The MaMA Music & Convention is THE event that gathers most of the independent side of music industry, and it is held annually in various venues across two famous neighborhoods of Paris, Pigalle and Montmartre. This year, the new edition takes place from October 11th to the 13th, and it can be said that the lineup for showcases is increasingly international and eclectic, and the professional convention program is becoming more and more engaged.
For our fourth time at the MaMA Music & Convention, we have put together the ultimate guide in order to make this festival a time to learn & discover new topics and artists that will be more than useful for those who are getting to know more about the French music industry at large.
What topics are being covered during the MaMA Music & Convention in 2023?
Every year, the MaMA Music & Convention highlights all the professional, cultural, and societal aspects of the music industry, making its professional program a time for exchange that is both peacefully educational and political. Through 5 types of programs, you may navigate through all of the industry’s ongoing challenges : among them are the tracks “Artist, Management, and Publishing”, “Societal Issues”, “Cultural Policy”, “Recorded Music”, “Live Entertainment”, and finally “Music & Image”. Thus, all aspects of the industry are thoroughly represented: you will get to hear of publishing, label, management, sync, artistic entrepreneurship, live music, but also of all the issues related to the socio-ecological impact of the industry, and upcoming developments in terms of public fundings… a topic that is very much in the news with the Bargeton report on a potential new tax on streaming service subscription to partially fund the National Music Center, or the future budget cuts following the adjustment of other taxes that replenish national funding programs each year for emerging artists.
As time goes on, the MaMA Music & Convention keeps getting more diverse : we are happy to see that the MaMA Invent is being renewed and is still coordinated by Causa Agora, an initiative by Emily Gonneau. The MaMA Invent consists of a series of conferences, debates and themed workshops focused on both technological innovations – with the MaMA Invent RiffX Prize, whose president is none other than Irène Drésel, recently awarded with the César for Best Film Music – as well as societal issues. Topics such as the mental health of artists, ageism in the industry, becoming an artist after a corporate career elsewhere, and accessibility for artists with disabilities will all be addressed.
Finally, all these conferences, which will take place as usual between the Elysée Montmartre, the Lycée J. Decour, the FGO Barbara as well as the Trianon, will be interspersed, right in the heart of the Trianon and Elysée Montmartre, with meeting spaces and booths to discuss with startups from the industry (such as Shotgun for live events or Groover for music promotion), as well as national unions (such as Prodiss for live entertainment) and PROs (such as Sacem or SCPP).
What to do on the convention side?
If you have a Pro Pass (which costs €160 this year) and you are not only looking to push your career further or assist others in this adventure, we strongly recommend that you attend the “Cultural Policy” conferences & workshops of the MaMA Music & Convention. This is a unique opportunity to meet, learn from & discuss with members of the Sacem, Adami, Spedidam, as well as SCPP, SPPF, CNM, and the French Institute to learn about the future funding programs for 2024. We heard about it during our visit to another event called the JIRAFE mid-September this year: public funding programs have already seen their annual allowance drastically shrink this year, resulting in major unforeseen changes to certain funding programs, and it is not planned to be better funded next year. This is therefore an opportunity to get to know about what’s to come in this area, especially in terms of eligibility criteria for next year.
If you are an aspiring film music composer looking for collabs & information in this field for yourself or someone around you, we recommend the “Music and Image” program. Not only will you have the opportunity to learn a lot about trends in “sync” music (pre-existing music used to soundtrack audiovisual programs such as short films or series), but you will also have the chance to meet music pros through roundtables and speed meetings, both with publishers and “music supervisors”, the individuals responsible for finding the right music for the audiovisual program they are overseeing.
Finally, if you are an artist-entrepreneur or a music entrepreneur in general and want to learn more about eco-responsible ways to grow your business, both in terms of society and ecology, we invite you to follow the admirably precise and committed program called “Societal Issues”. General topics such as the role of women in electronic music (a roundtable moderated by Act Right and Technopol), mobility solutions for touring artists, and actions to raise awareness about noise and hearing loss in the world of live music will be addressed.
To make your life easier (because we warn you: the MaMA Festival can feel disorientating at first!), we strongly recommend downloading the “MaMA 2023” app on your phone to bookmark the conferences you would like to attend.
What to do on the festival side?
On the music side, this year the MaMA Music & Convention is putting even more emphasis on international artists than in previous years, with no less than 40% of the programmed artists coming from abroad! There is a significant focus on Canadian artists, which will have a professional delegation on-site as well as dedicated showcase events as part of the once-again renewed “Ma Cabane à Paname” (a trivial way to way “My Home in Paris”) operation. Additionally, there will be new countries represented, such as Madagascar, which will also have a professional delegation on-site and three artists programmed during the festival.
In any case, on our end, we can only recommend the party being hosted by AlloFloride on the evening of Wednesday, October 11th, at La Machine du Moulin Rouge – among the artists, we will closely watch the performances of Malvina, Isia Marie, Thee Dian, Ysé, Fils Cara, Lisa Ducasse, Jeanne Bonjour, and LaFrange!
And for Pro Pass holders, if you want to take a break between the conferences & workshops during the day, showcases will take place at Les Trois Baudets and FGO Barbara, as part of the SCPP and RIF showcase events, as well as HelloMusic, a talent scouting initiative in Hauts-de-France, to name a few.
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