Kaskade and Armin Van Buren have been announced as two of the keynote speakers for the next International Music Summit (IMS) Asia-Pacific which will be held in Singapore on Dec. 11.
The conference first began in 2007. Hosted in Ibiza, it was co-founded by British DJ, Pete Tong.Tong has released music under smash-house labels like Ministry of Sound while also becoming the host of various BBC Radio1 shows such as The Essential Mix and Tong’s Essential Selections. In 2008, he helped begin the William Morris Electronic (WME) music division alongside Joel Zimmerman, a talent agency that blew up to the point of boasting clients like Afrojack.
IMS was originally started as a platform where multiple industry names could gather and discuss the progression of EDM as whole. The event’s website writes:
“IMS was created a time when electronic music was at rock bottom and in desperate need of a productive community setting for its leaders. Ibiza was the place where the industry had always congregated every summer, so naturally, it was the starting point for our vision.”
Since conception it has grown to add multiple platforms, venues, summits, and conferences that stretch across the globe. IMS now includes summits IMS Ibiza, IMS Engage, IMS China, and IMS Asia-Pacific. The latter will be headlined by Kaskade and Armin Van Buren. They will be following in the steps of industry big-wigs NERVO, Paul Oakenfold and Steve Angello.
The DJs will be joining an assortment of other industry names to talk about the burgeoning electronic music market that is thriving in Asia. Dancing Astronaut writes that the focus of discussion this year is Tong’s vision to help “bridge the gap” between Eastern and Western EDM. More speakers are still being announced, but the event’s website already has a diverse line-up of industry professionals and DJs like Sharam and Mr. Has.