Three new key industry players have confirmed they will be delivering keynote addresses at the MidemNet Forum. They are Bob Ezrin, producer of such legendary albums as Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ and ‘Destroyer’ by Kiss and Chairman, Live Nation Recordings (USA); Prof. Lawrence Lessig, author of ‘Free Culture’ & CEO, Creative Commons (USA); and Jim O’Mahony, CEO EMEA, Asia, Australasia & Latin America, Saatchi & Saatchi (USA).

 

They join a list of already-confirmed industry leaders who will also be delivering keynote speeches at the event: Janus Friis, Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Joost, and Co-Founder of KaZaA and Skype (UK), Jean-Bernard Lévy, CEO, Vivendi (France), and Tero Ojanperä, EVP & Chief Technology Officer, Nokia (Finland).

Creating value around music will be the main theme of the 9th edition of MidemNet, the international forum on music technology and new economic models, to be held on 26 and 27 January 2008 in Cannes as part of MIDEM, the world’s music market.

For two days, some 1,300 players from the global music industry will come together to discuss, debate and share ideas on two key questions: Where is the value in music now that the disc is no longer the pillar of the industry? And with more music-related revenue streams than ever, how can we identify them and how can industry players find a sustainable way to capitalize on them?

More than 30 conferences in various formats will offer a range of answers to these questions. They will examine issues such as the latest generation of labels or ‘music companies’, financing new models based on the idea of free music, pricing and packaging diversity and monetizing the fan-base relationship. Other sessions will look at the future of mobile music beyond ringtones, the growing involvement of investors and equity firms in the music industry, developments in the licensing field and the specifics of the Asian market in terms of value creation.

Many heads of key companies and major players representing every strand of today’s music industry will be attending MidemNet, including: Bill Carr, VP, Digital Media, Amazon (USA), Chuck D, Co-founder of Public Enemy & Chairman, SLAMjamz Records (USA), Steven Fock, VP, Chengtian Entertainment Group (China), David Glick, Founder, The Edge Group (UK), Steve Greenberg, CEO, S-Curve Records (USA), Denis Olivennes, Chairman & CEO, FNAC (France), Antti Ohrling, Co-Founder, Blyk (UK/Finland), Ali Partovi, CEO, iLike (USA), Bryan Perez, President Global Digital, Live Nation (USA), Steve Purdham, CEO, We7 (UK), or Peter Rojas, CEO & Co-Founder, RCRD LBL and Founder, Engadget (USA).

In order to always be at the cutting edge of new digital trends impacting this fast-changing industry, for the first time this year MidemNet is enjoying the expertise of the ‘Visionary Chair Committee’ composed of the sector’s most well-known specialists: Ted Cohen, Managing Partner, TAG Strategic (USA), Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief, Wired Magazine, and author of ‘The Long Tail’ and of the forthcoming book ‘Free’, Prof. Karlheinz Brandenburg, Director, Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT (Germany) and co-inventor of the MP3 format, Sam Duann, Founder & CEO, Rock Music Group (Taiwan), Harvey Goldsmith CBE, Managing Director, Artiste Management Productions (UK) and Terry McBride, CEO, Nettwerk Music Group (Canada).

Also new this year at the MidemNet Forum are several interactive events which will allow industry professionals to choose which subjects will be addressed or even come on stage themselves to present their projects. Professionals can already talk with some of the industry’s top specialists, and can comment on and suggest topics for discussion in a special forum session chaired by Ted Cohen on the brand new MidemNet blog (http://www.midemnetblog.com/). They can also help rank the industry’s most innovative economic models presented at MidemNet in collaboration with Marketclusters, and, in partnership with MusicAlly, can respond to the call for projects to present the most innovative ideas in the music industry.

The MidemNet Forum is organized in partnership with the following publications: Billboard, Digital Media Wire, France Inter, Informa Telecoms & Media, Japan Inc, MusicAlly, Music Week, MusikWoche, Musique Info Hebdo and Stream.

For more information about MIDEM and the full MidemNet program:
http://www.midem.com/

Download photos of Bob Ezrin, Prof. Lawrence Lessig and Jim O’Mahony from the site:
http://www.reedmidem.com/v3/Press/DownloadZone/en

 

Note to Editors:

Founded in 1963, Reed MIDEM is a leading organizer of professional, international tradeshows. Reed MIDEM events have established themselves as key dates in professional diaries. The company hosts MIPTV featuring MILIA, MIPDOC, MIPCOM, and MIPCOM JUNIOR for the television and digital content industries, AMAZIA devoted to the creation and distribution of entertainment content, MIDEM for music professionals, MIPIM, MIPIM Asia, MIPIM HORIZONS and MAPIC for the property and retail real estate sectors.
Reed MIDEM is a division of Reed Exhibitions, the world’s leading organiser of exhibitions and conferences delivering over 460 events in 34 countries and serving 52 industries worldwide. For further information about Reed MIDEM visit www.reedmidem.com.

For more information please contact:
Reed MIDEM
Jane GARTON, Press Manager
Tel: +33 (0)1 41 90 44 39, Email: jane.garton@reedmidem.com
Mélanie AIGLE, Press Officer
Tel : +33 (0)1 41 90 49 95, Email : melanie.aigle@reedmidem.com
Fax: +33 (0)1 41 90 67 24
http://www.midem.com/