MaMA, France’s music conference and festival held annually in Paris during the autumn, is undergoing the most significant structural transformation since its inception 15 years ago, with changes in its ownership and its conference programming team.

Daniel Colling, a prominent figure in France’s live music industry, Director of the Zenith venue in Paris and founder of MaMA, has decided to retire from the organisation he led since its creation in 2009. Fernando Ladeiro-Marques, co-founder of MaMA alongside Colling, has taken ownership of the organisation.

Ladeiro-Marques commented: “For the past 15 years, MaMA has been an unmissable event in the French and international music industry’s agenda under the leadership of Daniel Colling. We will continue to honour the legacy of MaMA as a key industry gathering. We also want it to be the leading forum to explore the future of our industry and the place where we will invent tomorrow’s music business. In addition, MaMA festival will continue to feature up-and-coming artists at a time when they need, more than ever before, windows of exposure.”

A new team of conference experts

The organisation has announced that, for the next edition of MaMA, taking place in Paris on 16-18 October 2024, Ladeiro-Marques will be joined by a new team of conference experts, including Emmanuel Legrand as the coordinator of the “Grands Débats”, MaMA’s main conferences programme. Legrand is also the Editor of the news platform Creative Industries News and has been covering the music sector for the past three decades. He has worked with MaMA for the past 10 years as a consultant.

Emily Gonneau continues as the curator of MaMA Invent, MaMA’s dedicated conference stream focused on innovation and the transformation of the music industry. Gonneau is a serial entrepreneur — Unicum Music, Nüagency, Causa, La Nouvelle Onde, Change de Disque —, author, mentor and educator.

Flavien Appavou is confirmed as the coordinator of Le CosyLab, MaMA’s forum on new ideas and social trends. Appavou is a journalist, improv comedian, TV programme producer, trainer and facilitator. Elise Yacoub is the coordinator of the MaMA convention.

Get more adventurous and creative

Legrand said: “MaMA’s debates will continue to address the challenges faced by the music sector, offering new perspectives and opinions to help participants better grasp the challenges ahead, in an informative and entertaining way.”

Emily Gonneau added: “MaMA Invent has been the platform for music innovation. We will double down to make it even more cutting-edge with the world’s foremost movers and shakers. It’s time to get even more adventurous and creative.”

Appavou said: “Since we started CosyLab, we have literally carved a corner at MaMA where we open the mic to people with unconventional ideas and perspectives. We will continue to welcome out-of-the-box thinkers and agitators, and have fun!”

The 2023 edition of MaMA brought together 7,000 professionals and 2,600 companies and organisations, who attended 170 conferences with 400 speakers and 160 concerts.