Midem, the long-established international music industry festival held in Cannes, announced  it is moving the event from the winter months to spring with the 2015 iteration of the confab taking place June 5-8.

In addition to the date change, Midem announced it will be increasing its label and artist programming towards supporting groups looking to export internationally and attract more of a label presence. The new plan also increases the event’s tech content and exhibition space and offers more live music showcases to which the general public will now have greater access.

“The initial decision was to add new value to Midem,” Bruno Crolot, Midem’s director of music markets told Billboard. “After each show we do a survey of customer satisfaction. While we had very positive feedback, what we also heard was there’s not enough music, that we should have more tech, and we need to encourage more labels. We took all this into account, worked on new formats, new content and new offerings for the whole community." 

The news comes as Midem faces flagging attendance, which was down 4% this year.  Moving the event to June, as Crolot points out, has the advantage of better weather and it's a time when attendees can combine their vacation travel with the festival. It’s also a period when many bands are on tour and can make the swing through Cannes.  

“We believe the result of the changes will be a bigger, more vibrant Midem, with more participants from more countries,” Crolot stated.

Glassnote's Daniel Glass, !K7's Horst Weidenmuller, Vivendi’s Simon Gillham and YouTube’s Christophe Muller all offered statements of enthusiastic support for the changes.

When asked about the possibility of swimming on the Cote d’Azur in June, something never fathomed in January, Crolot says, “Yes, of course. There will be much more outdoor activities, outdoor concerts, outdoor meetings—we really want to use the festival with the town.
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