Frankfurt has been the capital of the music and event sector in April beginning: Musikmesse closed
its doors on 10th April, Prolight + Sound ended on 8th April. During this time, almost 110,000 visitors
from around 130 countries made their way to Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre to place orders at
the two international fairs, find out about the latest innovations and try new products. This year’s
Musikmesse and Prolight + Sound were characterized by new concepts.
“Both events left no doubt that Frankfurt is where music happens.
We are on the right track with the reorientation of our strong
trade-fair duo. Against the background of changing sales and
distribution structures in the wake of digitalization, we will
continue in this direction together with the sector and fine tune
the fairs in cooperation with the associations and exhibitors”,
said Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Management of Messe
Frankfurt. Additionally, more than 20,000 music fans attended the
50-plus concerts of the Musikmesse Festival, which was held for the
first time at over 30 locations currently with Musikmesse. “We are
delighted that the first Musikmesse Festival was able to inspire so
many people. The concept of taking music to the city is a success”,
reported Musikmesse Festival Director Wolfgang Weyand.
A total of 2,043 exhibitors from 60 countries made presentations at
the restructured fairs and the trade associations drew a positive
conclusion with regard to the changes made to both events. “From
the point of view of the VPLT, Prolight + Sound 2016 was a complete
success. After years of growth, the turnover of the event-technology
sector is approaching the € 4 billion mark. It was demonstrated
that Musikmesse and Prolight + Sound rank among the most
important business-to-business platforms for German, European
and international companies. Given the full exhibition halls on all
days, they were also able to show that music-making continues to be
a relevant subject in society.”
Leading exhibitors were also very pleased with the results. “We have
been pleasantly surprised by the course of business and the mood at
the fair. The number of retailers was good on the first two days and
the flood of consumers up to the level expected with the fair now open
on all days”, said Michael Stöver, Director Country Management,
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Yamaha Music Europe GmbH. Michael Kunz, Senior Product
Manager, Kawai Europa GmbH, said, “For us, the new concept has
been an outstanding success. Our aim was to reach both retailers
and consumers. And we achieved this very well at Musikmesse
where the level of internationality is much higher than at any other
comparable event.” Key players of the event-technology sector were
also delighted with the course of business:
“We found the changes to be very purposeful. Prolight + Sound is
the most important of all the fairs we take part in – it presents the
complete spectrum and everyone who works in the sector attends”,
said Marlon von der Kraan, Marketing, Philips Lighting B. V.
Music in all its variety: Instruments and
events in the halls, Festive atmosphere on
the outdoor exhibition area
From rock and pop, via classic and jazz, to electro and recording,
visitors were able to immerse themselves in the complete spectrum
of instruments and music equipment in the themed worlds of music
at this year’s Musikmesse. Manufacturers attracted attention with
extraordinary designs and new collections. “This was our first time
at Musikmesse in many years. We regard the new concept as a good
way to strengthen the fair as a marketing platform. Here, we showed
our new product segment in the field of acoustic guitars and are
satisfied with the contacts made with retailers during the fair, as well
as with the interest shown by consumers”, said Hans Peter Wilfer,
CEO of Warwick GmbH.
The on-going trend towards digitalization could also be observed