Simon Napier-Bell & Rob Hallett Alexi Cory-Smith & Hein Van Der Ree Laura Bedikian & Korda Marshall

London, March 2025: MiCannes, the music conference and networking event, now in its fourth year, has announced some prestigious music industry names for its upcoming panel sessions taking place at the Mondrian Hotel (formerly the Grand) in Cannes, France from June 3rd to 6th 2025.

Legendary music manager, record producer and author Simon Napier-Bell will be returning to MiCannes for the second year running to take part in the '3D CGI Live Shows and Personality Rights' panel, along with concert and events promoter Rob Hallett of Robomagic and Scott Farrant, rights specialist and former Head of Global Operations for Kobalt Music.

Ralph Peer III, MD of peermusic UK and Australasia, will speak on on the Publishing panel moderated by Jay Mistry of JAM Music. Based in London, Peer is the grandson of peermusic founder Ralph S. Peer, and in addition is Vice President of peermusic's African and Middle East operations. More names will be added to this panel, sub-titled 'What are the real benefits of having a publisher and do their percentages work for composers?'

Former BMG UK president Alexi Cory-Smith, now founder & CEO at Bella Figura Music Ltd, will sit on the 'Music Catalogue Acquisitions' panel. Figure controls a portfolio of rights for the likes of Guy Chambers, David Gray and also acquired Rak Publishing in 2024. The former lawyer, whose seven-year run at BMG UK saw annual revenue expand by 2000% to £120 million, is a lifelong fan of Rolling Stones whom she signed to a global publishing deal with BMG.

Also on the panel with Cory-Smith will be Dutch industry executive Hein Van Der Ree of Mothership Music Publishing and the Pythagoras Music Fund.com. A former MD of Phonogram Records Benelux, he was later MD of Epitaph Europe, located in Amsterdam. In 2016, Van Der Ree joined Brett Gurewitz and Lionel Conway as a partner in Mothership. Completing the panel, to be hosted by MiCannes CEO Ian Penman, will be Colin Newman of SRLV, veteran provider of rights management for artists, producers and songwriters; and Chris Noxx, founder of FNMPG Holdings Inc., an international music rights management platform.

John Saunderson, Head of Creative at Notting Hill Music UK, will be moderating the 'Next Generation A&R' panel which will include Laura Bedikian, Senior A&R for Downtown Music Publishing in France; Gareth Davies, formerly with Rough Trade, V2, PIAS, Kontor Records and now Global Operations Manager with Australian distributor Xelon Digital; and legendary UK A&R man Korda Marshall who in 2022 returned to the Mushroom Group as International Director of the Mushroom Label division's global operations.

Finally, MiCannes board and committee member Christian Ulf-Hansen of Plan C Management (UK) will be moderating a panel titled 'Managers are the new A&R Developers of Talent' with other names to be announced. Formerly with PRS and BMI, Ulf-Hansen has been involved with management and publishing in the UK, Scandinavia and worldwide as an independent for over 25 years and commented:

"We are delighted that MiCannes has grown steadily and that MiCannes 2025 will be our fourth year, returning for the second year to the brilliant Mondrian Hotel (formerly The Grand) for all our panel sessions, as well as our third annual MiCannes Awards Lunch to be held on the beautiful garden terrace of the hotel. For the second year running we will also have a programme of Music Documentaries & Shorts being screened in the luxury cinema at the fabulous boutique Eden Hotel on the Rue d'Antibes.

"We're also thrilled to announce that we will be increasing our Live Music Showcase programme across two venues in Cannes, namely Morrison's Irish Bar off the Rue d'Antibes and downstairs at the Cotton Club in Cannes Old Town, the latter being held in conjunction with the Atlanta-based Music Specialist Distribution run by Allen Johnston with all artist names to be announced soon.

"All the events this year will take place in the centre of sunny Cannes or within a short walk of it, allowing the growing number of participants to get the most from networking in this unique location by the sea, famous for its music and film conventions for so many decades. We look forward to welcoming back many of the hundreds of participants who attended the first three editions of MiCannes as well as a growing number of new ones who have already registered at www.MiCannes.com."

For more information please visit www.MiCannes.com or contact:

Christian Ulf-Hansen, Plan C Management
E-mail: christianulf1@gmail.com
or
David Stark, SongLink International
E-mail: david1@songlink.com