Deals and Trends at MIDEM 2011
MIDEM 2011 wrapped in January, but the deals that were signed and forecasts given will have a long-term impact on the music publishing business. Thank you to my legal intern Abby Kweller for assisting with research on this project. Partial Listing of Deals:
- The Harry Fox Agency (HFA) announced the renewal of a licensing agreement with DMI Music & Media Networks.
- HFA has partnered with Ricall to develop a synchronization licensing/clearance service. HFA has issued sync licenses in the past, but stepped away from that side of the music licensing business several years ago.
- Hypebot has info on deals signed here, here and here.
Trends from MIDEM 2011:
It really seems like MIDEM 2011 was less about signing deals and more about how the music business and delivery of music continues to change moving forward. A key take-away is that the music business is about successful delivery of content. Here's a look at the future of the music business and the MIDEM conference....
- Techy folks attending MIDEM are out numbering the more traditional record labels and music publishers. This year's MIDEM was focused on content delivery and the technology to deliver the content may seem more important than the the actual content. Overall, it seems as if content will be streamed with a flat-fee charged to the consumer.
- Licensing is the biggest hurtle that all the parties face. With the technology in place or on the cusp of release, the tech companies and the music labels/music publishers need to come to terms on how the content owners will be compensated.
- Is delivery of content via the Cloud the future of the music business?
- Read this fantastic White Paper from the MIDEM conference on "Ten Lessons From the MIDEM Conference."
- There are great resources on trends in the music business on the MIDEM website.
