The new interdisciplinary music trade show "CeBIT Sounds!" will make its debut at CeBIT 2010 (2 to 6 March) in Hannover. The founding committee and Deutsche Messe AG have set themselves the goal of uniting the music industry and the IT sector at a central, international venue. The German music industry association BVMI has spoken out in favour of this new concept: "Without the right kind of content, sophisticated technology is practically useless. At the same time films, books and music are seeking out new routes to the customer. Against this background CeBIT Sounds! will showcase music-related content at one of the world’s largest technology shows," explains Stefan Michalk, Managing Director of the BVMI. He goes on to say: "In today’s digital world high technology and culture are interdependent. In the same way as the music industry has learned to actively exploit the Internet, technology suppliers must realize that their products are worthless in the absence of suitable content. This mutual dependence will be the subject of a productive dialogue at CeBIT Sounds!. So far none of the major music industry shows has succeeded in creating strong and sustained links with technology suppliers."
CeBIT Sounds! is targeted at major record companies, small-sized independent labels, artists, the media, branded goods manufacturers, software and hardware products, as well as digital start-ups and web-based music enterprises. The newly developed CeBIT Sounds! concept unites all these players under a single umbrella. The main rallying point will be the central event stage, where panel discussions, workshops and live performances will take place. Grouped around this central stage, numerous music and IT enterprises will showcase their products and services in an open camp-like area. This concentrated line-up will ensure that attendees can experience the daily program of events and at the same time visit the exhibition, congress and showcases.
The founding committee includes the following representatives of the music industry, who have contributed to the formulation of the CeBIT Sounds! concept: Ossy Hoppe, Managing Director of Wizard Promotions Konzertagentur GmbH; Henning Wehland, member of the band "Söhne Mannheims", front man of the H-Blockx and Managing Director of BLX-Music & Entertainment GmbH, Joel Berger, Managing Director of MySpace GSA & Northern Europe; and Deville Schober, CEO of Brainstorm Music Marketing AG.
At CeBIT 2010 visitors and exhibitors in Hall 22 will experience a modern and open display structure – a creative camp for innovative minds in the music industry and IT sector. "At the intersection between the music and IT sectors CeBIT Sounds! has the potential to become the national business networking platform for the music industry," explains Ernst Raue, the member of the Deutsche Messe AG Board of Management responsible for CeBIT.
