IT’S THAT time of year again! MIDEM, the week-long, annual music industry bash, held each year at Cannes in the South of France takes place this year starting on 30th January. Recent years have seen a growing Irish presence at this vitally important gathering of the major players in the music and record industry – this year’s event is expected to see that trend continue.

The Irish stand at MIDEM is co-ordinated by An Bord Trachtála and a lot of hard work is put into the presentation and appearance of what is an important showcase for Irish music. Last year the Irish delegation’s influence and prominence was enhanced considerably by the attendance of the Minister for The Arts, Culture and The Gaeltacht, Michael D. Higgins — a move which not only bolstered the morale and confidence of those representing the industry but which also underlined the new political commitment and recognition which the Irish music industry has now acquired.

Essentially, MIDEM is a high-powered, music-biz trade fair with personnel from every imaginable strand of the industry in attendance including; record companies; publishers; artists management; concert promoters; TV & Radio producers . . . the list goes on. The Irish contingent at Cannes reflects this comprehensive spread with many delegates having been in regular attendance for many years, thus gaining valuable experience of how the whole thing operates.

Last year’s Irish delegation included those at the very pinnacle of the music industry in Ireland — people like U2 manager Paul McGuinness, Eurovision winning songwriter Brendan Graham and Riverdance composer Bill Whelan to name but three, as well as representatives from record and publishing companies, recording studios and the independent radio sector.

The growth of the independent records sector in Ireland and its consequent dependence on licensing and distribution for international exposure is just one reason for the strong Irish interest in and presence at MIDEM. The domestic market, while currently in a healthy state is not sufficient to realise the full potential of Irish music and for many in attendance at Cannes, exports are the key to success in the long term.

Several Irish independent labels will be represented at Cannes this year including Starc Records — a recently established outfit who number artists like Garret Wall, Maire Breatneach, Deiseal, Thom Moore and Sonny Condell on their impressive roster. Alan Connaughton, boss of the label, will be making the trip to MIDEM for the first time this year and is not quite sure what lies in store for him.

“I’m going out with a completely open mind,” he says. “I really don’t know what to expect from it. An Bord Trachtála have been very supportive in helping to get us organised and prepared for it. We’ll be part of the Irish stand out there and they’re supplying audio-visual facilities and that kind of thing so we’re going along as part of that whole Irish package.”

His primary reason for going to Cannes, as he sees it, is to make contacts with people in the international industry and to turn those contacts into actual workable deals. “The Irish market has been very good for us,” he says, “but you really need to be on some sort of international platform to make progress in the long term. We’re constantly getting enquiries from all over the world — even from places as far away as Taiwan and New Zealand. In fact we recently just signed a worldwide licensing deal with Atlantic Records for Maire Breatneach’s album, so that has put us into the international arena already.

“What we will be looking to do at MIDEM,” he continues, “will be to get as many licensing or distribution deals as possible for our roster of artists. Certainly the licensing aspect is the more attractive one, both from the artists point of view and for the record company. In this way you can hopefully get finance in the form of advance royalties.”

In order to get the most out of his journey to Cannes, Connaughton has been busy doing some forward planning, and he is confident that all the hard work will pay off.

“I’ve been told that there can be a problem when you get down there, with things happening so quickly that you need to have done a certain amount of homework in advance,” he says. “We got hold of the list of international industry people who were at MIDEM last year, so we’ve been faxing them, trying to set up meetings and contacts. We had a good response — I think we sent about sixty or seventy faxes and we’ve had ten replies from people who want to talk to us, so it’s been a worthwhile exercise.

“The impression I get, is that while a lot of talking and dealing goes on at MIDEM there are very few deals actually signed out there. The idea, it seems to me, is that you come home and hope the phone will start ringing pretty soon. Though, on the other hand,” he adds jokingly,” Johnny Lappin has said that you see Irish people who never speak to each other all year round, doing business together — in the South of France. So that might be interesting to observe too!”

Oliver P. Sweeney of Cross Border Media, another successful Irish independent label will be taking his new company, Deerpark Productions, to Cannes this year. It will be his third trip to MIDEM so he has a pretty good idea of what to expect from an event he sees as vital for the continuing health of his own operation.

“The first year was very much a learning experience for us,” he says, “though we did quite well, scoring a licensing deal for Frances Black and Kieran Goss in Taiwan and Japan. We also met a lot of distributors who agreed to take on our product — with the result that we got into a lot of markets around the world that we didn’t even know existed. The two Four Men & A Dog albums were particularly successful in Australia through contacts made there. In many ways our presence at MIDEM signified Cross Border Media’s arrival into the international marketplace to a point where we’re now quite well known as a reliable, reputable Irish company and that has been the importance of the event to us.”

Deerpark Productions, which Sweeney describes as being a music services production company, is a new departure for him and he will using his time at MIDEM to promote and establish it. “The new company will be covering areas like video, radio, management and publishing,” he says, “and while some of the same people who are with CBM will be involved, it will be a separate entity. John Deacon, for example, who is going to be a name to be reckoned with in the MOR market in the years to come, is a Deerpark Productions artist. I’m also taking on the management for jazz singer Melanie O’Reilly and we have plans to make Deerpark a record label, dealing in different stuff to CBM. By bringing it to Cannes, we hope to try and establish it as a force to be reckoned with in the international marketplace too.”

Sweeney sees radio franchising as another potential growth area for Irish music and he will be utilising Deerpark Productions as a vehicle for pursuing that particular aspect of the market, as he explains.

“I had the idea of franchising radio programmes before, and I’ll be going back with that idea again this year,” he says. “I put together a show two years ago with Pat Butler called Roots & Branches and there was a lot of interest in it. With the improvement in the international economy, it should be easier to get ideas like that off the ground. There are English language radio stations all over the world — in Japan, South Africa and of course places like Australia and New Zealand, so there is great scope for roots-based programmes in both radio and on TV.”

The main attraction of MIDEM for Sweeney as he sees it is the fact that it is not just a place to pose and be seen in, nor is it a mere talking shop with very little real action taking place.

“MIDEM is very much a deal-driven environment,” he says. “There is a strong business ethic running through the whole event. It’s also a place in which to meet old friends. At this stage there are quite a few people on the international scene right across the globe who I could call on for a favour, if needed. Having met them at MIDEM and developed a relationship over the years, I am now in that happy position. Likewise, if somebody asked me to do something for them in relation to the Irish market I would be willing to oblige.

“I would be less inclined to do so with people you might meet at the New Music Seminar in New York, which is more ego driven than deal driven. I’ve been there twice and I’ve found it to be a disappointment, with a lot of people carrying around a lot of excess emotional baggage. People at MIDEM want to do business, they want to do deals and that’s what makes it a success.”

The involvement of An Bord Trachtála is crucial in assisting Irish delegates and Sweeney is generous in his praise of the work they have put into making it the success it has become over the years.

“We’re now a model stand for many of the other exhibitors and it’s always crowded,” he says. “I would have to hand it to people like Derry O’Brien and Rebecca who runs the Irish stand at MIDEM. They have done an amazing amount for Irish music which has never been properly reflected in the plaudits that are handed out to various people and organisations for having done these things.”

For his part, Oliver Sweeney sees MIDEM as an essential kick-start to the year and an ideal backdrop for doing business at a time when other areas of the music business can be quiet.

“Going to MIDEM, you generally feel that you’re accomplishing something and it’s a great opportunity to network with others in the business. There are eight or ten thousand delegates scouring the floors looking for deals so it can be quite hectic at times — I’ve had people arranging to meet me for breakfast at 7.00am!

“I’m getting very used to the place now and a few of us who go there regularly have decided to rent an apartment for the duration of the event, rather than staying in a hotel. We can come and go and compare notes at the end of the evening and for me it’s a lot easier than trawling the bars and hotels looking for people. The one minor criticism I would have about it is the fact that there just aren’t enough meeting places in which to conduct deals.”

In straight economic terms Sweeney’s companies have benefited as a direct consequence of attending MIDEM and that, for him, is proof of its value as an event worth attending.

“We’ve had orders waiting for us when we’ve come back from MIDEM, from people who didn’t manage to meet us but who might have heard a CD and got hold of a business card — so that’s how effective it can be in terms of exposing your product. For that reason alone, it’s a valuable exercise and I’m looking forward to going back there.”

Another long-established major player in the Irish music industry is Brian Molloy who presides over what is now known as The Music Building in Lombard Street, Dublin and which houses the renowned Westland Studios as well as companies like Ritz Records, Lunar Records and Chart Distribution. As a “veteran” of the MIDEM festival, he will be attending this year’s event in a publishing capacity with his two companies Squirrel and Briar.

“MIDEM is invaluable to us,” he says. “I’ve already lined up about twenty appointments so far and we have big plans, particularly in relation to the Australian market which has grown increasingly important for us. This fibre optic cable and information superhighway thing has opened up new markets and there is now an Irish TV station coming on the air in Australia and we plan to capitalise on that.”

Molloy’s approach to the music industry has grown in such a way over the years that he has become involved in almost every area of the business, including video, TV and marketing as well as recording and publishing. “We’ve been forced to expand into these areas in order to survive,” he offers. “In this day and age you can’t afford to limit your field of operations too narrowly. We’ve already done a TV special featuring Mary Black and Emmylou Harris for the American market and we’ll be trying to establish other markets for that. MIDEM is the ideal environment for doing that kind of business.”

As Irish representative for Tellydisc, a direct marketing company selling CDs and cassettes through heavy TV advertising, Molloy is also involved in importing as well as exporting music. “It’s a growing area,” he says. “The way it works is, we take an artist like Vince Gill, who has yet to break big over here, and offer a package, say a CD and video for £33 through mail order only.”

Molloy has also set up Moonstrike, a music marketing company which he explains will fill in a gap in the market as he sees it. “It works like this,” he says. “Supposing a foreign independent record company want to break one of their artists into the Irish market. Distribution is no problem but getting the artist or band known is a much bigger obstacle for them. They need someone with local knowledge of the territory to get them on The Pat Kenny Show and to do interviews etc. That’s the main idea behind Moonstrike and we feel there is an opening for an operation like that and I’ll be promoting that at MIDEM also.”

Apart from the hectic business of doing deals and making contacts at MIDEM, Molloy finds the various talks and seminars, which are given by members of the music industry, helpful in increasing his own knowledge of how the industry operates in the international sense. “It’s amazing the things you can pick up about the business,” he says. “There was a very good discussion on radio last year and I got a lot from that.”