Midemlab Finalists Announced

PARIS, Dec. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Midemlab, the international pitching competition for ground-breaking startups and app developers, today announces the 30 finalists whose ideas will drive the music industry forward in this new era of growth.

Presented by Pepsi and Vivendi, Midemlab is part of Midem 2014, the leading international business event for the music ecosystem, which takes place in Cannes from 1-4 February.

The 2014 Midemlab finalists – chosen by UK digital consulting company Music Ally and French specialist open innovation consultancy, bluenove – will present their business models to an international jury of leading entertainment executives, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and incubators.

One winner will be selected by the jury in each of the three following categories – music discovery, recommendation and creation; marketing & social engagement; direct-to-consumer sales and content monetization. There will be also a fourth winner nominated by Vivendi and chosen from across all categories. The Vivendi "Coup de Coeur" winner will be awarded by a jury of Vivendi and Universal Music Group senior management and will be given privileged access to the group's subsidiaries. The winners will be announced during a special awards ceremony at Midem.

Midemlab has become a powerful launch platform for startups, many of whom have subsequently helped shape the new industry ecosystem, including SoundCloud, The Echo Nest, Songkick and Mobile Backstage.

All 2014 finalists will benefit from feedback from experienced music industry decision makers and meet with potential business partners and investors. They will also receive valuable exposure to the international media and an industry audience, where they hope to be recognised as among the most promising startups in the entertainment field.

Finalists will also gain insight into how to make their services even better adapted for the entertainment industry, and can capitalise on personalised coaching from globally-recognised mentors brought in by Pepsi to help prepare their pitches.

Previous finalist and Vivendi "Coup de Coeur" Winner 2012, Urturn*, a London-based online social platform, raised $13.4 million led by Balderton Capital in the wake of presenting its company at Midemlab. "Midem works for businesses because you're making very real connections," said Vincent Borel, co-founder of Urturn, a music-loving platform best described as a viral meme generator.

The Midemlab 2014 finalists are:
For more details on each of the finalists, click here:

Music discovery, Recommendation and Creation

• Blitzr (France) - Metadata-driven music platform & services
• Cubic.fm (Turkey) - Social music discovery platform
• Indiloop (Canada) – Cloud-based mash up software
• Jukely (USA) - Matchmaker for concerts and friends
• Moodsnap (USA) - Image-based music discovery app
• Music Gateway (UK) - Unique music Industry business platform
• Muzieo (USA) - Mobile-based music discovery service
• Nagual Sounds (Germany) - New interactive musical experience
• Sound Wand (UK) - Musical instrument of the future
• Soundwave (Ireland) - Your music world

Marketing & Social Engagement

• Feature.fm by EQuala.fm (USA) - Music promotion network
• FanPic by Huggity (Ireland) - Engaging fans beyond the event
• Hello Stage (Austria) – Classical music community
• Lalilala by Appiway (France) - Singing challenges between friends
• LISNR (USA) - Dynamic Audio Content Delivery Platform
• Noise Fish (UK) - Online Home of the Music Industry
• Rushmore (UK) - Platform connecting artists with fans
• Starlize by Mobile Motion (Germany) - Mobile Music Video Creation
• Tunespeak (USA) - Musician-to-fan loyalty platform
• Vidrack (Canada) - Video Camera on Your Website

Direct-to-consumer Sales and Content Monetization

• 3Plet (Estonia) - Music album as an app
• 10tracks (Russia) - Cloud storage for music collections
• BandstandMobile (Ireland) - Artist -To- Fan App Development
• Capsule.fm (Germany) - Making your online content audible
• Kicktone (Australia) - Social Music Discovery
• Metable (UK) - Metadata and Asset Management Platform
• Pulpix (France) - Exclusive showcase online services
• Screenburn (UK) - Facebook video on demand platform
• Songspot (France) - Social jukebox app
• Weezic (France) - Augmented Sheet Music

Bluenove, Music Ally, 21212 Digital Accelerator, BITKOM, China Accelerator, East West Digital News, FrenchWeb, Media.net, Music 4.5, Music Business Association, Rude Baguette, StartupBootCamp, Technode, UP Global and Wayra are partners of Midemlab.

*Follow the Midemlab 2012 finalist, Urturn, in the Midem - The Series. Midem the Series reveals the experiences of three very different attendees of the Cannes-based music tradeshow.

For press registration details, please click here.

About Midem – Midem is an annual international b2b event dedicated to the new music ecosystem, with a tradeshow, conferences, competitions, networking events and live performances. It's the place where music makers, cutting-edge technologies, brands & talents come together to enrich the passionate relationship between people & music, transform audience engagement and form new business connections.

About PepsiCo 
PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Our main businesses – Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola – make hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world. PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages from treats to healthy eats; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment by conserving energy and water and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support and invest in the local communities where we operate. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.  

About Vivendi
Vivendi groups together leaders in content, media and telecommunications. Canal+ Group is the French leader in pay-TV, also operating in French-speaking Africa, Poland and Vietnam; its subsidiary Studiocanal is a leading European player in production, acquisition, distribution and international film sales. Universal Music Group is the world leader in music; it recently strengthened and diversified its position with the acquisition of EMI Recorded Music. GVT is a telecoms and media/content distribution in Brazil. In addition, Vivendi owns SFR, a French leader in alternative telecoms. www.vivendi.com

About Reed MIDEM – Founded in 1963, Reed MIDEM is a leading organiser of professional, international tradeshows. Reed MIDEM events have established themselves as key dates in professional diaries. The company hosts MIPTV, MIPDOC, MIPCOM, and MIPJUNIOR for the television and digital content industries, MIDEM for music professionals, LeWeb Paris and London for internet forward-thinkers, MIPIM, MIPIM Asia, MIPIM UK and MAPIC for the property and retail real estate sectors. www.reedmidem.com

About Reed Exhibitions - Reed Exhibitions is the world's leading events organizer, with over 500 events in 41 countries. In 2012 Reed brought together seven million active event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organized by 34 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 44 industry sectors with trade and consumer events and is part of the Reed Elsevier Group, a world leading provider of professional information solutions. www.reedexpo.com

SOURCE Reed MIDEM