Midemlab, the leading international competition for music-related startups, this year marks 10 years as a launchpad for cutting-edge innovations that have helped shape the industry over the past decade. The Call for Entries for the 2017 competition is now open. Projects must be submitted by March 20.
Midemlab is part of the world’s leading music industry tradeshow, Midem, which takes place in Cannes, France, from6-9 June 2017. Every year since 2008, Midemlab has featured the most promising startups seeking to enable the music industry to build new consumer experiences and create value in the rapidly changing music ecosystem. Among previous participants are newcomers that have changed the industry, such as SoundCloud, the 2009 winner, which now has more than 175 million monthly users; The Echo Nest, since acquired by Spotify; 2010 finalist Kickstarter, which has raised more than $1 billion via crowdfunding since its launch; Dubsmash (in its original incarnation as Starlize); and Next Big Sound, which was acquired by Pandora. One of the 2016 winners, Stagelink, which crowdsources live events and promotes tours, grew 700% in the 12 months to October last year, and sold more than one million tickets in the period. The call for entries for the 10th edition of Midemlab is now open, and applicants can apply in one of the following four categories: Music Creation & Education; Music Discovery & Distribution; Marketing & Data/Analytics; Experiential Technologies, covering VR/AR, high-resolution, IoT & hardware. Following the March 20 submission deadline, 20 finalists will be chosen by Midem’s selecting partners, music business information and strategy company Music Ally, consulting company specialising in open innovation bluenove and Northzone, the leading investment firm and early investor in Spotify. The finalists will be invited to Midem to pitch their business to a jury and in front of a Midem audience. They will thus gain valuable feedback, and have the opportunity to find new business partners among industry decision-makers and meet with potential investors. A prestigious jury is being assembled, bringing together decision-makers from leading entertainment and tech companies such as Sony Music, Warner Music, Google and Universal Music Group, along with founders behind successful companies such as Bandsintown, Ultimate Music China, and Marathon Artists. The jury will also feature representatives of relevant startup programmes such as STATION F and 500 Startups, influential media such as The Next Web and France 24, and ventures capitalists from investment firms such as Lattice Ventures. “We’re very proud that Midemlab has served as a launchpad over the past decade for so many startups which have changed the industry and the way music is consumed. It is key for us to support entrepreneurship in music, and to foster links between our participants and these new players who are developing services that can help the industry add value,” said Alexandre Deniot, the new Director of Midem.
The Midemlab 2017 jury comprises: • Christian Behrendt, Creative Lead (ZOO EMEA), Google (Germany) • Paul Brindley, CEO, Music Ally (UK) • David Dufresne, Partner, 500 Startups (Canada) • Martin Duval, President & COO, bluenove (France) • Marwan Elfitesse, Head of Startups Relations, STATION F (France) • Brittany Gorevic, Partner, Lattice Ventures (USA) • Jacob Key, Angel investor and Founder, Jkey Strategy Consulting and Investment (Sweden) • Cecil Kleine, Product Lead, The Next Web (Netherlands) • Jimmy Mikaoui, Co-founder and Managing Director, Marathon Artists and Associate, Sushi Venture Partners (UK) • Marjorie Paillon, Presenter, France 24 and Founder, I Love Productions (France) • TC Pan, Founder & CEO, Ultimate Music China (China) • John Rees, Vice President, Head of Digital Strategy & Business Development EMEA, Warner Music Group (UK) • Ty Roberts, Chief Technological Officer, Universal Music Group (USA) • Fabrice Sergent, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Bandsintown (USA) • Andre Stapleton, SVP Partner Development, Global Digital Business, Sony Music Entertainment (USA)
