Midem has announced the 11 finalists of the Midem Artist Accelerator (MAA) programme, designed to support emerging music talent.
Whittled down from more than 600 submissions by the MAA Artistic Committee, the finalists will perform live on the Midem By Night main stage over three nights on the beach of the Majestic Palace. They will also compete in a Midem online community vote, with the winners to play at Midem’s Opening Party on Tuesday, June 6.
Wyclef Jean (pictured) and Daddy Yankee are the 2017 Ambassadors of the MAA. Both will hold conversations with the finalists, during which they will set out their vision of musical success and share their expertise.
“I’m excited about the MAA programme because I have spent my entire career producing, writing for, and collaborating with amazing young artists. The youth are the future. It’s a blessing to help mould the musicians of tomorrow,” said Jean, who will also perform on the Midem by Night main stage on Wednesday, June 7.
The finalists are Acid Arab (France), Adian Coker (UK), Be Charlotte (UK), Geoffroy (Canada), Iris Gold (Denmark), Kiddy Smile (France), M.anifest (Ghana), Prateek Kuhad (India), Shakka (UK), Rendez-vous (France), and XXX (South Korea).
The artists will also receive mentoring sessions with the industry experts making up the MAA Artistic Committee, including UTA agent Christian Bernhardt (USA); Willy Ehmann, SVP Domestic GSA of Sony Music Entertainment (Germany); Robomagic founder Rob Hallett (UK); Christopher Kaskie, president of Pitchfork (USA); Patrik Larsson, A&R and Label Manager at Playground Music Scandinavia (Sweden) and Devraj Sanyal, MD and CEO at Universal Music South Asia (India).
The finalists will also benefit from a pool of experts to assist them during their career journey at Midem. Among the mentoring services offered, the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers will deliver free legal consulting, while Metropolis lead studio engineer Liam Nolan, a two-time Grammy winner for Record Of The Year (Hello by Adele) and Album Of The Year (25 by Adele), will run a session on musical production. In addition to the finalists enjoying privileged access to the Global Sync and Brands Summit, Rupert Hollier, Creative Director of Metropolis, Europe’s leading independent professional recording studio, will conduct a dedicated workshop around music sync and placements.
The Midem Artist Accelerator Coup de Coeur, meanwhile, will win the chance to master an album at Metropolis’ production facility based in London.
Midem 2017 takes place in Paris, France, from June 6-9.
