BERLIN – Visionaries, analysts, managers, artists, critics, lawyers, researchers, journalists have converged here for the Popkomm music festival, the international forum for the music and entertainment industries, that begins on Wednesday.

As the partner country at this year's Popkomm, the focus will be on Turkey on Wednesday, with two events. The Turkish music industry and Turkish music in Germany... and the Market Review Turkey... will examine the situation of the Turkish music market at home and abroad from two different perspectives. A panel on Friday will concentrate on Romania and Moldova, and on Thursday, Music Matters will examine the Asian music market. Next year, Popkomm will be the guest of Music Matters in the Chinese metropolis of Hong Kong.

Popkomm is a venue for debates about cultural and economic policy. The world's largest association of authors and composers, CISAC, the International Music Managers' Forum IMMF, the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO and others are making use of the international meeting place provided by the Popkomm Conference not only to discuss pressing issues with leading representatives of business and politics but also to seek solutions, says a release.

A series begun at last year's conference, Automotive/Automobile Music..., will be continued on Thursday, dealing with what is, for many people, their pride and joy, their cars, and all the links between them and music.

On Wednesday, the event entitled Secondary Ticketing – Curse or Blessing?... will address the problem of the black market in tickets for live entertainment, and on Friday, attention turns to: The Concert Business 2008 – when record companies want a piece of the cake!...

Also on Friday, The Future of Music... features one of the most fundamental and therefore one of the most keenly discussed issues. It concerns genres, styles, technical innovation and the vital question of what comes next.

Discussions on Friday turn to: Cost factor A&R – fostering repertoire in times of need!...

This year, sees the introduction of the series of portraits entitled How did you do it? – the Popkomm (pro)files..., featuring outstanding artists, and providing a suitable conclusion to the day's activities.

The Popkomm Conference, together with the Exhibition and the Festival, forms part of the integrated Popkomm concept which, from 8 to 10 October 2008, will provide visitors and guests from around the world with more than 35 panel discussions, discussions, workshops, papers and keynote speeches.