This year’s theme, INTERGENERATIONAL EXCHANGE, is all about connecting different generations within the electronic music world. From seasoned pros to fresh talent, IMS Ibiza 2025 will foster collaboration and creative sparks by blending experience with bold new ideas. It’s shaping up to be a vibrant meeting of minds that dives deep into the past four decades to inspire the future.

One of the standout sessions, FOUR DECADES OF JUNGLE & DRUM ’N’ BASS: THE MCS TO THE OGS TO THE NEW BREED, will celebrate the genre’s journey from its jungle roots in the UK to its global reach today. Expect insights into how Drum & Bass has remained a powerful cultural force while looking at what’s next for the scene.

Another highlight is MARKET FOCUS: SPAIN – FROM FIESTAS TO ITS FUTURE, which takes a closer look at Spain’s rich musical history, its influence on international trends, and its role in shaping the next wave of festivals, talent, and creativity.

Other sessions to watch out for include:

• THE FUTURE OF GLOBAL NIGHTLIFE: A candid look at how nightlife can adapt to challenges like economic pressures and cultural shifts.

• THE SILENT EPIDEMIC: Breaking the stigma around tinnitus and hearing loss, while promoting ways to protect long-term hearing health.

• AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY: Exploring the growth of electronic music across Africa and how to engage with its markets ethically and sustainably.

• SHAPING THE FUTURE OF DANCE & ELECTRONIC LABELS: How labels are navigating a changing industry where DIY releases and short-term deals are the new norm.

• GET PLAYED, GET PAID: Hosted by AFEM, this session dives into the evolving rights and revenue landscape in the USA.

• MENTOR MATCHMAKING: A unique chance for young industry hopefuls to connect one-on-one with seasoned experts for advice, ideas, and collaboration.

The IMS Ibiza curation committee is responsible for shaping the summit’s programming, ensuring it stays relevant, engaging, and reflective of the ever-evolving music industry. This diverse group of industry leaders plays a crucial role in crafting an agenda that resonates with the global electronic music community.

The committee includes (in alphabetical order): Ben Turner (Co-Founder, IMS), Blaise DeAngelo (Co-Founder, The Art of Areté), Chloe Lula (Senior Producer, Resident Advisor), Danny Whittle (Co-Founder, IMS), Farah Nanji (Artist/Curation Manager, N1NJA/IMS), Grace Ladoja MBE (Co-Founder & CEO, Metallic Inc.), Jaguar (Co-Host/Broadcaster, IMS/BBC Radio One), Katie Sallows (General Manager, IMS), Kikelomo Oludemi (Artist), Pete Tong (Co-Founder/Broadcaster, IMS/BBC Radio One), Silvia Montello (CEO, Voicebox Consulting), Sofia Ilyas (Chief Community Officer, Beatport), Sophia Kearney (Co-Founder, HE.SHE.THEY.), Steven Braines (Co-Founder, HE.SHE.THEY.), and Tracie Storey aka Tensuhi (Vibrational Sound Practitioner, Qigong Teacher & Sound Designer).

The summit takes place over three days at the stunning Mondrian Ibiza and Hyde Ibiza hotels in Cala Llonga. These venues, exclusively reserved for delegates, offer a relaxed yet vibrant setting perfect for networking, discussions, and unwinding. Located just 10 minutes from Ibiza Town, they’re surrounded by breathtaking views of the Mediterranean and peaceful nature trails—ideal for recharging between sessions.

As part of its ongoing commitment to the planet, IMS Ibiza 2025 is teaming up again with EarthPercent, co-founded by Brian Eno. A portion of badge sales and sponsorship fees will support impactful climate and biodiversity projects, so every attendee will be contributing to a greener future.

And of course, it wouldn’t be IMS Ibiza without the iconic closing party at Dalt Vila, where delegates can enjoy one of the island’s most unforgettable nights. Delegate badges, student discounts, and accommodation packages are available now on the IMS website, including special rates for under-27s and students. Contact info@internationalmusicsummit.com for more information

For more information and to get your pass for this year’s IMS Ibiza click the link here

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He.She.They. is a record label, clothing brand, and international inclusivity party for people of all genders, sexualities and races taking place in 50 cities around the world, from LA to Berlin to Ibiza to Mumbai.

Off The Record provides unparalleled intimate and deeply personal access into the lives and careers of some of the biggest names in the electronic music scene, giving a deeper understanding of industry luminaries at the forefront of disrupting global culture.

“It’s been so amazing to be given a platform to freely tell the story of HE.SHE.THEY., which is both our story and that of our global community,” said HE.SHE.THEY. co-founders Sophia Kearney and Steven Braines.

“It’s very raw, and honestly, a lot of our own insecurities and past trauma are on show so it was a bit of an emotional roller coaster at times. It was a cathartic and difficult process to go through, but it was worth it. We hope it shows people they too can work hard and dream big, that they can channel their trauma into a solution that’s bigger than them to help others. The importance of community and the shared values of respect, compassion, and empathy for others, both on the dancefloor and beyond, whilst also remembering to be silly, fun, dance and experience joy too as we only get one life.”

The second instalment of Off The Record invites viewers to explore the extraordinary world of HE.SHE.THEY., led by co-founders Sophia Kearney and Steven Braines, along with their trusted number 3, Ashraf Ejjbair. Founded in 2018, HE.SHE.THEY. emerged at a time when discussions around gender, body positivity, sexuality, and inclusivity in mainstream electronic spaces were scarce.

The documentary examines HE.SHE.THEY. via its house rules such as no homophobia, no transphobia, no misogyny, no racism, no body-shaming and beyond. It follows its founders and events across continents, from family homes with parents and best friends, to the establishment of a new digital art project, to club kids and drag queens on the dance floors in New York and San Francisco, and their 5th birthday in London headlined by subculture goddess Peaches. Viewers will witness the founders’ tireless efforts to create an inclusive space for all while championing diversity and breaking down barriers within the music industry through each event.

“We are incredibly honored to showcase HE.SHE.THEY. and their extraordinary journey in this installment of Off The Record,”

“Their unwavering commitment to inclusivity and their impact on the electronic music scene is truly inspiring. We hope this documentary sheds light on their vision and motivates others to embrace diversity within their respective communities.”

Sofia Ilyas, Chief Community Officer at The Beatport Group.

HE.SHE.THEY.’s influence extends far beyond its acclaimed event series. The brand has expanded to encompass a fashion label and a record label now, showcasing releases and remixes by esteemed artists such as DJ Minx, Cakes Da Killa, Faithless, SYREETA, Maya Jane Coles, and even a trans-inclusive remix album for global superstar and activist Alanis Morissette.

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The KINSHIP collection by HE.SHE.THEY. reflects the brand’s dedication to music, community, and diversity, seamlessly blending emotional and narrative elements into a unified product. Established in 2017 by Sophia Kearney and Steven Braines, HE.SHE.THEY. emerged at a time when discussions on pronouns, sexuality, and inclusivity were less prevalent in mainstream electronic spaces. Now, 5 years into their impactful journey, HE.SHE.THEY. collaborates with 3D artist Enes Güç to visually capture their story, past and future.

The KINSHIP digital collectible opens the door to a full widescreen image of Enes Güç’s KINSHIP painting, and exclusive access to the premiere of Beatport’s Off The Record documentary featuring HE.SHE.THEY., entry to HE.SHE.THEY. events in 2024, new music including a downloadable score by Wax Wings, and custom mobile phone and desktop wallpapers of KINSHIP.

Enes Güç aims to unify diverse identities and symbolise the entire spectrum of the human experience, from struggle to transcendence. The KINSHIP collection showcases an immersive 3D painting tour by Güç, drawing inspiration from various eras of art history and mythology while looking ahead with optimism for allyship across societal intersections. Utilising advanced 3D scanning technology, Enes Güç and the Define Creative team have captured the essence of HE.SHE.THEY.’s founders and a diverse array of artists and dancers create a mesmerising CGI painting. It’s more than just an art project; it’s a bold statement on intersectionality, celebrating diversity, unity, and empathy, and pushing towards a more inclusive tomorrow.

To mark the organization’s 5th anniversary, additional events and content include Off The Record, a Beatport-produced documentary tracing the remarkable journey of HE.SHE.THEY., highlighting co-founders Sophia Kearney and Steven Braines as they shape a brand synonymous with acceptance, expression, and diversity within the electronic music community. Beyond its acclaimed event series, HE.SHE.THEY. encompasses a fashion label and record label, featuring releases and remixes by renowned artists like DJ Minx, Cakes Da Killa, Faithless, SYREETA, and Maya Jane Coles.

Sophia Kearney and Steven Braines, the Co-Founders of HE.SHE.THEY., expressed their excitement about the collaboration, stating, “We’re thrilled to partner with Beatport.io on our first collectable collection. KINSHIP stands as a bold statement on intersectionality, embodying a celebration of diversity, unity and empathy. It’s more than just an art project, it’s a movement in the hope of a more inclusive tomorrow.”

Beatport.io will celebrate the collection’s launch with a captivating show at Disaster in Lisbon on November 16, 2023. The lineup includes renowned artists like FJAAK, SYREETA, Wax Wings, and Gusta-vo b2b Just.Kelly. The platform, developed in collaboration with Define Creative and built on Aventus, a para chain in the Polkadot ecosystem, has been bridging the gap between electronic music culture and cutting-edge technology since its launch earlier this year. The inaugural project, NACHTS, captured Berlin’s techno scene through the lens of photographer Mischa Fanghaenel, a bouncer at Berghain for over 10 years.

To explore KINSHIP, visit Beatport.io

Watch the trailer for Off The Record with HE.SHE.THEY. below:

The post Beatport.io Launches New Documentary & Digital Collection Celebrating 5 Years of HE.SHE.THEY. appeared first on Data Transmission.

The Foundation was set up by international DJ, broadcaster and host of BBC Introducing on Radio 1 Dance, Jaguar, in 2020 following her creation of the Future 1000 DJs programme with Future DJs (now Virtuoso) to improve the pipeline of female, trans and non-binary talent in dance music. Jaguar’s mission is to encourage girls and minority genders to consider a career in dance music, help teach the technical skills needed to a wider cohort of people and break down real or perceived barriers to entry.

The report found evidence supporting long-held beliefs about gender disparity in dance music – across the live industry, radio airplay, streaming platforms and in the gender balance of music organisation employees – as well as exploring a number of other discriminatory issues that female and non-binary people face.

This report comes at a critical time, with the 2022 International Music Summit (IMS) reporting that UK dance/electronic music is increasing as a share of people’s listening for the first time in eight years, predicting the start of a new growth cycle. The global dance industry’s value is estimated at $6 billion but despite this, female and non-binary people still face multiple challenges to overcome as non-male artists in the dance music scene.

The report found qualitative evidence that highlights a lack of mainstream representation for female or non-binary artists. Just 5% of dance music that featured in the UK charts had exclusively female or non-binary artists as the primary artist and feature. A similar pattern is evident across radio airplay, with less than 1% of the top 200 airplay tracks across 2020-21 of twelve UK radio stations being only female or non-binary artists, as well as across Spotify’s key electronic music playlists which featured just 25% of female-fronted electronic music artists.

The Jaguar Foundation report also explores how important the live ecosystem is to dance music, and how it offers fewer opportunities for artists of non-male genders and minority backgrounds. Although the overall gender split of employees within the UK live industry (including event companies, ticket agents, talent agencies, media companies and record labels) isn’t hugely unbalanced, males occupy 63% of senior roles compared to 37% for females. This highlights that key decision-making roles at the top remain dominated by males.

The artists and executives interviewed also reported a range of challenging obstacles and issues – from a lack of safe spaces or regulations in venues to tokenistic lineups, to sometimes huge disparity in pay between men and other genders – describing the live ecosystem as still a “boys’ club”.

“This lack of female representation in prominent artist roles, especially as headliners, make it less likely for others to consider it as a career. In technical roles like music production, there is a very low precedent for visible representation.”

Michelle Manetti, DJ, promoter and producer

Other key findings include:

● A number of issues, such as the risk of sexual harassment or objectification, late night travel (often solo) and intoxicated crowds, lead to marginalised genders feeling
unsafe when attending and working in live spaces.

● There is a continued pressure from the ‘male gaze’ that impacts the female image, both in person and online, with women in music being judged more on their appearance than men. Ageism is also more of an issue for women than men, reflecting wider societal issues.

● Qualitative research shows that jungle, drum and bass, techno and EDM genres continue to attract male-dominated and largely white crowds, reflecting the artist
make up of those scenes.

The Jaguar Foundation makes several recommendations to address the issue, categorised by audience: Industry, Artists and Fans. The full breakdown can be found here but covers areas such as education, accessible working environments, measurement of progress, safety and inclusion riders, and heightened awareness of lineups and venues.

“It’s so heartening to see Sony Music taking a lead on social justice and partnering with Jaguar and her foundation. Diversity and inclusion should be in the DNA of decision making, not an afterthought, and to make any kind of real change social justice has to be front and centre. In real world terms, this report is so important for a fairer, more inclusive and more successful music industry.”

Steven Braines, HE.SHE.THEY. and The Weird & The Wonderful Co-founder

This Jaguar Foundation report was supported by the Sony Music UK Social Justice Fund, with research lead and primary author Nicola Davies. The team collected data sets from Skiddle (Live Events), The Official Charts Company (Sales & Streaming Data), Viberate (Festival Line- ups) and Chartmetric (Pronoun Database and Radio Airplay data) to create the most comprehensive research yet into these topics.

As well as collecting data, qualitative research was conducted through roundtable discussions with female, trans and non-binary people working in and around the industry, including founders of collectives, journalists and academics. The team also conducted one-to-one industry stakeholder interviews with people working as booking agents and label executives, and artist interviews across a wide range of ages, genres, ethnicities, regional location and artist type.

“I’m proud to bring this groundbreaking gender report out into the world. My overarching mission is to make the world a better place through my work, and bringing equality to the dance world is a huge priority for me. My hope is that this becomes a springboard for much needed change in the electronic music industry, and makes women and non-binary people feel supported and represented.”

Jaguar, Founder of The Jaguar Foundation

In 2020, Jaguar launched The Jaguar Foundation, with the aim to invest in projects to bring more women, trans and non-binary people into electronic music and help create a more balanced music industry for the next generation of creatives and emerging artists. The Foundation’s debut initiative Future1000 in collaboration with FutureDJs (now Virtuoso) with the aim to address the gender imbalance in electronic music by discovering 1000 young women, trans and non-binary people from schools across the country, to take part in a DJ, production and leadership programme that was led by Jaguar. The programme was funded by the Sony Music UK Social Justice Fund and supported by DJs such as Annie Mac, The Blessed Madonna and Jayda G, with several of the programme’s students now working in the music industry as a result.

Following the release of this report, Jaguar is set to relaunch Future1000 alongside co- founders Virtuoso under a new banner; FutureDJs. The relaunch will include a new set of on-demand courses featuring a cast of world-class educators curated by Jaguar. FutureDJs will be open to all ages from across the world and will “result in real-world outcomes such as playing at international festival stages, releasing music, club bookings and radio presenting opportunities”, Austen Smart CEO of Virtuoso.

“This report is an integral part of the change our industry so very much needs. A tool to educate and dismantle our archaic ways. Inclusivity & Diversity is the core foundation of all things great, and we must be in complete acknowledgement of this. To be a part of this report was an honour – to support, to inspire & spread awareness we must continue this uprising!”

Hannah Shogbola, Founder of DAJU

The post Jaguar releases groundbreaking report on gender disparity in UK dance music appeared first on Data Transmission.

Steven is CEO and founder of The Weird & The Wonderful, multi-discipline music and arts, talent consultancy and management company with offices in London/Berlin/LA. Current clients include Maya Jane Coles, KDA, Catz n’ Dogz, Louisahhh, DJ Deeon, Wax Wings and Nocturnal Sunshine.

With his business partner Sophia Kearney they also run the electronic music division of TAP Music. So The Weird & The Wonderful’s artists joined TaP mega stars Lana Del Rey, Dua Lipa, Ellie Goulding and many more.

In this podcast we also chat about event promotion, as they also run multi-diverse and cultural club event, He. She. They.   I also get some tips out of him about artist management. He.She.They head to fabric this Saturday 24th August with Maya Jane Coles, Kim Ann Foxman & co – click here for more info.

You can listen to below or Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and more via Anchor.

The post Steven Braines chats Artist Managing Maya Jane Coles and running ‘He, She, They’ appeared first on Data Transmission.