Montreux Jazz Festival has announced the launch of Montreux Media Ventures, an international media company.
Ahead of the 54th edition in 2020, Montreux Jazz Festival is moving into dedicated media and content creation with the new subsidiary.
The Montreux Jazz Festival takes place for two weeks every summer in Switzerland, drawing 250,000 fans to Lake Geneva. Founded in 1967 by Claude Nobs, it has featured Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone and many more. The multi-genre festival has been a platform for emerging and contemporary artists, alongside legendary acts.
Mathieu Jaton, CEO of Montreux Jazz Festival, said: “At Montreux Jazz Festival, the artists are up close and personal with their fans, which encourages unique moments. The festival is a special playground for the artists, who sometimes re-think their concerts just for Montreux. It’s that spirit of intimacy and creative freedom that we want to share through our global content development.”
The launch of Montreux Media Ventures aims to diversify the business, creating greater exposure and revenues year-round by producing content and developing tailor-made music experiences for clients, labels and brands. Filming of performances will be shot for mobile, streaming and online.
Montreux Media Ventures has access to the vast audiovisual catalogue of the Montreux Jazz Festival, in order to create new content and formats. The archive collection includes more than 11,000 hours of live music.
We are collaborating closely with talent, from musicians to star directors, to shoot our live content in a new, creative way
Nicolas Bonard
Recent Montreux Jazz Festival moments include Janelle Monáe and Lizzo jamming together on stage this year. The new company aims to reach a new audience with footage of standout performances.
Former MTV, Discovery Channel and Vice Media senior executive, Nicolas Bonard, has been appointed CEO of Montreux Media Ventures.
“Innovation both creatively and technologically will drive our content strategy,” he said. “We are collaborating closely with talent, from musicians to star directors, to shoot our live content in a new, creative way with full cinematic production capabilities. Our ambition is to go behind the scenes, generate fascinating stories and truly immersive music content, with our audience always at the centre of it all.”
The new collaborative approach has so far resulted in concerts with exclusive interviews and backstage footage to be shared globally via the festival, its media partners and by the artists themselves. Montreux Media Ventures is also producing its own content in the form of documentaries, livestreamed concerts, podcasts, vinyl releases and more.
In addition, the media company will develop tailor-made music events and content for partners, brands and labels. It is producing a 13-date world tour (line-up to be confirmed) with the Fairmont Hotel Group covering Rio, USA, Asia and Europe, featuring live performances in Fairmont Hotels alongside content produced for social media, long form video and more.
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