IMX celebrates one year anniversary with Midem debut

Iceland Music Export (IMX) is hosting its first stand at the annual music event Midem on the one year anniversary of the organisation’s launch.

Reykjavik (eNewsWire) 28 January 2008 –Iceland Music Export (IMX), a new government initiative to promote Icelandic music abroad, is hosting its very first stand at the Midem music event in France between 27th and 30th January.

Over 10,000 music and technology professionals from over 90 countries have been arriving in Cannes for the world-famous annual Midem global music market.

In collaboration with the Trade Council of Iceland, IMX’s stand (R34.13) has been redesigned to celebrate the organisation’s first anniversary. Over 30 participants are registered, and the Icelandic Minister of Culture will host a reception there today, Monday 28th January, at 5pm, which will include a performance by Icelandic rock & roll maverick Mugison.

Icelandic companies attending Midem this year include Sena, 12 Tónar, Smekkleysa, Zonet, Dimma, KGEM, D3 and Blánótt, Mugiboogie and Nína Margrét Grímsdóttir.

Meetings with IMX representatives can be booked by emailing Anna Hildur Hildibrandsdóttir on: anna@icelandmusic.is

Icelandic companies present at Midem 2008 include:

12 Tonar
12 Tonar started to release music on its own label in 2003 and now has a catalogue of around 50 titles. They have worked with some of Iceland´s best-known musicians and have 6 Gold Records and 1 Platinum Record under their belt. Last year they started working with Cargo Germany as European partner and, although they have releases in other territories, their main aim is to find the right partners for the rest of the world. This year 12 Tonar opened up their own webstore – 12tonar.grapewire.net – and are undertaking a promotional tour in Germany with 3 of their most promising acts: Jakobinarina, Petur Ben and Gavin Portland.
www.12tonar.is

Blánótt
Blánótt ehf. was founded in 2003 by Icelandic jazz and Latin Jazz supreme Tomas R. Einarson. The label is dedicated to releasing Einarson´s own music, and has so far put out well-known titles such as “Koss”, “Undir 4”, “Kúbanska”, “Havana”, “Romm Tomm Tomm,” and the remix album Rommtommtechno.
www.simnet.is/tomasreinarsson

Dimma
Founded in 1992, Dimma is an independent record company and publisher of music, CDs and books, mainly focusing on jazz, folk and roots as well as new children´s music and poetry. With a catalogue of 40 titles, Dimma presents some of Iceland´s finest performers of jazz and ethnic music. www.dimma.is

KGEM
KGEM is an Icelandic music production company, founded in March 2007. The company produces music as well as acting as an agency for its artists. KGEM also handles copyright issues, concert bookings, concert planning and organizing, touring, public relations and publishing. KGEM´s first signing is Icelandic r & b artist Kenya, whose debut album is currently in the making. www.kgem.is

iM
iM is a software development and consulting company located in Reykjavik, Iceland. Their primary focus is web and mobile solutions. iM comprises specialists in every field, veterans who have worked together on various projects for numerous years, and specializes in applications that enable musicians and labels to distribute music via the Internet and mobile networks. iM offers consulting, from concept work to full blown software projects and marketing campaigns. www.im.is

IMX
Iceland Music Export (IMX) is an exciting new government sponsored initiative that aims to bring together the disparate strands of Iceland´s eclectic scene under one roof. By increasing access to information about artists, collaborating with companies to promote Icelandic music abroad and organizing marketing strategies, festival and event participation, IMX will increase the visibility of Icelandic music in the international sphere, and provide an essential one-stop resource for all interested parties. So far the company has helped organize artist participation at Eurosonic, Midem and SXSW, collaborated with Mugison´s Aldrei for eg sudur (AFS) festival and has promoted Icelandic artists at events such as Great Escape (UK), Spot (Denmark) and PopKomm (Germany). www.imx.is

ITM
The Iceland Music Information Centre, ITM, was founded in 1968. The primary objective of ITM is to keep a record of Icelandic contemporary music. ITM also provides information about Icelandic music life and musicians, promotes Icelandic music both in Iceland and abroad, and publishes and records music. The ITM archives consist of over 7000 manuscripts and published works by 250 Icelandic composers. All works in the ITM catalogue are published on demand. Performance materials, scores, and parts of orchestral works are available for hire. www.mic.is

MugiBoogie
Is a label owned and run by Icelandic maverick Mugison, set up to release his own music. Mugison´s highly anticipated third album, “Mugiboogie”, is now out in Iceland. It has scored full marks in all the papers and is selling like water in the desert. Currently performing with a five-piece band, the former laptop maverick Mugison – who previously released seminal albums like “Lonely Mountain” and “Mugimama is this monkey music?” on Matthew Herbert´s Accidental Records – has honed his rock & roll chops, and is ready to set entire towns ablaze with his new-classic sound. www.mugison.com

Nina Marget Grimsdottir
Pianist Nína Margrét Grímsdóttir is one of Iceland´s most established classical performers and recording artists. She has toured widely outside Iceland, including Japan, Scandinavia, England and the U.S. and Canada, and has released several high profile CDs featuring performances of music by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson, Páll Ísólfsson, Mendelssohn and Mozart. www.ninamargret.com

Sena
Sena is the largest company within the entertainment business in Iceland. Boasting 40 employees, the company is divided into several departments with an emphasis on music, movies and computer games and also distributes material from some of the leading manufacturers in music, cinema and computer games. Sena´s music department is the largest commercial agent for music from abroad and releases 50-70 new CDs each year, including Icelandic as well as foreign music. Sena is also a commercial agent for several small foreign labels as well as many major labels such as Universal, Warner. EMI and Sony/BMG. www.sena.is

SJS
SJS Music is a small Icelandic record label owned by Samúel Jón Samúelsson, aimed mainly at releasing Samúel´s own Music. Samúel is a trombone player, composer, arranger, producer and singer, and runs his own 18 piece Funk/Afro/Jazz Big Band for which he writes music for and arranges. Apart from his work with his Big Band Samuel is a leading member of the Icelandic funk unit JAGÚAR. The group has released five funky albums, toured trough Sweden, Norway, Belgium (including a double bill with Maceo Parker), Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland ad the UK. In 2004 the band opened up for James Brown in Reykjavik. www.sjsmusic.com

Smekkleysa
Smekkleysa SM/Bad Taste SM was established in Iceland in 1986 by a group of young artists and musicians, who had been active since the Icelandic punk explosion in the early eighties. It has developed and worked with some of Iceland´s most interesting artists, including The Sugarcubes, Björk, Sigur Rós, múm, Mínus, Ghostigital, Curver, Ske, slowblow, Kimono and Jan Mayen. The company is also prolific in releasing new Icelandic classical music. www.smekkleysa.net

Trade Council
The Trade Council of Iceland helps Icelandic companies sell their products, services, and know-how in the international marketplace. The Trade Council of Iceland offers the services of marketing professionals and consultants in Iceland and trade commissioners at the Icelandic Embassies abroad. The five main service areas of the Trade Council are Information Services, Training & Consultancy Services, Trade Fairs, Market Development and Invest in Iceland. www.icetrade.is

Zonet
Zonet Music was founded in 2001 by Óttar Felix Hauksson. After buying the well-known Icelandic label/distributor Japis in 2002, Zonet then bought Edda-Midlun Music Department in 2003. Today Zonet has around Icelandic 120 titles and over 1500 songs in their catalogue, including old Triola recordings of Italian soprano Robertino, and Guitar Islancio. In 2008 Zonet Music is set to release some exciting music and build further on the foundations they have built in other countries. www.zonet.is