New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Popkomm Showcase) No Popkomm is complete without music. With its programme of showcases, the international meeting place of the music industry, which from 7 to 9
September will be taking place at Tempelhof Airport inBerlin, is once again promoting music artists from all over the world. In 2011 Popkomm's music programme has its own website: www.popkommlive2011.com
This year Popkomm will be an exclusive B2B event - a platform for international trade visitors.
On 7 and 8 September, Live Popkomm Showcases will be taking place at five venues, close to and on the grounds of the legendary former main airport, on stages in purpose-built, fully equipped clubs: La Vie En Rose, C Club, CrystalRoom, Silverwings and Friseur. They will present every genre, from singer-songwriter to hard rock acts, in an appropriate environment. Popkomm will be managing 40 acts for trade visitors at these venues.
These showcase acts will perform in the afternoons on both days, in front of an exclusive audience of industry professionals at Popkomm. Some of them will also play to a wider audience during the evenings at the Berlin
Music Week.
On 7
September Sonicbids, an internet portal for newcomers and music promoters, will present ten selected acts at the C Club and Crystal Room. Other prospective performers will be introduced to delegates and representatives of the music industry at matchmaking sessions ahead of the fair. "We experimented with this concept at the last Popkomm and had good success, so we are building on it and will present it as a unique aspect", says Paul Cheetham, Popkomm's live music manager and a music industry insider for the last 20 years.
On 9
September the Popkomm Showcases will be integrated into this year's Berlin Festival and will include the artists Oh Land, Dry the River and Retro Stefson. The aim is to showcase a selection of top-quality, and in particular new artists, and to provide them with an international stage. The Berlin Festival is taking place for the sixth time and this year will be held on 9 and 10 September. For the third time, also on the grounds of the former main airport, artists from an illustrious line-up will perform musical highlights. These will include an exclusive reunion show by the Beginners, hip-hop stars from Hamburg, as well as a concert with Primal Scream, who will be giving this year's only performance in Germany of their legendary 1994 album Screamadelica. Guitar greats such as Wire, dEUS and
Suede will also be there, as will an international elite of DJs, among them DJ Hell, Diplo and Kruder&Dorfmeister. This year, trendsetters from the new electronic music scene will include LFO and Echo award winners Pantha Du Prince. To view the complete line-up on the web click on:www.berlinfestival.de
Paul Cheetham: "The focus at this year's Popkomm is on networking. Innovative forums at Popkomm such as Networking_Gate will be aiming to make it easier to market artists. As regards the showcases, it is very important for us to give the artists a realistic chance to make it possible for them to become the buzz bands of the next twelve months. We will present acts that we know are worthy of the attention of decision-makers from the music business."
The Popkomm Conference will come to an end on Friday with the "Live
Music Conference", at which artists and agencies will discuss the strategies of today's live music market. Melvin Benn, the manager of the event agencyFestival Republic, will be among those attending, and will deliver the keynote speech.
In early September, the New
Music Award will be presented by ARD's radio stations for young people, among them 1LIVE,
Radio Fritz and Sputnik, who will be fielding 16 promising, up-and-coming bands from all parts of Germany. On 6 September, at the opening of the Berlin
Music Week,the bands will perform in front of a large audience at the Admiralspalast in Berlin.
