LICENSORS GEAR UP TO MEET NEW FACES AT MIDEM.

The internet is increasingly allowing licensing specialists to broaden the appeal of their catalogues to even more partners around the world.

ONE OF Midem's main roles down the years has been as a forum for licensing deals. The fact that the internet promises once again to be one of the most talked-about topics at this year's show does not necessarily signal any great change to one of the underlying focuses of the event and those who attend it.

Suggestions that online licensors could drive up the cost of catalogue in the long-term appear to have proved largely unfounded as new economy cash reserves have dwindled. Those of the Midem regulars who are not well on the way to integrating internet strategies into their business are excited at the prospect of doing business with their digital counterparts.

"A couple of years ago, there was a bit of a dotcom frenzy going on," says Peter Stack, the catalogue veteran who is now managing director of Union Square Music. "All these start-up companies had perhaps unnatural funds to splash around -- some of them were buying up licences fairly indiscriminately and prices of catalogue did, for a time, become artificially inflated. But as we all know, the dotcom sector has had a real reality check over the past year and they are valuing things in a much more realistic way now."

For those whose business is in dealing copyrights to third-parties, the arrival of new faces at Midem means a wider range of potential licensors.

"What hasn't really changed in the 10 years I have been going to Midem is the range of people you are selling to," says Bianco Music & Entertainment managing director Marcello Tammaro, who plans to extend his new company's own range as well as attempting to find licensors for owned coprights. "That is where the digital distribution area really interests me, because it is adding buyers to the market. From my point of view, Midem this year will be a huge fact-finding mission, as I have got a bit of a learning curve to go through myself when it comes to online developments."

The dichotomy of Midem is that those who are not negotiating quietly in private are generally attempting to make as much noise as possible in the self-promotion stakes. The past year has seen many traditional music companies incorporate or bolt on new media technology which will see them both improve existing services and move into new markets. An international trade fair such as Midem presents the ideal opportunity to tell the world.