Popkomm

Popkomm was an international trade show for the music and entertainment business during the 1990s and 2000s, and also integrated a congress and festival. It was held in Cologne for most of its existence, later moved to Berlin with entries from at least 55 other countries.

Popkomm first took place in Düsseldorf in 1989, and at the time was a meeting place of little-known independent musicians. In 1990 Popkomm moved to Cologne, and had already become an international meeting place of the industry. Cologne hosted the show until 2003 when then relocated to Berlin in 2004. In Berlin the event developed into one of the three biggest international music b2b events, until the organizing Popkomm GmbH postponed the event in 2009 for one year due to reclining revenues. In 2010, Popkomm was reactivated as part of the umbrella brand Berlin Music Week and took place at the Berlin Tempelhof Airport. The final event was in 2011, after which it was shut down.

The Popkomm Congress was an event where important industry issues wer discussed, new developments were introduced and information was presented by international representatives of the business. For trade visitors there were panels with prominent figures and keynote speakers from the highest tiers of the music business. Figures such as Feargal Sharkey, former lead singer of the Undertones and chairman of the UK’s Live Music Forum, Gilberto Gil, world-famous musician and Minister of Culture of Popkomm’s partner country Brazil, Claude Nobs, founder of the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival, and boy group impresario Lou Pearlman were all present at Popkomm 2006. In 2007 the main topics were digital music, live music, mobile entertainment and the creative industries. In addition to highlighting these issues Popkomm also organised attractions by country, for example in 2006 the focus was on Japan, Brazil and Russia. In 2010, the congress took place at the airport Tempelhof and was organized by a2n, all together now.

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