This year's first announcement for what we can expect at the 8th edition of the International Music Summit is filled with all the important words we should be working towards as an industry - consolidation, co-operation, curation, thought leadership, engaging, growth...
Held at Playa d'en Bossa's Hard Rock Hotel for the first time in 2014 after their move from the Ibiza Gran Hotel, the conference returns on 20th, 21st and 22nd May with its long-term mission to discuss the important issues we are faced with as the scene grows in popularity, financial worth and artistic creativity.
It's always interesting to see the results of the coming together of many leading figures around the world alongside emotionally invested fans, with the outcomes of the panels, meetings, interviews, presentations and Q&A's always being of positive nature, whether that be because Seth Troxler is speaking his mind on just about any topic, perhaps Sankeys owner David Vincent was at his opening party just hours previous... or perhaps the innumerable industry insights you get from such experienced players.
To the announcements of the line-ups so far then. First up we have the IMS Legends Dinner, the electronic music equivalent of Rock and Roll's 'Hall of Fame'. This year the life and work of everyones favourite substitute Daddy - Sven Väth - is celebrated alongside one of his most famous projects, Cocoon. Very much deserved.
Many important industry figures will take to the IMS stage to offer their opinions on topics they know best, such as Soundcloud's Alexander Ljung - with royalties and the handling of revenue from streams and tracks being discussed. London's Black Butter Records is celebrated at the conference, after being announced as the hosts of the second Dalt Vila party, they get an opportunity to showcase their label's rise from a flat in East London to being the home of artists such as Rudimental, Clean Bandit and more.
One of the founding cities of electronic music is Detroit and Carl Craig, alongside Mad Mike, are intent on promoting it. Detroit Love aims at uniting the sounds of the city as it continues to be an important breeding ground for the future of our industry.
There are of course many more artists involved in the panels: you get to meet team Damian Lazarus, B Traits State of Mind panel, Uner on the future of live performances, Shadowchild on making this years IMS Anthem and plenty more besides. The full line-up as we have it is included below.
