On the Midem grapevine ...(Dooley's Diary)

Remember where you heard it: As the Midem exhibition sprang into life last Sunday, one of the busiest areas was the massive British Village stand. The number of delegates milling around the stand was particularly impressive given the difficulties which many experienced even getting to Cannes. Problems at British Airways saw dozens of prospective delegates told they couldn't get onto the flight they had booked because of overcrowding, with many forced to either take a later or diverted flight or stay overnight near Heathrow. Some had the good fortune to find themselves in the company of delegates from the UK Trade & Investment--a division of the Department Of Trade And Industry--allowing them to play the, "but we're from Government" card ... Congrats to all involved organising the British at Midem showcase. Dooley favourites were Gwyneth Herbert (pictured inset, left), Beulah (pictured inset, middle) and The Infadels ... One of the big questions of the event was which operator Snocap had struck a deal with to take its peer-to-peer management service. Snocap's business development chief Alex Rofman dropped the hint at the event's Superdistribution panel. For the record, the Mashboxxx deal is not quite yet inked, so it is isn't them. But, who is it? Dooley knows, but he's sworn to secrecy ... A true community service was performed at a panel on the challenges facing the mobile music industry. A show of hands by the audience decided that the digital manifestation of the ringtone should be known, not as the truetone, or the mastertone, but--wait for it--the real tone. There, so that's decided then ... MCPS PRS's new boss Adam Singer strolled into Midem for a short low key visit after his appointment last week. His first stop? To a legal update. And very interesting it was, too, apparently ... Singer is set to enjoy a rather memorable first day--he starts in the office on February 9, spending the evening as a guest of BPI boss Peter Jamieson at the Brits ... Midem UK representative Peter Rhodes set his tough negotiating face to one side, waiting outside the Bruce Lundvall press conference in a bid to meet Leonard Cohen's son Adam Cohen, who was in the house to pay tribute to EMI's classical and jazz chief and Midem personality of the year. Rhodes was preparing to hand over a copy of his first novel to Cohen, which centres on his father's famous song So Long Marianne. Rhodes has kept his novelist career a bit of a secret, writing under his pen name Alex Wilde. The name of the book: I Can Sleep For The Rest Of My Life ... Dooley always knew that Chuck D was a ...