Musikmesse announces 2017 dates

Musikmesse WILL take place next year and will be held from 5th to 8th April 2017.

The show will open for three days in parallel to Prolight + Sound, which will continue to have the same sequence of days (from Tuesday to Friday, 4th to 7th April 2017). And the organisers are also adjusting the opening times to fit in with the feedback from the sector. Next year, both trade fairs will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on all four days.

Despite a number of well-received changes, visitor numbers on the Sunday, which had been introduced in consultation with the sector, produced a perceptibly smaller numbers of visitors. The opening times too, had been changed at the request of the industry. Whilst the later start was positively received, the hour from 6pm to 7pm was not a success.

“As an international trade-fair company, with a commitment to the sustainable long term, we see the on-going development of our events as an integral part of our work. The new concept for Musikmesse is part of a dynamic process. We have listened to what people are telling us and we shall continue to listen, in order to adapt to the requirements and expectations of the industry,” said Stephan Kurzawski, senior vice president of Messe Frankfurt Exhibition.

“Against this background, we shall also be investing in Musikmesse in the future and continue to build up the successful elements of the event. At the same time, we shall, of course, make such adjustments as are wanted by the majority of the companies and visitor groups involved. We thank everyone in the sector for the constructive feedback that we have received before, during and after the show.”

German trade body, the Society of Music Merchants (SOMM), is in favour of the overlap of the two shows: “With the new concept for the event, the organisers have shown their willingness to change; they have picked up on suggestions and created new formats. This is necessary to develop Musikmesse as the most important European platform for the sector. In April, the sector was able to see for itself, that many of the changes worked well.” said Daniel Knöll, managing director of SOMM.

“We see it as the right decision to bring Musikmesse and Prolight + Sound closer together. And the fine tuning of the opening times is also very much in line with our thinking”.