More than 7,000 delegates from around 100 countries attended the 44th annual MIDEM music conference, Jan. 24-27, 2010, in Cannes, France. SOCAN was an official sponsor of the Canada stand and participated in the Quebec stand. More than 50 companies participated in the Canada stand and 33 in the Quebec stand, while still others had registered as independents. MidemNet, the annual, affiliated new-media forum, ran concurrently Jan. 23-27. Due to the current economic downturn, overall attendance at MIDEM 2010 was lower than in previous years.

SOCAN members showcasing at a Canadian Blast event as part of this year’s MIDEM were Jason Bajada, Matthew Barber, Danny Fernandes, Jully Black and Plants and Animals. Jazzman François Bourassa performed in the MIDEM Talent event while other SOCAN members, Cœur de pirate and Michael Bublé, gave guest performances at the NRJ Music Awards, which were broadcast on the French television network TF1.

Publishers and other members attending the music conference at the Quebec stand, or as independents, included Daniel Lafrance (Editorial Avenue), Diane Pinet (Éditions Bloc-Notes), Christopher Reed and Françoise Morin (Intermède Musique), Gino Crescenza and Gino Olivieri (Finger Printz Music), Patrick Curley (Third Side Music), Pierre-Luc Durand (Tacca Musique), Alain Bédard (Effendi) and Raymond Duberger (Musique Variole).

SOCAN’s MIDEM delegation included president Earl Rosen, CEO André LeBel, France Lafleur (vice-president, Membership and Communications & Marketing), Christian Sarrazin (vice-president, Industry Relations and Strategic Intelligence) and Quebec Member Services manager Joanne Pouliot.