Pete Tong diary: Day 1, International Music Summit

Pete Tong diary: Day 1, International Music Summit

29 May, 2008 | 8.00AM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: diary, international music summit

Yesterday the International Music Summit kicked off in Ibiza, a new electronic music business conference fronted by Pete Tong.

Hailed as the “G8 of Music Conferences” - a strapline that suggests international cooperation and mutually beneficial business development - Day 1 of the IMS saw keynote speeches from some of the most important players in dance music.

Exclusively for Beatportal, Pete Tong agreed to keep a daily diary of the International Music Summit.

Here is Day 1 of Pete’s IMS diary, straight from the man at the top.

Pete Tong diary: Day 1, International Music Summit

So here we are on the first day of the International Music Summit, featuring some of the most senior, most proactive and heavyweight industry figures and artists in dance music. We hope it’s the first day of an event that will shape the future of the industry.

We kicked off with a panel about the business of music synchronisation. One of the panelists was Bruno Roussel, an amazing music editor who has edited some of the biggest TV shows in the US, including Six Feet Under and Medium.

Sitting with Bruno was Neil Barnes from Leftfield and Jason Bentley from Santa Monica-based radio station KCRW, who has worked on films such as The Matrix.

It was a fascinating panel and the debate could have gone on for an entire day!

The delegates were so taken to hear from some of the most proactive American “synch” individuals discussing how the market for music is changing in television and film.

The panel that caused the biggest stir of the day was ‘Ibiza – the year of change’. This truly was an historic event as representatives from every single club on the island sat together publicly for the first time alongside a member of the Ibiza Council.

The debate included a topical assessment of the new Ibiza club laws that are affecting clubbers and businesses on the island and it was fascinating to hear what these guys had to say.

Initially the debate was refined and cautious but this was soon bulldozed by Andy McKay from Ibiza Rocks who let rip with some amazing claims about San Antonio being the future of Ibiza.

That’s all good for my new Wonderland residency at Eden!

Another highlight of the day was Francois Kevorkian’s keynote speech, which contained some insightful and honest recounts of his career and his thoughts on the future of the music industry.

Digital again emerged as a major part of peoples’ thinking and is certainly the future.

With Beatport being one of the premier music websites around, the future looks very bright.

Francois also stated that even though most DJs have access to the same records, it really is how you play them that makes the difference.

We finished off a great day with a lovely party at Can Atzaro hotel, a very mellow event with DJs such as Richard Norris from Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve playing some very mellow music and Jason Bentley dropping a beautiful Balearic set.

Francois Kevorkian changed the mood with a dubstep set and Layo & Bushwacka! finished off with a warm house set. I really wish some of you could have seen and heard it. 

Day 2 kicks off

Now Day two of the conference is about to start. Today’s events feature a partnership with Pioneer who are really focused on the future of electronic music.

Beatport’s chief executive officer, Jonas Tempel, will provide us with a 30-minute keynote speech about the future of digital music before being followed by the provocative panel discussion ‘Digital Darwinism’, featuring some of the biggest players in the industry.

One day down - check Beatportal tomorrow for the full lowdown of Day Two.

Pete Tong

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