Midem Announces Midemlab Jury Members And New Startup Category

Midem, the home of the global music community, today unveils the jury for Midemlab 2020, the leading music startup competition, that will now include a Live Music category.

Fresh for this year's Midemlab is the brand new "Live Music Experiences" category. An addition introduced to reflect today's music market and to spotlight the most innovative solutions for bands, fans, venues, producers and promoters. Midem Director, Alexandre Deniot, explains, "Live Music is a major part of the global music industry. Each year, nearly 50 artists perform live at Midem and, since 2018, we've run an annual Live Summit to better highlight this area of our market. We're very excited to include a Live Music category in Midemlab to support and reward the most innovative startups in this sphere."

The Live Music sector has been constantly growing throughout the past decade and is expected to be worth $31bn worldwide by 2022, according to PwC. In the streaming age, live is one of the most innovative areas of the industry, thanks to startups offering new solutions for ticket sales, brand sponsorships and merchandising, bringing the global live experience to a higher level. Eyal Malinger, Investment Director, Beringea and Midemlab jury member, says: "75% of millennials would prefer to spend their money on an experience or event rather than an item... As investors, we look for companies capitalising on this rise of the Experience Economy, and have recently backed Festicket, Europe's leading festival experience platform."

Midem and the Midemlab jury welcome and encourage entries from the most vibrant and creative music startups, especially those within the new Live Music category, to take advantage of the full program of opportunities on offer to participants. In the words of Guillaume de la Serre, Chief Product Officer & GM Europe, Bandsintown and Midemlab jury member, "I am...convinced this new award will foster digital innovation in the live music industry, the number one source of revenues for most artists... I can't wait to see the new generation of startups that emerge to capture this massive opportunity in the decade to come."

About Midemlab

Who Can Apply for Midemlab?

Entries for the 13th edition of the Midemlab competition are now open. Every startup offering an innovative solution for the music/entertainment industry can apply for free in one of the 4 categories until 18 February 2020:

● Music Creation & Education

● Music Distribution & Discovery

● Music Marketing & Data/Analytics

● Live Music Experiences (NEW)

The Midemlab Experience

The competition provides finalists with valuable exposure to industry decision-makers and potential investors. Previous participants have raised millions of dollars in funding and many are now well-established in the music ecosystem.

All finalists receive personalised coaching from Abbey Road Red to prepare for their pitches. Winners of each category receive free PR advice from PR firm Rock Paper Scissors, free digital content strategy advice from Kuack Media and free legal advice from Jeff Liebenson of Liebenson Law. Winners will also receive a free mentoring session from innovation specialist, Yvan Boudillet, of The Lynk, a private meeting with investment firm Plus 8 Equity, a one year subscription to Music Ally's professional music bulletin, international media coverage, one free Midem 2020 registration, and more.

Previous Midemlab Success Stories include:

Soundcloud, The Echo Nest (acquired by Spotify), Next Big Sound (acquired by Pandora), BandPage (acquired by YouTube) and Asaii (acquired by Apple). 2019 winner Endlesss closed a major funding round from high-profile execs immediately after attending Midem. The German-based startup Jambl also raised crucial funds a few months after winning Midemlab last June.

The Midemlab 2020 Selection Partners are:

Music Ally: the leading digital strategy and music industry intelligence company

Plus 8 Equity: a music tech venture firm

The Lynk: an agency connecting creative industries & startups

The Midemlab Pitching Process

The selection partners will choose the 20 most promising international music-related startups, whose ground-breaking solutions offer fresh opportunities to the music sector.

Pitches and judging will take place during Midem 2020 in Cannes, 02-05 June.

Midemlab 2020 Jury

The 2020 Jury brings together international influencers and decision makers from the most pioneering and prestigious entertainment, tech and investment companies, as follows:

• Vanessa Bakewell, Client Partner Film & Music, Facebook/Instagram (UK)
• Yvan Boudillet, Founder & President, The Lynk (France)
• Nicolas Brien, CEO, France Digitale (France)
• Paul Brindley, CEO, Music Ally (UK)
• Tiago Correia, Global Digital Business Development Senior Manager, Innovation, Warner Music International (UK)
• Victoria Cruz, Manager, Global Business Development and Digital Strategy, Sony Music Entertainment (UK)
• James Dick, Senior Vice President Marketing Partnerships Asia and CEO, Live Nation Connects (Hong Kong)
• Olivia Hervy, Manager WeWork Labs Paris, WeWork (France)
• Jay Katsuyama, Vice President, Technology, Universal Music Group (USA)
• Jenny Lindblad, Business Coach & Startup Mentor, Eliza Communication (Sweden)
• Jean-Philippe Louis, Journalist, Les Echos (France)
• Eyal Malinger, Investment Director, Beringea (UK)
• Rishi Patel, Managing Partner, Plus Eight Equity (USA)
• Vanja Primorac, Music Innovation, United talent Agency (USA)
• Arabian Prince, Founding Member, NWA, Founder & CEO, iNov8 Next Open Labs (USA)
• Juan Francisco Saavedra Plata, Co-Founder & CEO, Kuack Media Group (Colombia)
• Claudia Schwarz, Co-Founder & VP, MusicTech Germany, Co-Founder WickedWork (Germany)
• Marisol Segal, Head of Digital Partnerships, AEG Presents (USA)
• Guillaume de la Serre, Chief Product Officer & GM Europe, Bandsintown (France)
• Pariwat Wongsamran, Director of Startup Thailand, NIA (Thailand)

Apply for MIDEMLAB HERE

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