MusicDish At MIDEM: J-Music Distribution, France

CD/DVD Distribution, Importer/Exporter, Wholesaler
by Anne Freeman, J-Music Distribution describes itself as "the very first European distributor of Japanese music whose activities link Japanese artists and their management, Japanese record companies, and European distributors together to provide a stable framework of distribution from artists to music retail store."

Formed in December 2005, J-Music Distribution representatives brought their business

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 vision to "MIDEM, The World Music Market's 40th Edition" conference in Cannes, France.

Traveling together by train from Paris to Cannes, we all enjoyed the lovely French countryside and talk of music, MIDEM and our respective businesses. Attending MIDEM were Xavier Norindr, sales manager, and Damien Marronneau, marketing manger. I followed-up with Xavier Norindr about their debut MIDEM experience.

[MusicDish] Xavier, your company, J-Music Distribution, was launched December 15, 2005, shortly before the MIDEM conference. Were you able to secure meetings and leads with companies despite the newness of your own company?

Xavier Norindr J-Music Distribution is the first European distributor of Japanese music. In spite of the newness of our company, Japanese companies have been curious about meeting us to see what kind of business we can offer. Our planning was full!

[MusicDish] What types of companies did you talk with at MIDEM?

Xavier Norindr J-Music distribution has three activities:

-Distribution
-Import
-Promotion

So, we tried to meet all Japanese labels and majors companies attending to the MIDEM to see with us what kind of business we can start together (artist's distribution and artist's promotion).

[MusicDish] How many artists are you now representing for distribution, and what's in the pipeline?

Xavier Norindr Our catalogue is still growing up! Europe and Japan are far away and the negotiations are longer. We hope to propose to our network of retailers (record shop, music stores, Japanese shop, online shop) a good catalogue with approximately more than 100 of Japanese artists.

[MusicDish] Did you attend any of the workshops, and if so, did they provide useful information?

Xavier Norindr Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go to workshops. Maybe next year.

[MusicDish] As a brand new company, did your investment of time and funds in attending MIDEM seem to be a good one?

Xavier Norindr Attending MIDEM has been very useful for us because you can meet a lot of people in four days. Going to Japan would be great, too, but it's more expensive for a new company.

[MusicDish] Do you intend to attend MIDEM next year, and if so, what will you do the same and differently? If not, why not?

Xavier Norindr Of course we will return to the MIDEM next year. For our first time here, we all have been grateful for the contacts, the meetings, the parties, the live performances. We think that we will do the same next year.

[MusicDish] Any suggestions for future MIDEM first-timers?

Xavier Norindr Be prepare to not sleep during four days.

Company: J-Music Distribution
Type:CD/DVD Distribution
Importer/Exporter/Wholesaler

Genre: All Musical Styles
Location: Paris, France
Website: www.jmusicdistribution.com
E-mail: x.norindr@jmusicdistribution.com

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission