International Music Summit (IMS), announced details of the digital discussion series ‘The Big Questions’, in partnership with Pioneer DJ, Beatport, shesaid.so, and the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM).
Hosted by IMS Co-Founder and BBC Radio 1 Broadcaster Pete Tong and fellow BBC Radio 1 broadcaster, journalist, curator, DJ and tastemaker Jaguar, the online series will be live streamed via Beatport’s streaming channels, presenting a series of powerful and timely conversations between industry visionaries, artists and thought leaders, co-curated by shesaid.so, a global independent community of women and gender minorities in the music industry.
The organizers said:”With a key topic under the spotlight each month, The Big Questions will examine and deconstruct the most vital subjects facing the electronic music industry today, enabling its resilient international community to reconnect through debate and discussion. Each month two new influential thought leaders will be united in an intimate conversation on one of ten topics, followed by expert analysis from industry experts presented by AFEM, highlighting key learnings, action points and potential for best practice for the wider industry.
The first stream, ‘Co-Existing with COVID’, will take place on Tuesday 27th July at 5pm BST when electronic music pioneer, producer, label owner and King of Ibiza Carl Cox (in the picture below) will be in conversation with DJ, producer, label owner and promoter Yousef, sharing their experiences of life during the pandemic and their thoughts on the ‘new normal’ as the industry slowly gets back to business. Providing further insight and analysis will be James Kirkham (Defected, Chief Business Officer), Michael Kill (NTIA, CEO) and Morgan Deane (508 Events/Lasher Louis Productions, Director/Founder) in a conversation moderated by DJ, Presenter and AFEM Diversity & Inclusion Working Group co-chair Kikelomo.
The global electronic music community is invited to nominate which speakers they wish to hear discuss these vital topics. Suggestions can be made via IMS social media platforms and the IMS website, with feedback used to help shape the curatorial approach of the series. A balanced and diverse line-up of speakers will then be selected to reflect upon and analyse the most important issues and challenges presented in a post COVID world, providing a framework for future change.
The fundamental objective of the series is to create a workable plan of action and roadmap to recovery, serving as a catalyst for debate and industry collaboration as we collectively find pathways to sustainably rebuild and develop the global electronic music industry. ”
IMS Co-Founder Ben Turner states: “The pandemic continues to impact negatively on our industry and as we start to prepare for some form of switch-on, we felt it particularly important to bring back The Big Questions to the front of people’s minds. We have learnt a lot about our industry (and ourselves) during this time and its critical we deliver on the key values that we have subscribed to. This series is designed to reflect, remind and re-invigorate us all to focus on fixing our key issues but also understanding how to do that with possibly having to operate alongside strains of Covid-19 for years to come.”
Pioneer DJ General Manager Mark Grotefeld comments: “As founding supporters of IMS, Pioneer DJ are honoured to be in a position where we can give a little back to the industry and contribute to such an important initiative. The critical and emotive topics under discussion need to be honestly examined by industry leaders. IMS has matured over the years to become a safe platform to responsibly host and moderate the sensitivities and vulnerabilities around such meaningful topics. In light of events over the last year it is fitting to see the focus of our narrative shift from “the party” to issues of deeper purpose and to a collective intention to contribute towards genuine change. Going forward, hopefully we will all party with positive purpose.”
shesaid.so Founder Andreea Magdalina says: “Following such a difficult year, I’m thrilled to extend our long-term partnership with IMS and bring to life the issues that matter the most in our industry. The Big Questions is an exciting new series that will investigate key themes in electronic music and how they might have changed since March 2020. A majority of those who have been negatively impacted by the pandemic are exactly the people shesaid.so works hard to support on an ongoing basis – women, caretakers, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented communities. How do we move forward with rebuilding the industry in a way that continues to address the challenges we faced in the past whilst creating new systems of equity for the future? This is the biggest question I’m excited to explore in the series.”
Beatport CEO Robb McDaniels commented: “These discussions that are being fostered by IMS are crucial for our industry as we move forward in a post-pandemic world. We are honoured to be broadcasting “The Big Questions” each month on Beatport’s channels to help reach the widest possible audience around the world and to create a dialog around all of these important issues facing our community.”
AFEM General Manager Greg Marshall says: “The Big Questions is an innovative new programme of discussions to provide high level insights on the key topics which we, as an industry, must find the right paths forward. We are excited to bring a broad range of expertise from within the AFEM membership to these solution-focused sessions.”
The Big Questions will be free to view and accessible to all online via Beatport’s Twitch, Facebook and YouTube pages and on the IMS Facebook and YouTube, starting Tuesday 27th July at 5pm BST / 6pm CEST and then every third Monday of the month at 5pm BST / 6pm CEST until 18th April 2022.
