Berlin, Germany - Popkomm, one of Europe’s largest music industry trade shows and conventions, announced recently the formal opening of the application process for its Second Annual Innovations in Music & Entertainment Awards (IMEA), to be held in Berlin on September 14, 2005, on the first day of the annual Popkomm show (September 14-16, 2005). The awards recognize both individual and corporate leaders in bringing technology solutions to music artists and consumers. Last year’s winners were PlaylouderMSP, Kodime and Jukecharts. Popkomm-IMEA will accept nominations until July 12, 2005 via www.popkommawards.com.

"As evidence of the appeal and weight of the IMEA awards after their debut last year," said a Popkomm press release. "Popkomm is delighted to announce that Billboard Information Group and Billboard Magazine have joined forces with Popkomm as a global media partner, with particular emphasis on the IMEA project."

Billboard London Bureau Chief and Global Editor Emmanuel Legrand will join as a member of the Popkomm-IMEA jury now in formation; Popkomm-IMEA expects to empanel the rest of the jury by mid-May. Billboard co-executive editor Tamara Conniff confirmed, "Billboard is thrilled to partner with Popkomm and IMEA, reflecting Billboard’s commitment to its international audience." Adds Katja Bittner, Director of Popkomm, “An event of this magnitude would be incomplete without Billboard’s blessings and active participation. Billboard simply is the industry’s information and communication hub, and we are delighted to be able to announce this relationship, both for Popkomm in general, as well as for the IMEA project in particular”.

The idea behind Popkomm-IMEA is to present the brightest new music and entertainment business ideas to a jury of distinguished industry experts and an audience of industry professionals, media representatives, and potential investors or strategic partners.

Gerd Leonhard, originator, Chairman and Executive Producer of Popkomm-IMEA comments: “The music and entertainment industry is going through a transformation made possible only by the very technology that a couple of years ago burnt investors’ fingers – the Internet. We are now, again, seeing many strong start-ups and mature technology entrepreneurs gearing up in the music, media and entertainment sectors all over the world, and there are attractive investment opportunities to be considered. Until last year, these ventures really had very few dedicated launch pads to call their own – Popkomm-IMEA now offers that opportunity, and you’ll see tomorrow’s success stories here in September.”

For 2005, IMEA expands into an all-day affair and will present five finalists in each of three categories: Mobile Music & Entertainment; Digital Music & Entertainment Innovations and B2B Solutions; and Live Music and Marketing Innovations. These categories also correspond with the main themes of this year’s Popkomm Congress. Before the event, the IMEA2005 blog will feature some of the hottest new companies in this space on a daily basis (http://imea2005.typepad.com).

Popkomm-IMEA is a joint project of Popkomm GmbH and Gerd Leonhard, CEO of ThinkAndLink (TAL), a digital music & media advisory agency, based in Basel (Switzerland) and San Francisco, USA. Leonhard will again serve as Chairman and Executive Producer, with TAL-Partner Kelli Richards serving as Co-producer and U.S. representative, and TAL-Partner Wim Reijnen serving as Asia representative in Bangkok, Thailand. In addition, Popkomm-IMEA has retained the services of BWR Public Relations (Los Angeles) and Ogilvy Public Relations (Los Angeles).

About Popkomm

The 17th Popkomm will take place at the Berlin Exhibition Grounds from September 14-17; numerous trade visitors from all over the world are expected to attend this well-established business platform for the music and entertainment sectors. With its Exhibition, Festival and Congress sections Popkomm provides three forums for the participants, who represent not only the core sector of the music business but also come from a number of other associated fields such as advertising, film, fashion, consumer electronics, mobile entertainment and the live entertainment sector. The official 2005 partner country is Spain. Popkomm 2005 is organized by Popkomm GmbH, Berlin, a subsidiary of Messe Berlin GmbH.