photo: Heng Yin
Annual music industry event Midem has been cancelled because of coronavirus (COVID-19) fears; the event will proceed with a digital edition, which is currently being developed.
Midem organizers announced the unfortunate, albeit widely anticipated, news on their website. Midem was expected to take place in Cannes, France, between June 2nd and June 5th, and this year’s cancellation marks the first time that the event has been called off since 1967, when it debuted. Midem 2021 is slated to initiate on Tuesday, June 1st.
Additionally, Midem’s team is in the process of arranging the Midem Digital Edition, which will feature keynote speaker live streams, presentations, and discussion opportunities. Midem Digital details, including a time and date, are expected to be provided in the near future.
Speaking of the decision to nix Midem 2020, Director Alexandre Deniot said that government-mandated travel bans and large-gathering restrictions, in coordination with “companies’ concerns for their staff,” made it essentially impossible to continue with Midem as previously planned.
To date, medical professionals have diagnosed approximately 45,000 COVID-19 cases in France, and over the weekend, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe extended the country’s lockdown until April 15th. The stay-at-home order began on March 17th, and Police Minister Christophe Castaner’s forces have issued roughly 250,000 fines to individuals caught violating the emergency measure.
Several other festivals and music industry functions have “gone digital” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultra Music Festival partnered with SiriusXM and live-streamed performances earlier this week, and Collision Conference, which drew 30,000 attendees in 2019, decided to give ticketholders refunds and move forward with a virtual edition this year.
At the time of this piece’s writing, nearly 800,000 individuals had tested positive for COVID-19. Over 160,000 of these cases have derived from the United States, whereas 300,000 of the infections are attributable to Italy, Spain, Germany, and France.
Stateside, government officials and medical professionals recently revealed that they expect the virus to peak around Easter (April 12th).