IFPI Platinum Awards
JEAN MICHEL JARRE TO HOST IFPI PLATINUM EUROPE AWARD
French composer and musician Jean Michel Jarre will host the 4th IFPI Platinum Europe Award honouring artists who achieve sales of one million recordings in Europe. Top artists from all over Europe will attend the prestigious biennial music Award on Wednesday, 10th July, at Hotel Le Plaza in Brussels.
Jean Michel Jarre said: "I am delighted to come back to Brussels for the fourth time for the IFPI Platinum Europe Award. Platinum Europe is a unique event that shows the very best that European music has to offer."
IFPI is also pleased to announce Music Control, the leading European broadcast music monitoring service, as its first ever sponsor of the Award.
Performing live onstage at the event will be the British R&B band Blue who achieved Platinum status with their recent debut album, ?All Rise?. Finnish dance group Bomfunk MCs will also perform their pan-European hit ?Freestyler? at the event. In the first award of its kind for a single, Bomfunk MCs will be honoured with a Platinum Award for this recording that achieved sales of two million despite a general downturn in the singles market.
Other artists who will be present to receive Platinum awards include Scottish group Texas; French singer Helena Segara; Italian singer Laura Pausini; German rock star Westernhagen; and Belgian singer Axelle Red.
Gerd Gebhardt, Chairman of IFPI Germany and of IFPI?s Communications Committee said: ?The Platinum Europe Award is the pre-eminent music industry sales award for the European music market. The range of talent from different European countries participating in this year?s event demonstrates the vitality and diversity of music in Europe. It also shows the growing strength of local repertoire. It is specially gratifying to have Jean Michel Jarre return as host of this event.?
The Platinum Award ceremony will take place in Brussels in the presence of leading European politicians and senior European Commission officials.
Launched by IFPI in Brussels in 1996, Platinum Europe is a celebration of the creativity and variety of European music. The European music market is valued at 12.1 billion Euros and European repertoire accounts for approximately one third of the global music retail market.
The Award underlines the importance of an industry that employs, directly or indirectly, around 600,000 people across the continent.
Europe?s most successful artists achieved 87 million or multi-million selling albums in 2001, taking the number of recordings honoured with the IFPI Platinum Europe Award to a six-year high. Around 60% of platinum-qualifying albums carried music by European artists, while Award winners came from 14 countries around the world.
The dominance of European artists in Europe has steadily increased in the last six years. European artists have maintained a share of 60% or more of all Platinum albums since the launch of the IFPI Platinum Award in 1996.
IFPI is the organisation representing the recording industry worldwide with over 1500 member record companies including major labels and independents, as well as affiliated national groups in more than 70 countries.
For further information about the Award or IFPI please contact:
Francine Cunningham, IFPI European Office, tel: +32 (0)2 511 9208
Adrian Strain/Fiona Harley, IFPI Secretariat, tel: +44 (0)20 7878 7900
IFPI website: www.ifpi.org