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| Innovation and Live Music - Popkomm 2005 Reveals the Trends in the Industry The 17th Popkomm will open tomorrow, Wednesday. Its slogan is "Meeting Music", and for three days the 796 exhibitors from 48 countries will be attending this major international platform for music and entertainment in the exhibition halls at Berlin's radio tower, the Funkturm. This is a 20 per cent increase compared with the exhibitor total last year, and seven out of every ten exhibitors are coming to Berlin from abroad. Leading names in the industry such as Universal Music, Warner Music and Nokia are attending, along with small independent labels, and a number of countries will also have their own stands, such as this year's partner country, Spain. Other participating companies will include Vodafone, Apple iTunes, Musicload, Napster and MSN Music International. Between 15, 000 and 17, 000 people are expected to attend Popkomm over the next three days. Wolfgang Clement, Federal Minister for Economics and Labour, will open the fair on Wednesday with a speech and an official tour. Innovation and live music form the main themes of Popkomm 2005. During the first day the Popkomm-IMEA (Innovation in Music & Entertainment Award) will be presented to those firms that have produced the best and most innovative business ideas in the fields of music and entertainment this year. A further attraction will be provided by the Popkomm Festival with over 400 hours of live music in various clubs in Berlin. Both of these main aspects will also be covered by the Popkomm Congress. "The music business is an extremely vigorous industry ", according to the General Manager of Popkomm Dr. Ralf Kleinhenz. "The rapid advances being made in digitalisation will also result in fundamental changes to the entire business. This is being accompanied by a major expansion of the live sector, and we can justifiably describe this market as one undergoing enormous growth. Popkomm provides an accurate picture of these and other current developments. It will help to indicate and encourage innovative trends." And Katja Bittner, Director of Popkomm, states: "Popkomm is still about music, but for a long time now it has not solely been dedicated to sound media and the record market. The introduction of new technologies and new forms of music has produced a structural change, which itself has impacted on all areas from production to marketing and sales, as well as concerts and merchandising. There have been changes to the legal issues as well. Popkomm's task is to find new answers and provide a fresh impetus." The fair The success last year of the first Popkomm to be held in Berlin has given a substantial boost to this event in 2005: There has been a significant rise in the number of exhibitors. Many labels, both large and small, from all over the world, concert promoters, associations and institutions, as well as numerous companies from areas related to music are also coming to Berlin. In addition some of the major names in the music sector such as Universal Music Deutschland and Warner Music, along with the cellphone manufacturer Nokia will be exhibiting on the Exhibition Grounds, and all available space on the display area of 16, 000 square metres has been booked. The National Association of the Events Industry (idkv) is represented this year for the first time with a combined stand, featuring German concert and tour promoters. Using the slogan "Meet Your German Promoter" this will be the main meeting place for the live entertainment sector. Some 70 per cent of the exhibitors will be from outside Germany, and countries with a strong musical tradition such as Norway, Denmark, Canada and the United Kingdom will be represented by their own national stands. Compared with last year Finland, Belgium and the partner country at this year's Popkomm, Spain, have increased their display areas. South Africa, Hungary and Luxemburg are represented by their own national stands for the first time. There has also been a large increase in attendance from the countries of Africa and Eastern Europe. There will be a "Label Camp" again this year, a separate area available to small, independent companies. In planning the 2005 "Label Camp" the trade fair designers took the term "market" literally and came up with little market stalls with red and white striped awnings for the independents. The number of exhibitors here has doubled since last year. The 49 exhibitors are grouped around a central meeting place with a number of points at which music can be listened to, and there will also be comfortable seating. The Congress Innovation and the live music market also form the dominant themes of the Congress. Industry experts along with representatives of politics, the arts and the media will be meeting here to exchange views and ideas at the international forums, workshops and panels. Congress manager Constanze Althoff: "One of the consequences of digitalisation has been to create a great deal of movement in the business. This has been accompanied by a veritable boom in the concert sector, and there are close connections between the two. The risks, as well as the massive opportunities presented by this development, are at the top of our agenda and have largely influenced our choice of subjects." The strong international presence here means that most of the events are taking place in English. The eleven keynote speakers at the congress include Eddie Cue (Apple), David Goldberg (Yahoo!), Ilkka Raiskinen (Nokia), Prof. Karlheinz Brandenburg (Fraunhofer- Institut), Dieter Gorny (MTV) and the musician and music manager Rene Baumann alias DJ Bobo. Major topics include assistance for newcomers to this field and professional advancement. This has led to the introduction of the "music media campus" from 13 to 16 September, a practical, international forum for the new generation in the music and entertainment sector, under the patronage of Berlin's Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit. The Festival A total of 1, 500 performers from 23 countries will be appearing at the Popkomm Festival 2005. In association with its partners Popkomm will be presenting the widest possible range of musical styles from neo-jazz to hardcore punk at 21 locations around Berlin. Performers will range from the Finnish jazz guitarist Jarmo Saari Solu to the British bands Stereo MCs and Supergrass, the Spanish soul punks Tokyo Sex Destruction, Germany's star DJ Paul van Dyk and the German-American-British boygroup US 5. The main activities at the festival will take place in a converted brewery, the Kulturbrauerei, in the Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg. The fact that the shows are mainly taking place in the clubs satisfies the expectations of the performers and of the public too. "One of the aims of the Popkomm Festival is to enable audiences to discover new and exciting performers and to see then close up. This is done best in a club atmosphere", says Dirk Schade, Manager Events & Festival for Popkomm GmbH. Spain, the partner country at this year's Popkomm, is represented by many artists from a wide range of genres. "Spain is a major music nation which is simply not well enough known in this country. And there is an awful lot to discover", Dirk Schade notes with obvious pleasure. The presence of many performers from Canada, South Africa and the New Dutch Wave, as well as the series of musical and literary events entitled "Word Up!" will also help to make the Popkomm Festival an outstanding and internationally recognized music event. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |