Recap: Music Producer Convention III - 2019
In 2019, we returned better than ever for the 3rd edition of the Music Producer Convention!
Every year, there are lessons learned from previous editions helping us elevate each step along the way. For our 3rd edition, we continued our quest to provide attendees with the best talent and experiences possible. We also wanted to offer a way for more people to participate in various activities. So we partnered with Ableton Live to provide a full day of free RSVP activities as an opener on the Friday, as well as “Le 2 Pièces Cuisine” for our beat battle the Music Producer Challenge, before getting into two full days of knowledge during the in-studio workshops. But the hard work happens behind the scenes during the whole year!
The mere logistics of such an event is a gargantuan task. From securing the venues and studios to finding the dates, promotion, marketing, and all the extra details you don’t think of (like ticketing, staff, volunteers, etc.). Then, booking talent is difficult in itself (dates, flights, accommodations, transportation, etc.) so when you multiply that by 20+ speakers it can quickly become challenging. Not to mention dealing with brands to secure partnerships. But we don’t back down from a Challenge! We worked hard to present once again an Epic line-up with all our usual activities.
The press started paying attention and hyping the event, like this article by l’ABCDR du son, a popular blog in France. Then we opened our ticketing and dropped our video teaser:
And finally, after months of hard work and planning, on Friday, October 11th, 2023, we were ready to open the doors to the studios!
We started with a free all-day event sponsored by Ableton Live with the participation of French producers: Imhotep (IAM), Blanka (La Fine équipe), Almeria (Everydays & Phazz) and Nicko aka Odaiba (Soulchildren). Activities went from limited In-studio workshops to seated conferences in the main room. The goal was for these producers to display their use of Ableton products to the community while giving more people a chance to experience the MPC vibe!
You can check out this insider press review by OKLM about the first day of the event here:
Once the day was over, we moved to our second venue to host our long-awaited competition!
The Music Producer Challenge III (2019) was comprised of an All-Star Jury made of:
Tony Dofat (New-York City) My Guy Mars (Los Angeles) Swede (808 Mafia) (Miami) Oliver (Drum dreamers (Paris) Cedric Pistol (Paris) Ty Fyffe (New-York City)
Rockwilder (New-York City) Scoop Deville (Los Angeles) Shroom (Amsterdam) Tarik Azzouz (Aulnay-Sous-Bois) Nicko (Soulchildren) (Paris) Nick D. Green (Paris)
The host that year was the returning crowd-pleaser, from our first edition, Julien Essome (Paris). He presented a conference talk with producer Madizm from the French label "IV My People" On the 1’s and 2’s, DJ's: Akila Be Water (2017 Redbull Threestyle France finalist), Dj MacTeal, and DJ Idem, and finally, we showcased an impressive live Beatmaking Show by Gnarly Music (London).
Once again, we got to witness so much talent, and passion during this beat battle, and we want to give it up to all the contestants and participants who came from 18 countries in 2019 to attend the Music Producer Convention. Yet we would like to highlight the winners of this 3rd edition.
Coming in first place was LUVANGA (Geneva, Switzerland).
With a soulful sound mixed with funk, electronic, and drums that bathe in his African roots, Luvanga found his way to the finals and made a difference thanks to his very musical compositions that showed diversity and personality while staying very actual.
Luvanga is a self-taught artist, composer, and performer from Switzerland with Congolese descent. Born in the early 90's, he quickly linked his work as an architect designer with music; he since then draws and orchestrates his music with rigor and precision. In his last project "Mood for Life", Luvanga presents 8 tracks driven by eight artists with as many different universes.
In 2nd place, came NiD (Montpellier, France).
His beats and soundtracks spanning from heavy trap bass music to light-hearted catchy pop vibes drove NiD across the competition and led him to the finals. His authentic and eclectic approach offered him a well-deserved 2nd place.
NiD is a producer and sound engineer based in Montpellier, south of France who started to compose in his teens. In 2011 he integrated a school to learn audio engineering. In 2018, he opened "Nidsound", his own production and sound design company. With his first placements, he obtained 1 Platinum and 2 Gold plaques. And surely, we will keep on hearing about him in the years to come.
Young Kiddy (Pierrefite-sur-Seine, France) came in 3rd place but was the night’s sensation! This then-15-year-old producer stole the show from his first rounds onward as he took out the 2018 champion with his out-of-this-world productions based on Trap vibes and integrating electronic sounds, samples, distortion, loud mixes, and heavy bass. All along the competition, he presented battle-ready tracks with lots of cuts and switches.
He only came in 3rd place after losing against the winner Luvanga for a lack of diversity and personality in his sound which will surely grow stronger with time! YoungKiddy has been active for two years, evolving at first in the "Cloud" style, he then discovered producers from Toronto that he mentions as his main influences.
And finally, WAN’R (Toulouse, France) went home with our booster prize.
His style is up to date, mixing trap sounds and drums with dark vibes, electronic, and wavy sound design.
Wan'r brought a lot of energy to the stage since the beginning of the competition. His clean mixes and originality brought him all the way up to the end of the competition and a well-deserved Booster Prize.
Wan'r is a producer originally from Angers, now living in Toulouse, south of France. Born to music-passionate parents he naturally took the same route at 11 years old. A producer to look out for in the future!
All these producers got to go home with gifts, hardware, software, and services from our sponsors cumulating a total value of over $10K. But the most priceless aspect is the feedback from the jury, the confirmations from the crowds' active participation, and the connections that were made between our challengers and all the talented professionals present in the building! They have all been active since and we can’t wait to see what levels they reach next!
Once again, the Music Producer Challenge lasted until the late hours of the night, and we all got a few hours of sleep before getting back up for 2 more days full of activities!
Our third edition line-up boasted many plaques, Grammys, and Billboard charts, but more so, the most memorable aspect was how connected everybody was. Hungry to learn and exchange knowledge and wisdom. All while having a good time!
In 2019, on top of all the French producers available on day 1, we were honored to receive: Tony Dofat (New York City), our legendary Godfather from Bad Boy Records. My Guy Mars (Los Angeles), one of the founders of 1500 or Nothin, the “Stars” backing band and award-winning producers, Swede from 808 Mafia (Miami), Oliver from Drum Dreamers (Paris), Ty Fyffe (New York City) the Def Jam hitmaker, Rockwilder (New York City) one of the pioneers of the new electronic Hip-Hop wave of the 2000s, Scoop Deville (Los Angeles) who’s sound helped craft bangers for Snoop, Kendrick, Fat Joe or Jay-Z, Shroom (Amsterdam), a sound designer well-known for his connections and sample kits. As well as our French mascot at MPC, Mr. Tarik Azzouz (Aulnay-Sous-Bois), we also hosted French legend Madizm (Paris, France) from the label “IV My People”, for a conference during the beat battle.
We also offered practical and technical workshops with Opseek (Mix/Master), JR Bonnerave (Sync), and Andrea Alonso (Mix). As well as listening sessions for placements or opportunities with Mondo Marcio (Rapper/Artist, Italy), Vin’s (Rapper/Artist, France), Oriana Convelbo (Label exec, Neuve / Universal Music), and Nick Green (Publisher, Next Play Music / Warner Chappell).
And of course, the networking was off the chain in our lounge areas, where we also hosted even more debates going deeper into the important subjects for our community. All our speakers got a chance to participate depending on the adequate theme and it was amazing to get to pick their brains and get their insights. It’s always great to get to discuss these subjects with active professionals who have skin in the game and confront these different actors of the music business while giving attendees a chance to get more value during Q&As. These debates are usually bilingual, with on-the-spot translation and interpretation, and have become a mainstay each year during the Music Producer Convention.
Once again, there are so many moments that make every edition so special it would be hard to resume them all in a blog post, you have to be there!
Exclusive connections were made in 2019, from our speakers to our attendees! And once again, we got to witness legendary private studio sessions with Scoop Deville, My Guy Mars, and Shroom for example… Imagine that! Who knows what amazing music will come out of this in the future? We can’t wait to hear about it!
We hope these recaps give you a better idea of what to expect at the Music Producer Convention IV and we look forward to seeing you all at the next edition on November 3rd, 4th, and 5th 2023!
Watch out for news and announcements coming very soon!