Aussie musos, there’s another new set of trophies to chase. Just be prepared to travel.

Organisers of the annual Midem music convention in Cannes will launch a new, data-driven awards gala in time for next year’s edition.

Music data platform Soundcharts is partnering on the new Midem Music Awards by collating data from streaming platforms, social media, audio-tagging services and live platforms to shine a light on regional and border-crossing success stories.

With its ambitious new initiative, Midem is ditching the time-honoured methods of selecting winners by jury or a voting system, in favour of what it hopes will reflect a balanced and more transparent system for a digital world.

“Understanding and using data in the right way has become an essential part of an artist’s journey when emerging onto the global stage,” commented British artist Imogen Heap at a launch event. The Midem Music Awards, she added, is “the first to recognise this shift and democratise the ways we celebrate success in music.”

With this new platform, explains Alexandre Deniot, Director of Midem, “we aim to recognise the exciting challenges of being a successful artist in the streaming era, and we are delighted to host this unique new event in the industry calendar.”

Categories have yet to be announced for the 2019 Midem Music Awards, which will take place during the 2019 gathering on the French Riviera, from June 4-7 2019.

Aside from “shining a spotlight on artists from all corners of the world,” the Midem Music Awards give the conference a shiny new replacement to the NRJ Awards, which acted as a buzzy centrepiece for the trade fair. The French commercial radio network’s ceremony traditionally coincided with Midem and always drew huge crowds as celebrities and music stars walked the red carpet of the Palais de Festival.

In 2015, a year before its 50^th anniversary, Midem shifted from its usual January dates to June in an effort to woo participants with the promise of good weather. The NJR Awards are now held in November.

This year’s Midem boasted 4,800 delegates, according to its owner Reed Midem, a 9% uptick from the previous year but still well down on the numbers from its heyday in the early 2000s. Speakers this time included leading artist manager Scooter Braun, BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch, and U.S. entertainment lawyer Dina LaPolt.

Historically a publishers’ playground, Australia’s Midem presence always has a strong core of music publishers and Sounds Australia hosts a delegating with reps from across the music ecosystem. Attendees this year included reps from Mushroom Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Australia, Jaxta, and Comes With Fries. Client Liaison were among the showcasing artists for this year’s Midem Artist Accelerator Showcase.

The article was originally published on The Industry Observer