The booming Chinese music industry is attracting more and more international professionals from the sector, as crowds of about 100 people here attended the "Meet the Chinese" operation.
The first event of its kind, "Meet the Chinese" was a meeting allowing Chinese businesses to meet partners from other countries. It was held last Saturday during the 50th MIDEM conference (Marche International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale).
Dozens of Chinese businesses and Chinese professionals were present at MIDEM and it was the first time that a private business, China's Alibaba Music Group, had its own stand. After a brief presentation by its CEO Gao Xiaosong, French minister for culture Audrey Azoulay also hailed the latest advances in the Chinese music scene.
The Chinese music industry joined together its two great assets: its size and its openness. This was highlighted by Vlad Davuadov, the director of a Russian music company Ikon Management, who came to "Meet the Chinese" in search of Chinese partners to create collaborations between Chinese and Russian musicians.
Parisian company Music Makers & Performers, which specializes in music for video games, also came to meet Chinese professionals, saying they were aiming to sell their music and perform at concerts in China.
Independent British musician Richard Navarro hoped to "find good partners to promote (his) music in China," while Kim Cameron came especially from the United States to develop a collaboration with China.
Among the key Chinese participants of this 2016 MIDEM conference was Edmund Qi from 2muse Net Broadcasting & Technology in Shanghai. This being the seventh year in a row he participated, he met around 10 professionals during the "Meet the Chinese" speed-meeting.
He told Xinhua his attendance at MIDEM had resulted in concrete advances in his atmospheric music work.
According to him, "Chinese professionals would gain from this experience a better understanding and respect of the codes of the international industry, making them to better able take part in development in the industry."
Tammy Zhao, the MIDEM representative in China, said "in the last few years, more attention has been paid to the participants from the Chinese music industry and the Chinese presence at MIDEM."
The MIDEM event, which ran from June 3 to 6 in Cannes, is the world's biggest gathering of businesses working in the music industry.
