musicweek.com