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Beatport takes majority stake in International Music Summit

By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 1 February 2023

Beatport has acquired a majority stake in dance music conference the International Music Summit which takes place in Ibiza, with plans to expand the event’s offering – particularly around education.

“IMS has become one of the most impactful gatherings for the global DJ and dance music industries, and everyone at Beatport is excited to take this brand to the next level”, says Beatport CEO Robb McDaniels.

He adds that he looks forward to working with IMS co-founders Pete Tong and Ben Turner – and the entire IMS team – to “broaden the IMS footprint as a major component of our plan to expand the Beatport brand around the world through community, education and thought leadership initiatives”.

IMS’s founding partners – so Tong and Turner plus Danny Whittle, Mark Netto and Simeon Friend – say: “We are very proud of what we’ve built at IMS over these past sixteen years, driving the narrative and agenda of the culture forward from the genre’s spiritual home of Ibiza”.

“Aligning with Beatport”, they go on, “who have been supporters of IMS from our inception, will enable us to action many of our ideas on how to continue to grow the platform all year round; to further educate and mentor the next generation; and to help focus the industry’s attention on the issues that matter. It will help increase our ability to have more impact for the genre”.

Last year, Beatport supported the IMS College education programme, which provided workshops, masterclasses, coaching and more to emerging DJs and producers. McDaniels also gave the opening keynote at the 2022 event.

This year’s IMS Ibiza will take place from 26-28 Apr.