Welcome to the nicest music tradeshow on Earth

13th Edition, Portugal, 24 - 28 September, 2024


NEWS: Information about PopMid 2024.


Registration will open very soon!


Good news! We've managed to secure a block of even more rooms in the Vilamoura Garden Hotel as an "overflow" option for when the Aquashow Parkhotel is full. The cutoff date for booking is in June, so the registration window will close a bit earlier this year.

Price updates: see pricing.

Sadly, this year the free transfers from and to the airport will not be available. The quality and dependability of the current provider is not sufficient and left many people stranded and scrambling for transport last year. We've tried everything to solve this, but there is no way to secure dependable day and night transport at all times, affordable enough to offer it to our attendees for free (or cheap).
We've made arrangements with long-time PopMid affiliates Minatours to offer transfers using their mini busses, for a very good price. This is a great option, but only really feasible for larger groups. Individuals and small groups can use taxis or ridesharing apps like Uber.
Or rent a car from Autorent.pt using our affiliate discount!

Due to water shortages in Portugal, the hotel and waterpark management had to make the difficult decision to close the outdoor part of waterpark (which is normally freely accessible for PopMid attendees) before PopMid starts. The new indoor waterpark remains open and entrance tickets are available at a 50% reduction.

PopMid 2023 was a tremendous success and we're looking to make it even better in 2024!

With ever more companies and representatives attending and more business being done, PopMid goes from strength to strength each consecutive year. Add in our famous relaxed atmosphere and we can safely say that the 2023 edition was the best ever. We are pretty confident that the 2024 edition will be better still.

With about 250 people attending and the hotel overflowing to additional locations, attendance was the highest ever.

Meeting

Although packed to the brim, PopMid has never felt overcrowded. The newly renovated lobby played a big role in maintaining a quiet atmosphere.

Display

The private gazebos remain very popular and will of course return in 2024.

Event

What is PopMid actually about?

PopMid is a Music Industry tradeshow with a twist. It has no specific focus or theme and hosts the entire industry spectrum, from physical sales and distribution, content creation, management and licensing, consultancy, to digital services, distribution and promotion.

PopMid is a small-scale and not-for-profit gathering for professionals in the music industry.

Frequented mostly by physical distribution businesses, PopMid really is trade-agnostic; anyone within the entire scope of the industry is more than welcome to come and do business. The compact location and holiday-esque atmosphere make for a pleasurable experience; doing business and meeting peers in the most relaxed way possible. Despite the quiet proceedings and low-key outlook, you get many of the perks of the big tradeshows without any of the drawbacks, at a fraction of the cost.

Pricing

PopMid is by far the cheapest music industry tradeshow you can attend. We have no incentive to make money from our visitors.

Company

Company registration

 250
One time payment
  • Includes:
  • Company account plus Attendance of 1 person for the entire duration of PopMid
  • Either stay in the Aquashow Park Hotel at the tradeshow grounds or arrange your own accomodation (see prices for lodging)

Extra people

Extra professional attendees

 50
One time payment
  • Includes:
  • Attendance of an extra professional under the company account for the duration of PopMid
  • Either stay in the Aquashow Park Hotel at the tradeshow grounds or arrange your own accomodation (see prices for lodging)

Leisure

Friends and family

 25
One time payment
  • Includes:
  • Attendance of a non-professional (spouses, children), accompanying professional attendees
  • Leisure attendees can only be registered and admitted if they stay in the Aquashow Park Hotel

Lodging

If you choose to stay in the Aquashow Park Hotel at the tradeshow grounds, we will book your room for you at the special low price of € 135 per room per night (which includes daily breakfast buffet for up to two persons and one child). Although PopMid makes your initial booking and any subsequent changes, the hotel will invoice you separately and will handle any correspondence with you regarding your stay and further services.

If you wish to stay elsewhere, you can arrange your own accommodation and transport to and from the tradeshow grounds, but you still must register at the prices mentioned above in order to gain access to PopMid.

Once the the Aquashow Park Hotel is fully booked, the nearby Vilamoura Garden Hotel will function as an alternative. Special room price for PopMid attendees is € 165 per room per night.

Who?

The heart and soul of PopMid is Frank van Vliet, a music entrepreneur from The Netherlands. Observing a need amongst his peers for a cheaper and more cheerful music industry tradeshow, he planted - along with some of his fellows - a seed called Sol Musica in Alicante (Spain). This idea would later be expanded into the first PopMid in 2012. Twelve years after the first edition PopMid is now recognized as a force to be reckoned with. Frank receives a lot of indispensable help from his partner Margot Steenman and from Ronald Eekhoff and Eric van Oort at The Source (a digital music distribution company from The Netherlands), who also provide the technical backbone of the operation.

Frank
Margot
Ronald
Eric
Hotel

A lovely place...

PopMid takes place at hotel-resort "Aquashow Park Hotel" in Quarteira, Portugal. Not far from international airport Faro and very close to tourist hotspots Vilamoura and Albufeira, it is located centrally in the lovely Algarve region along the Atlantic coast in the South.

Address: Aquashow Park Hotel Quarteira, Semino, Estrada Nacional 396, 8125-303 Quarteira, Portugal

The hotel grounds are the tradeshow floor! No booths. Just pick a table somewhere in the large outside area by the pool, display your promotional material and sit down with your clients or business partners. There's plenty of nooks and crannies inside as well. Quietly meeting at a table in the restaurant or at the busy outdoors bar. Or rent one of the private gazebos .

Creating new bonds

Thanks to the leisurely pace in which things take place at PopMid, the sun, the fantastic food and drinks, the friendly locals and the lovely surroundings, you will inevitably be in a bit of a holiday mindset when you're here. While there's plenty of good business being done and there's real work involved, you can't help but feel great and make new friends. In fact, you will be welcomed to become part of the intimate PopMid gang that's going back ten years now!

Yes, attending PopMid is primarily for business, but we'd be surprised if you didn't walk away with a couple of new friendly business partners or even real solid firendships alongside some proper deals!

Making sure your needs are met

PopMid has no booths, let alone a traditional tradeshow set-up. Taking place at the outdoor pool, courtyard, bar and lobby areas of a mid-sized resort hotel, we do things differently by keeping a more fluid floor plan. This allows people to mingle a bit more easily and encourages chance meetings and coincidences in a friendly haphazard way. To make sure you still have lots of opportunity and space to set-up meetings, display your merchandize and enjoy some privacy when needed, there are plenty of options to claim your own bit of tradeshow real-estate.

We have nine private gazebos/party tents available for rent. The cost for the whole duration of PopMid is 500€.

Gazebo

The old lobby has been significantly increased in size and completely overhauled. Just pick a comfy couch or a free table and meet your business partners there.

Lobby

The newly renovated restaurant offers massive seating and can be freely used at most hours during PopMid, as a private, quiet and airconditioned space to meet your clients.

Restaurant

Great Services

Affiliations

PopMid offers reduced pricing for various affiliated services, such as transfers to and from the airport, car rentals, free entrance to the waterpark next door*, etc.

*not available during PopMid 2024 due to closure

Free Connectivity

Broadband Wi-Fi is freely available everywhere on the hotel grounds, including the hotel rooms. Power outlets are sprinkled throughout the place (except some of the outside areas) and are free to use. Keep in mind that you may need convertors to euro connectors and that the voltage is European standard as well (230 Volts, 50Hz).

PopMid is everything music

PopMid oozes music. Everybody in the music industry is welcome. From the smallest indie label to the largest distributor. Digital aggregators, transport companies, legal firms specializing in music industry consultancy, content owners, rights holders and internet music platforms. From physical product, vinyl, CDs and even cassette tapes, to digital audio and video content, band and brand merchandize. You have a need? There's always someone attending PopMid to fullfill it!

Join Our Quest

More and more companies decide to sponsor us. Our sponsors are indispensable; without them PopMid would not be possible! So, if you're contemplating supporting us: THANK YOU! Please make sure to tick the sponsoring checkbox when you register. For the relatively small outlay of 299€ you receive a number of perks:

  • Visibility: your branding and link on this website and on a banner at the tradeshow
  • Your story: your company's introduction and logo in the PopMid Guide (the guide will be a limited virtual version this year)
  • VIP treatment: first dibs on an onsite hotel room for next year

Or... Become a Friend of PopMid



Friends

Some of our attendees have been asking if they can make a donation above and beyond sponsoring. As humbling and heartwarming as that offer is, we were initially reluctant, as it encroaches a bit on the phylosophy of the cheapness and cheerfulness of our little tradeshow. However, after some tenacity on the part of these lovely people offering financial support, and some dliberation on our side, we decided to establish the VIP status of "Friend of PopMid" in exchange for substantial financial support.

For a donation of 500€ or more, you receive basically no extra perks, other than lots of karma, our eternal gratitude and the recognition that you substantially contributed to the democratization of the music industry.

Jokes aside, of course we will make sure your contribution will not go unnoticed and we will highlight your brand on the various graphical displays online and on location.

If you are interested in this, thank you, thank you, thank you! Please contact us for more info.


Friends

The following companies helped us organize PopMid in 2023 and kept it affordable for everyone. Please consider sponsoring in 2024 (again).

Sponsors

Without the selfless contributions by our sponsors PopMid would not exist:

Get In Touch

If you have any questions or remarks, please fill-in this form and hit SEND. We will get back to you super quick!

Address

Einsteinweg 11H
3225LT Hellevoetsluis
The Netherlands

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