Jan
23
Written by:
aidan
Saturday, January 23, 2010
...all the most important players in the business, at the music industry's annual Cannes do. Will they conspire to make her a global star in 2010?
MIDEM, the annual global convention for the music industry, takes place this Sunday to Wednesday (24-27 January) in Cannes on the French Riviera. The major players in the business will gather for conferences and workshops on subjects such as digital media, artist management and various aspects of law - you can download the conference programme (pdf, 2 Mo) and list of speakers (pdf, 9 Mo) for more information.
The MIDEM 2010 site also currently features a 2-part video interview with Ed O'Brien of Radiohead which is worth checking out. (Unfortunately, the page title at the very top of the screen calls him 'Dan O'Brien'.)
Music From Ireland, the body that promotes Irish music at such international events, will be in Cannes for MIDEM - they'll be sharing a stand with IMRO and distributing an excellent 20-track CD of Irish music featuring Villagers, Dark Room Notes, Adebisi Shank, Super Extra Bonus Party, O Emperor and more. You can listen to the compilation online at the Music From Ireland website.
If they have time in between conferences and networking, the attendees will also be listening to live music - MIDEM features its own exclusive programme of concerts (pdf, 0.9 Mo).
Were we being sensationalist, we could suppose that these are the anointed acts from which the execs and whizz-kids will cook up the ad soundtracks and corporate tie-ins and carefully-crafted buzzes of 2010. In any case, MIDEM is an ideal showcase for any act with ambitions of world domination, however fleeting. So, who's playing at MIDEM 2010?
Only one Irish artist is on the bill. Lisa Hannigan appears with her band in a showcase at the Carlton Hotel on Monday night. (She doesn't feature on the Music From Ireland compilation CD, though.)
There are several reasons for thinking that she'll be a hit at MIDEM. First, she's very good. Second, the programme notes mention her collaboration with Damien Rice - a ready-made media angle and sales pitch for the execs. ("If you liked Damo, you'll love..." and so forth.) Third and finally, in her photo in the programme (right) she looks stunning. Let's hope MIDEM is the start of a successful 2010 for the Meath lady.
The host country has a few familiar names. All-girl punk-poppers Plastiscines will be hoping to build on their US exposure to date, despite their awful second album. The Gallic retro-pop of Diving With Andy will charm anyone not scared off by the band's appalling name. (Your correspondent may yet run an English For Pop Music workshop at MIDEM 2011.) And we featured Toulouse's PacoVolume a long time ago - one good song ('Cookiemachine', like an acoustic Super Furry Animals track) and little else.
Anyone else you might know? Dreadlocked English singer-songer Newton Faulkner. Swiss chanteuse Sophie Hunger. And that's it for us - unless you follow featured countries Japan, Taiwan and Korea.
There's a MIDEM fringe - local Irish bar Morrison's is hosting a Canadian night on Tuesday 26 January. Fans of the maple-leaf music scene may be familiar with Jason Bajada, Matthew Barber, Danny Fernandes, Jully Black and Plants And Animals. Given the high quality of Canadian music in recent times, the plastic Irish pub looks like the place to be in Cannes this MIDEM-time.
But we're cheering on Lisa Hannigan here: g'wan Oirland! Here she is with a song named after a city at the opposite end of France from Cannes - 'Lille':
5 comment(s) so far...
Re: Lisa Hannigan: stuck in the MIDEM with...
Well I would like to commend CLUAS and IMRO on once again missing out on the boat. As the owner of the "Plastic Irish Pub" I have offered a chance to "Oirish" Bands to play during Midem for 10 years, I have contacted IMRO, Enterprise Ireland, Hotpress and placed an ad in the Independent a few years back to a limited almost non existent response. I have had some great bands play here that came over here on their own bat and recieved no help from yours or any other state sponsored agency because they seemed more interested in hanging out at the Majestic or Martinez hotels spending tax payers and artists money in some of the most expensive bars in the world and doing no good for the "Oirish" music scene.
The Canadian Government on the other hand have worked their backsides off for their artists and we must be doing something right here because instead of having one night showcase they would like to take over the "Plastic Oirish Pub" for the whole MIDEM next year. Of the five bands that participated on the Tuesday Night one got a twenty date European tour because she did her homework and put on a great show.
To finish may I make a suggestion that you ammend the name of the article to just "Stuck in the MIDEM"
Yours
Rob Ryan
By Rob Ryan on
Friday, January 29, 2010
|
Re: Lisa Hannigan: stuck in the MIDEM with...
I apologise for suggesting that you recieved government funds, I have subsequently found out that you don't. If this is the case I retract the suggestion that you do. The rest of what I said I will stand by.
Rob Ryan
By Rob Ryan on
Friday, January 29, 2010
|
Re: Lisa Hannigan: stuck in the MIDEM with...
Rob,
1. CLUAS isn't funded by any government body, nor is it connected to any.
2. This site promotes Irish music by featuring artists, writing articles/reviews about them and linking to their sites. (The article above is even promoting Music From Ireland.) The site is about to start a new blog dedicated to new Irish music. This blog does its bit to promote Irish music in Paris. We're not involved in MIDEM, SXSW or any such festival - we feature them to show how Irish acts are getting on outside Ireland. This is all because we want to, not because we have to or have some public service remit.
3. I called your pub 'the place to be in Cannes this MIDEM-time', which was sincere - so now we even support Irish pubs in Cannes!
You should send your comments to Music From Ireland (link above) and IMRO, who are responsible for the issues you raise.
By aidan on
Saturday, January 30, 2010
|
Re: Lisa Hannigan: stuck in the MIDEM with...
I did withdraw the part about the funding it was the " the plastic Irish pub looks like the place to be in Cannes this MIDEM-time" bit that did my head in. Seemed to be condescending to me and if the organisations above tried as much as we did to promote and help irish Bands during MIDEM then the Irish Music Industry might have a higher profile in Cannes during this very important show. I will send the comments to the above link, Thanks.
Rob Ryan
By Rob Ryan on
Saturday, January 30, 2010
|
Re: Lisa Hannigan: stuck in the MIDEM with...
Irish artists are missing out on a great opportunity to showcase their talent at Midem. We had a fabulous night showcasing five emerging Canadian acts there this year - Morrisons is the best kept secret at Midem and Rob is one of the best production managers I have had the pleasure of working with.....
By Kathy Hahn on
Thursday, February 04, 2010
|