Hans-Holger Albrecht, the new CEO of global music streaming service Deezer, will give his first industry keynote since his appointment at Midem 2015. Albrecht’s keynote will take the form of a 30-minute Q&A session, and will be held on Friday 5 June as part of Midem Talks, the Midem plenary conference programme, covering key topics for today’s music business.

Deezer claims to offer digital music streaming services in more than 180 countries, with 16 million monthly active users and six million paid subscribers worldwide.

Albrecht’s keynote at Midem, which will be his first speaking engagement since he became CEO of Deezer in February, will include his views on the challenges of the streaming market in the context of the raging industry ‘freemium vs. premium’ debate.

Albrecht was most recently at Millicom where he was President and CEO of the telecom and media group, offering digital services to over 50 million customers in Africa and Latin America.

Previously, he held the position of President and CEO of Modern Times Group, one of Europe’s larger media groups with TV, Radio, Publishing, Production and New Media assets and 1,500 employees in over 20 countries.

He has also been President and CEO of Viasat Broadcasting in Stockholm and worked for RTL Group in Luxembourg.

“Streaming is revolutionising the industry, transforming the way we all discover and enjoy music, and nowhere will this trend be highlighted more clearly than at Midem 2015,” said Hans-Holger Albrecht.

“It’s been a thrilling time to join Deezer, a pioneer of audio streaming, as its global user base of 16 million people continues to grow apace.

“There are big challenges and even bigger opportunities on the horizon for the company and the streaming market as a whole, and I’m looking forward to sharing Deezer’s plans for evolution in June.”

“We are delighted to welcome Hans-Holger Albrecht as keynote speaker, and honoured that he chose Midem as his first public speaking appearance as the new CEO of Deezer. I trust his fresh eye and extended business insights on a key topic such as streaming will be invaluable for the Midem audience of industry professionals,” said Bruno Crolot, Director of Music Markets at Reed Midem. [Music Business Worldwide]