20 YEARS OF SONGLINK AT MIDEM

David Stark at MIDEM Judd Lander, David Mindel, David Stark & Ron McCreight Peter Knight Jr, John Aagaard & David Stark Stuart Hornall (Hornall Bros Music)

SongLink Editor/Publisher David Stark is attending MIDEM 2013 in Cannes, France from January 26-29th, and will be meeting up with subscribers, advertisers and many old friends and colleagues during his 36th visit to the annual music trade market, his first one being in 1976 when he was International Press Officer at Decca Records UK.

"MIDEM and the music business has changed a lot since those days", says David, "but it's still one of the most important events for music professionals, especially for catching up with old friends from around the world and making new ones. You never know who you might bump into, and now that the marketplace has contracted somewhat in recent years, it's actually easier to find people and spend quality time to talk business with them. As usual I'll be promoting SongLink tipsheet which actually celebrates 20 years of success in 2013, and I'll be keeping my ears open for any opportunities for songs, music and songwriters or composers wanted for projects of all kinds, from brand new artists to established stars, as well as music for film, TV, advertising and other media, as covered in Cuesheet, sister publication to SongLink.

"I'll also be hooking up with a couple of old MIDEM friends, among others, who have enjoyed recent success thanks to listings in SongLink. Firstly writer/composer David Mindel of Soul Music Ltd, who now lives in the south of France and hosts great lunches during MIDEM by the Carlton beach, has just placed a song with an exciting new female soul artist in the UK. Her producer Andy Haldane placed a lead in SongLink just a couple of weeks ago and has had a terrific response from all over the world, but tells me David's submission was the most "brilliant and bang on the money".

"Secondly, my old pal Gerard Kerkvliet of C&G Music Partners, who also happens to live locally in Nice, has been looking for songs for his artist Hilda, an up-and-coming Texas-based singer/songwriter with her own band. Gerard just informed me that at least seven or eight songs on the album will be ones he's chosen from many SongLink submissions over the past year and a half, which is great news for all the writers and publishers involved. It just proves that the old model still works if you spend the time and energy and getting it right and making the best record you can, with the best songs you can find. These are just two examples of how SongLink can help to A&R projects, and virtually every week brings similar success stories which we post on the SongLink website on a regular basis."

Other events which David traditionally attends at MIDEM is the famous "Table No. 5 Dinner" at Le Voilier restaurant next to the Carlton Hotel. "This started some years ago when I met up with John & Lotte Aagaard of TG Management & Publishing from Denmark," explains David. "Our meal started with just the three of us, but as various friends passed by and spotted us in the window we ended up with about ten others joining us! Since then we've made it a date to meet up every year at the same place, it's always a lot of fun and we look forward to doing the same this year."

Another regular get-together in the SongLink MIDEM diary is the annual buffet lunch in Antibes hosted by Stuart Hornall of Hornall Brothers Music (UK) and Tommy Richter of TJ Music Services (Germany). "I've known Stuart for 20 years since I started SongLink in 1993," says David, but I've actually known Tommy for nearly 40 years from when I was doing international press at Decca, and he worked at Teldec, Decca's German label and licensee. We've remained friends since then, and always reminisce about the good old days such as when we both worked on a solo album by John Entwistle of The Who, whom I accompanied to Hamburg on an eventful promo trip in 1975, during which he walked out of a specially-convened press screening of 'Tommy' as the reels were in the wrong order!"

So what else has David got planned for MIDEM 2013? "I'll be checking out some of the seminars and conferences, and am particularly interested in the various MIDEM Pitch Sessions which offer composers the chance of getting their music or songs placed with TV shows and ads. This year's opportunities are provided by RipTide Music (for CBS shows NCIS, Blue Bloods & The Good Wife); Activision Music (an upcoming driving/racing game); Ogilvy Advertising (for the Dove Men+ Care  campaign); Grey Music (Red Lobster ad campaign); and DDB Chicago (various projects). I'll also be checking out the extensive concert and Midem Festival programme, and look forward to seeing Birdy Hunt (winners of the Pitch Your Song contest), Yes Sir Boss (signed to Joss Stone's new label), and of course the legendary Madness promoting their new album - always good to see classic bands at MIDEM!"

Contact David at MIDEM:
Mobile: 0044 (0)7956 270592
e-mail: david@songlink.com

Click here for the MIDEM Flyer...

Links:
www.midem.com
www.songlink.com
www.cuesheet.net
http://midem.sonichub.com