Midem Names Artist Accelerator Shortlist
International music industry convention Midem is taking a page from the tech playbook as it broadens its outreach to the artist community with the creation of the Midem Artist Accelerator.
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Midem has announced the 14 finalists of its inaugural Midem Artist Accelerator – the programme designed to ‘fast-track budding musical talent onto the global spotlight’.
In partnership with Pepsi and Deezer, the Midem Artist Accelerator aims to support managers, agents, promoters, labels and publishers as they seek to enhance their artists’ profiles internationally.
The inaugural Midem Artist Accelerator drew nearly 500 submissions from around 50 countries. The Midem Artist Accelerator finalists, who will perform at the expo/festival between June 5-8, are:
- Akua Naru (Germany, Pictured)
- Alfred Hall (Norway)
- Alo Wala (Denmark)
- Andreya Triana (UK)
- Brynjolfur (Denmark)
- Ghetts (UK)
- Jeremy Loops (South Africa)
- Hundreds (Germany)
- Kat Dahlia (USA)
- Little Barrie (UK)
- Middlemist Red (Hungary)
- Roo Panes (UK)
- Sly Johnson (France)
- Timothy Bloom (USA)
The finalists have been selected by a committee composed of the following: Frank Cooper III, Chief Marketing Officer, Global Consumer Engagement, PepsiCo – Global Beverages Group; Delphine Ferré , VP International Artist Marketing at co-sponsor Deezer; Epic Records’ Chairman and CEO, L.A. Reid, Natalia Nastaskin, The Agency Group USA CEO, Harvey Goldsmith, legendary Producer and Promoter, Rob Hallett, who just announced the launch of his new company Robomagic, Will Botwin, President & CEO of Red Light Management and ATO Records; Christopher Kaskie, President and Founder of the Pitchfork stable; Mathieu Jaton, CEO of the Montreux Jazz Festival and Fruzsina Szép, Director of Festival Coordination & Public Affairs at Hörstmann Unternehmensgruppe.
All finalists will perform live on the Midem Festival open-air stage, and will benefit from a tailored programme during the tradeshow, including coaching sessions and unique networking opportunities.
Within the accelerating programme, Deezer will curate a workshop introducing best practices for artists to market their content online.
Artists will also receive mentoring sessions with industry experts, free legal services offered by the renowned International Association of Entertainment Lawyers (IAEL). Workshop themes will range from “How to grow reach and revenues,” provided by BandPage, a learning session on Next Big Sound’s sophisticated analytics with founder, Alex White, courtesy of Next Big Sound and Pepsi.
Each artist will have access to the career-boosting sessions at Global Synch & Brands Summit and unlimited access to Midem’s VIP areas.
“Response to the Midem Artist Accelerator initiative has been overwhelming and we’re thrilled with the exciting line-up that the jury has chosen. Midem’s commitment to hosting live music is stronger than ever and this will be a unique opportunity to showcase great talent and provide each act with a carefully-crafted programme that will help them blossom in the wider international music ecosystem,” said Bruno Crolot, Director of Music Markets, Reed MIDEM.
