Billboard: IMS Day One: Evolution On The Dance Agenda
May 28, 2009
By Gary Smith, Ibiza
The opening day of the sophomore edition of the Ibiza International Music Summit (IMS) kicked off with a keynote speech by Marc Marot, a partner at management company SEG International.
Marot, who has previously worked at Blue Mountain Music, used the analogy of the disappearance of dinosaurs from the earth to reflect his view of the state of the music industry. “Whatever it was that killed the dinosaurs is still the subject of some debate but, although they were wiped out, 70% of the earth’s creatures were not and they provided the genetic basis for the planet today, including humans,” he said. “And this is exactly how I see the music industry. The dinosaurs will go but much will remain and evolve.”
The Digital: Do Or Die conference chaired by Ted Cohen, a partner at TAG Strategic, nearly turned into a Spotify love-fest with all the speakers unanimous that the ad-funded streaming and premium service is both brilliantly executed and likely to succeed, despite the fact that most of them have a vested interest in rival services.
“A legal celestial jukebox is a highly seductive idea,” Beatport legal advisor Mark Quail, said. “But providing services that DJs can use in clubs is what Beatport is about. Spotify is rather like tap water and we’re of the bottled variety.”
The first day’s (May 27) conference highlight was the keynote interview with Callum Negus-Fancey, the 19-year-old who started the Let’s Go Crazy parties for under-18s that have taken U.K. youth by storm. “I got the idea for a 16+ events company from the fact that mainstream media tends to try to communicate with us in a very patronising way and I thought that I could do it better,” he said.
“Let’s Go Crazy and its necessarily alcohol-free events are all about the music and feature acts such as MGMT, Pendulum, Foals and Tiesto. We use social networks and mobiles rather than posters and flyers and the tickets are paid for in cash so kids don’t have to ask their parents to pay by credit card, which is an important aspect of the brand. It’s their decision to be there.”
The night time entertainment kicked off with a Danish Dance Music Export Showcase featuring excellent DJ sets by Kenneth Bager, Soulmagic and the Montanas. The IMS Label Showcase featuring Radio Slave from Germany and Spain’s Andrew Grant and AFFKT provided yet more evidence that dance/electronic music is in a healthy state.
Posted by Ted • Thursday, May 28, 2009 .