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Does This Midem Party Look Like A Failure To You?

XO Party

Let me admit up front that what follows is not serious investigative journalism. It's just that anyone who has been in the music business longer than Mark Zukerberg's been a billionaire knows that Scott Ambrose Reilly (aka Bullethead) throws a heck of a convention party.  (I dare you to play all night poker with him at SXSW.) So when Billboard wrote about companies cutting back on Midem parties and used a photo of an empty room at Scott's X5 Music party as the poster child, I did some digging.

X invite

It turns out Billboard's photo of an empty room was not of the party at all, but rather a promo shot of the suite from the hotel's web site. The actual party photo (above) tells a rather different story.  And so does the list those who were their tell me attended: executives from iTunes, Spotify. Amazon, Amazon, Google Music, Root Music, at least 3 of the 4 major labels, Yep Roc, Fontana, Naxos, SXSW, the list goes on…

Billboard has now pulled the piece (http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/backbeat-midem-weekend-report-scaling-back-1006035552.story).

Why care? Because bashing is easy and gets pageviews. The truth can be boring, though this party doesn't look like it was boring to me.

Bruce Houghton on 02/03/2012 in Uncategorized | Permalink | Comments (11)
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11 Comments

  1. Really Bruce? Bashing is easy? I guess that explains this cheap shot at Billboard? Frankly, it’s disappointing, and not what I’ve come to expect from your publication, which is usually thoughtful and thought-provoking.
    I was at that party, and when Scott dropped me a line bringing the .biz blog post to my attention, I agreed with his concerns and had it taken down so that the writer could speak to Scott about the facts. It was almost immediately updated and remains live, along with a ton of other stories on Billboard’s Midem blog http://bit.ly/xGPykh
    You’d have known that if you’d bothered to ask. But then, I guess “the truth can be boring.”

  4. Man, I hate it when I fly all the way to Cannes and they don’t have enough Beluga, and skimp on the Fondu Fountain.
    This year was an EPIC FAILURE.
    I blame Napster, Spotify, and Kim Dotcom.
    In that order.

  6. Who cares about the party. Any one who has been attending MIDEM for years knows it is all over. Half the size it was just 5 years ago. Clearly a business on the decline.

  9. This was the year of the internet techs. I wouldn’t say the business was on the decline– although as a first timer at MIDEM I can’t compare. However, my manager has attended for 28 years and can say earnestly that the party used to have folks lining the streets unable to get in. But look at ALL of the factors — from the Euro bouncing up and down to the Dollar doing the same thing, to the increase in internet distribution of music rather than in-store distribution and similarly the absolute hunger that’s out there for new music. We’re not declining, but this party definitely spoke to the changes and uncertainty the business is feeling.

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