CANNES -- Midem attendees began to take stock Wednesday of how the music confab has changed since the heady dot-com euphoria that colored the market in 2000.
Many of last year's feisty upstarts have fallen by the wayside, contributing to a drop in the number of stands at the Palais des Festivals. The void was filled by established new-media players expanding their exhibits and by the old guard, who once again got down to some good old-fashioned dealmaking.
Adding Momentum
In one of the biggest deals to be unveiled at the market, Universal Music Publishing picked up Momentum, the publishing arm of U.K. indie Beggar's Banquet Records. Terms weren't disclosed, but the acquisition represents rights for about 7,000 titles.
Meanwhile, digital download mainstay Liquid Audio pacted with heavy-metal indie Roadrunner Records, adding the label's repertoire to its online offerings.
"The market has settled down and wants to know how people are going to get paid," said Andrew Robins, Intertrust's head of marketing for Europe, of the Netco shakeout. "Practicality is settling in."
Another sea change this year is a decline in the piracy that has long been the bane of Midem. So far, there has been only one arrest: an unnamed French exhibitor offering pirated Christian music.
Dave Martin, director of anti-piracy efforts for British music org BPI, cautioned the criminals may have gone underground, working illicitly from hotels outside Midem.
Authorities are known to be tracking a British and a German company that have outstanding warrants from previous years. Arrests reportedly are imminent.
Despite the market's apparent stability, there is always an injection of new blood. Final stats won't be available until after Midem's close today, but by Wednesday the market had seen 4,025 new participants, led by the U.K. with 811 and the U.S. with 614.
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