11th edition of the International Music Summit kicked off on May 23, gathering hundreds of electronic dance music artists and industry professionals at the spectacular Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza. This year’s conference schedule is jam-packed with debates on most significant topics for the music industry with over 120 artists and professionals taking part in discussions. The summit also offers daily networking opportunities and poolside parties to ensure every attendee find something to enjoy.
The summit opening speech by Pete Tong, the IMS Co-Founder, started with an emotional tribute to Avicii, in response to a tragic young death of an incredibly talented artist and a global superstar. “It was supposed to be fun, we weren’t supposed to die chasing the dream“, said Tong, revealing this year’s summit focus on mental health issues and the importance of self-care.
The intro led into an important discussion ‘Safe From Harm – Our Duty Of Care’ on how the industry can better deal with stress, anxiety and mental health issues. A recent study commissioned by Help Musicians UK suggests professional musicians could ‘up to three times more likely to suffer from depression compared to the general public’.
“Now is the time for everybody to have the conversation about Health and Hedonism” – Ben Turner (IMS, Co-founder, UK).
The discussion on mental health issues was followed by first in the IMS history debate on sexual harassment in the music industry, with six of the industry leaders raising awareness about the issue and discussion ideas for a solution. “It’s a culture responsibility. We’re in 2018…and we’re still at square one on this subject”, said Honey Dijon (Artist, USA).
Next in the schedule was an industry report to reveal a downward trend in electronic music, The panel brought up the numbers for the last year and spoke about nee technologies such as voice interface and virtual reality in music as a part of the future forecast for the industry. A great part of the day took a discussion on Blockchain technology and how music industry can benefit from it. There was also a ‘Blockchain 101’ talk for dummies, where the audience could learn what Blockchain is and how it works.
Then, Tom Middleton (Sound Architect/Designer, Psychoacoustics R&D, UK) engaged the audience with some energetic exercises and explained the sleeping disorder is a fundamental problem in the industry of night workers. He discussed how meditation, giving up electronic devices 1 hour before going to bed and breathing excercises can help us have better better and advised to make bedrooms “our sleep sanctuary”.
One of the other highlights of day one was the interview with one of the most successful house DJs Todd Terry, led by Pete Tong, where an artist shared stories from his young years when he was sneaking into his sister room to make some music. Then, the summit moved to the spectacular Hard Rock rooftop terrace where David Morales performed a live-streamed house set.
The main attraction of the night was undoubtedly IMS Legends Dinner in Honour of Underworld at Hearth Ibiza followed by the band’s exclusive live performance with special guest artists Sven Vath, Pete Tong and Mark Knight. Read more about the event here: Underworld Legends Dinner Leaves Ibiza Breathless
