POPKOMM 2008 ...
Congratulations on your first step to playing at the most exciting music and entertainment business conference in Europe, Popkomm!!! If you want more information on Popkomm than what is provided here check out www.popkomm.de. It is the same type of music industry conference as South by Southwest, but based in Europe.
What is Popkomm:
From the 8th – 10th of October 2008 Popkomm in Berlin, Germany will house a huge meeting of record labels, bookers, festivals, distribution agents, publishers,
Popkomm is the international music and entertainment business trade show. In 2007 886 exhibitors and more than 15.400 participants from 57 countries took advantage during three Popkomm days to do business, meet new associates and maintain old contacts.
With more than 450 bands and DJs from 35 countries Popkomm is one of the world's largest showcase festivals. In 2007, more than 85.000 people attended the festivals clubs during the Popkomm’s 3 days.
Why BlindBeatroot
My name is Steve Iorio and I have the honour of being invited to set up the Australian Showcase this year by Popkomm. 'The BlindBeatroot Australian Showcase' as we are calling it loves all types of music, and I mean ALL types. There is no boundary to the genres we will be showcasing. To be considered you just need to be Australian, be a quality live act and possess a unique sound, stage presence, or idea.
We welcome anyone whether signed to a label or not. It is not only a great place to make yourself heard, but also it is ideal for labels that want to license product to other markets. You should really have a good quality CD to take advantage of the opportunity.
There is always heaps of competition to get on this type of exclusive showcase. Don’t feel bad if you don’t get picked, we feel bad enough that we can’t take more…. And there is always next year!!! If you are lucky enough to get on the showcase, I will also highly recommend you spend the money (approx. $800.00 but it is up to Austrade) to get a place at the Austrade Stand at Popkomm. Even if you don’t get a showcase, it is worth having your manager get a spot on the stand!!! It might even help your chances next year. This stand is set up by the Australian Trade Commission to facilitate your trade show meetings with industry heavy weights. It will allow you to use their resources, fax machine, office space, tables and chairs. This is also a big meeting point for 'movers and shakers' and has a receptionist at the front desk to take messages for you, and to hand out products. It is also a friendly and helpful face in a sea of busy industry executives.
Assess yourself and your suitability to the showcase:
You will have to pay for everything yourself including your own airfares, hotels, food and drink. You will also have to contribute to the marketing of the Australian Showcase. All successful bands that are asked to be on The Aussie Showcase at Popkomm are required to put in $500.00 up front, to help pay for publicity, press promo CDs, print posters, pay for postage, phone calls, flyers, post cards and organize the event, back line and sound and light production. This is a real bargain as compared to doing all the publicity on your own, in a foreign country. We don’t want you playing a showcase with nobody there!!!
FinanceIdeas:
If you have a record company, they will know of the many licensing opportunities that Popkomm offers. If they are backing you, they may want to pay for you to do a showcase in Berlin to attract more attention and create a vibe. If you don't have a record company, it might be an expensive trip to get to Europe, but in an age where people strive to be independent you must either promote yourself. If someone else promotes you be prepared to share the profit.
Be independent, back yourself and take the chance!!! Find some sponsors. Work extra shifts. Do what you can to help yourself.
Visit our links page which has our sponsors, partners and some organisations that might help in making this adventure a possibility for you
If you still want to apply:
Open this link read the info and fill in the entire form .....email or print and fax it to us on the numbers provided
One thing that I must insist on is that if you apply for this Blind Beatroot Showcase and get on to the event at Popkomm you must be a team player. We are all working very hard to make this a success and you will not be the only “centre of attraction”. Many people get all stressed out on the big game days, and I am sure there will be a bit of anxiety on the day. To minimize this we all need to support each other. So we will all have some jobs on one of the days that you are not playing, so you can help the others. Things like stage management, door persons, merchandise people, info desk, sound people, guitar and drum techs, and more. I really believe that if you need to have some meeting you can get the person to come to the Aussie Showcase for a meeting. Also, you will meet more people if you are “working” at the event than just sitting around. So I am hoping that this will work out for all of us.
Financial Commitment to the showcase
It is totally pointless to show up in Germany and play a showcase that nobody knows about, and to a crowd of 12 people. I will personally help to avoid this by passing on my knowledge to the group of bands going over, and arranging promo and publicity. All bands are required to putt in $600 Australian each to help with the publicity. I will coordinate that and I guarantee that you will not get a better deal anywhere. It will include one of your songs on a 1,000 run compilation CD that will be sent to radio, TV, mags, press, record and music industry persons and reviewers.
I have already arranged for our compilation to be the front cover for Soundcheck magazine in Germany. We will have an Aussie band on the cover and a CD attached to the front. I have also spoken to a few radio stations myself that are very keen to get a copy. With this money I will also fund a joint publicist for the project that will oversee the radio plugging, editorial search and the press releases.
There is one other thing that I will have to clear up. Popkomm and Austrade are 2 very different companies. Austrade is run by the Australian government and buys space at Popkomm every year. Popkomm is a music industry event and convention that has music showcases. Blind Beatroot has been chosen by the event manager to have a showcase at the event. It happens to be an all-Australian showcase, so Austrade is helping to facilitate the Blind Beatroot event. Having said that, without the help of Austrade I might never have secured the showcase at Popkomm.
Austrade has a booth at Popkomm that I will highly recommend. It is a great place to make contact, you get a receptionist, and they will even hand out product for you in your absence. It will cost you about $1,000 to get registered on the stand this includes your entry ticket to the event. That may sound a bit expensive but it really isn’t. You do get the benefit of their help, experience, promotions, and their space. If you don’t go with this option the normal ticket price from the Popkomm website for entry into the event is as follows:
Prices for trade visitors:
walk up ticket (3 days): 390,- EUR
day ticket: 170,- EUR
So it is not much different and I truly believe that if you go all the way to Germany, you should make the most of it. I will again sing the praise of Stefan Jedele and the Austrade office by saying that if it had not been for them I would not be in the position I am in. Hey wait a minute, this is a lot of work for not much money, and maybe you shouldn’t go to Popkomm!!! You might end up in the music industry.
