Prolight+Sound, the first comments

Last Friday saw the conclusion of the latest edition of PL+S Frankfurt and Musikmesse, the fair organized by Messe Frankfurt that is dedicated to the world of events, once again recording exciting numbers. Over 100 thousand visitors coming from 144 countries were able to visit the 1,922 exhibitors present at the fair. These are data that confirm the importance that this fair, historically born in juxtaposition between two other fairs, has won over time—becoming one of the more significant events on an international scale. And recently there has been no lack of changes to the show’s organization (in our opinion not yet completely digested, though, by visitors and exhibitors): an inversion of occupied spaces (PL+S was found in pavilions 3, 4, 5); the only partial overlapping of the two fairs (the last two days of PL+S with the first two of Musikmesse); and the schedule pushed back by an hour.
Specifically, Prolight+Sound is a fair that we have always followed and reviewed, seeing as how it shares many common points with the world of integration and that many Italian companies attend: despite the small territory, Italy boasts a tradition of excellence in the production of event technology. Furthermore, PL+S maintains its own characteristic public as it welcomes a segment of young visitors with interests split between music and technology and the entire segment of live specialists, who would more readily stand behind a mixer than program a matrix.
As always, many companies chose this event to launch important innovations (including Martin, Optocore, Riedel, etc.), and we will bring you news about them starting with this very newsletter. The fair, as usual, seemed to be well-attended to us, with a varied presence of exhibitors and visitors, and, especially for the latter, with a strong presence – as planned – on the second and third days.
The Lighting area appeared to be especially lively to us, with large, spectacular stands and a great public that was interested and attentive. As usual, the fair offered many educational sessions and the outside listening area with arrays (on a rotating basis) from some of the brands present at the fair—a highly appreciated “classic” of PL+S.
However, it is useless to hide that this edition took place in an atmosphere of expectation: many had noted the absence of some of the show’s historical brands (including Meyer and Sennheiser) even before its opening; more high-sounding than in large numbers, to be honest. Similarly, at several stands with a good public presence we heard comments related to ISE: nearly to the point of putting the two events at odds with each other, even though to this day they have always worked on parallel tracks. But even if the market indicates contact points between the two markets – entertainment and integration – it is also true that neither of the two represents both completely. PL+S has a particularity, its own public, and specific, interesting, and well-represented currents (such as the whole area of component builders, for example).
All topics which we will discuss more in depth in the report that we will offer you in the next issue of Connessioni.
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