TALENT
The Songwriting Camp: a place ‘to get excited and inspired’ Midem’s Songwriting Camp is designed to enable artists to share ideas, develop networks and be seen by global music buyers. A live, closed-door session during Midem Digital Edition will present tracks written by the selected artists ahead of this year’s event. Gary Smith and Stuart Dredge report
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N THE era of streaming, individual songs are the dominant currency, which is why the Midem Songwriting Camp plays such a crucial role in the development of both artists and the industry. “Alongside the networking and meeting inspiring, talented songwriters and producers from around the world, I believe these Camps are important because no matter how experienced you are, you always learn at least one new thing,” producer and A&R executive — and participant in the Songwriting Camp — Johnny K Palmer, says. “Also these sessions are like long-term investments. Very occasionally you get a cut right immediately after the session, but mostly these songs flourish two or three years after the fact. And when they do it’s always really worth it.” Another Songwriting Camp participant, singer-wongwriter signed to Belgium’s Cricket Hill Music, Sabien Tiels, says the Songwriting Camp can serve to broaden artistic horizons: “Being able to write with other songwriters, especially those from abroad, gives you insight into how others work and it always generates new ideas,”
Kozbeatz
MIDEM DIGITAL EDITION NEWS
she says. “I have participated at several Songwriting Camps and that gave me the opportunity to work and write together with Elliott Murphy and Peter Kingsbury. I also wrote a few of my recent hits at one of the Camps.” For this year’s Songwriting Camp, Midem is partnering with the Taiwan Creative Agency. During four days in October, five talented Taiwanese musicians — Ozi, Chih Siou, Trout Fresh, Shi Shi Sun and Starr Chen —met and collaborated with international producers and artists, to create original songs that will be presented in a closed-door listening session during Midem Digital Edition. Trout Fresh is a rapper, singer, songwriter and a star producer in Taiwan. “This is my first international camp and for the third and fourth days, I was teamed up with Anuka — she was the most impressive artist to me. In the last song, I gradually got used to this unique creative process; the song we put together on the third day was my favourite one so far.” Starr Chen’s involvement in popular music began in 2010 when he joined EGGO, a music production company in Taiwan. He served
Signature Sounds’ Johnny K Palmer
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Trout Fresh
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