Midem 2006 in Cannes, France from January 22-26, 2006 was billed as the largest music event in Europe with 10,000 business-to-business delegates, and saw Sony Ericsson join the ranks of exhibitors for the 40th anniversary of the event.

Sony Ericsson showcased the Walkman family of mobile phones, giving music industry decision-makers the opportunity to try the phones first-hand and to discuss music content and applications with the Sony Ericsson Content Acquisition team. Visitors to the exhibition booth were also able to hear the quality of the Walkman media player through amplified "sound domes" and play Sony BMG music videos on the W900 and W810 Walkman phones.

Sound domes and Walkman phones on display in the Sony Ericsson booth.

Brining mobile music to the masses: Sony Ericsson's MidemNet participation

As mobile music is becoming bigger business, Midem created a sector of the show dedicated to music on the move: MidemNet. Attendance of MidemNet saw an increase of 32% from the previous year. This fact alone shows that music is now a serious component of the mobile phone industry.

During MidemNet, Rikko Sakaguchi, Senior Vice President and Head of Product & Application at Sony Ericsson, explained his vision for mobile music. 

The W810 Walkman phone, Sony Ericsson's 5th Walkman phone, was announced only a couple of weeks prior to the event. Sony Ericsson Walkman phones established the phone as credible digital music player. Now it's time for music-related applications.

Sony Ericsson Developer World contributes to establishing Sony Ericsson as a leader in Mobile Music by creating a Mobile Music ecosystem for application and content developers, and provides dedicated technical resources at www.sonyericsson.com/developer/music.

So for developers, the aim is to make music-related applications as essential as themes, ringtones or games to the mobile content marketplace. Application developers can use both Java ME and Symbian OS v9.1 to create music-related applications, advanced games as well as business and productivity applications for a broad range of phones. Moving beyond just music tracks, Sony Ericsson Developer World stimulates other music-related application development. Examples of potential music related application areas are playlist management, download agents, FM and Internet radio solutions as well as using music and sound effects in other types of applications.

More information:

• Mobile Music Applications developer resources>>
• W900 Walkman phone>>
• W810 Walkman phone>>