Now in it’s third year the International Music Summit returns to Ibiza in 2010. The event creates the kind of atmosphere where artists like Mark Ronson and David Guetta can rub shoulders with business bigwigs such as “global directors of creative development” from companies like Coca-Cola. The IMS is pretty forward thinking in what could be a staid and starchy environment of a business orientated conference. For example, the organisers introduced a system last year where seminar audience members could vote live on issues raised and the quality of discussion by panelists. Last year 70% of those present agreed that the IMS had “made them question how their companies work.” This could be seen as testament to the IMS being distinctive as a conference. It is not simply populated by self-gratified music industry heads, neatly patting each others backs (in the surroundings of a luxury hotel on a notorious Mediterranean island.)

The Ibiza Gran Hotel in which delegates can eat, sleep and participate in seminars and events has a definite dystopian flair. Resembling a cross between a brain surgery hospital and a space station it can leave one feeling feral within it’s functional minimalism. It is a sleek and hyper-modern affair with all the trappings a ambitious five-star hotel should, mainly a fully equipped conference centre and a cocktail bar. Who are the tenants for the three days of the IMS? Leading electronic artists and representatives of some of the world’s biggest brands. The biggest. Along with a host of smaller firms, journalists, music retailers et al. I sound like a salesman, but when you get to know it you’ll see what a remarkable place the IMS is. In a way it’s an experiment in how to hothouse the future. The Gran Hotel is one of only a handful of five star hotels in Ibiza. Architectural design is always about the future; when architects plan their buildings they assume them to exist in an imagined future. Architecture is by it’s very nature, utopian. The design of the “Ibiza Gran” defines a machine, above all – for thinking in.

We put faith in the ideology of progress; progress will make things better, as well as faster and smaller (or bigger depending on your value system). The current economic situation offers great potential for developing a new agenda for the transitory music industry. The fact that the discipline of music has become synonymous with the music profession and industry may have to be contested as losses and redundancies rise at major (such as EMI) and independent levels. Those of us who can remember previous recessions can also remember them as highly creative periods. The fact that musicians may have to redefine their operations is potentially a wonderful opportunity to recalibrate and reconsider who and what music is for. This could bring to life the gulf between expectation and reality that permeates the business. Freed from the limitations of treating music as a profession, it can offer us fantastic opportunities to develop narratives that can help us understand why we are doing the things we do.

In particular, these uncertain times are a blessing for the younger generation of musicians and producers. Equipped with a vast array of technical skills and understanding, they are almost certain to cope with the future. Future musicians may be jut as adept at web design, graphics and film-making as they are at producing music. Rather than shrinking away from potential difficulties, the younger generation of musicians may use information technologies to create new sites of musical endeavour.

Luckily for the delegates, this years conference coincides with the opening of David Guetta’s F*** Me I’m Famous party at Pacha and the opening of Space within a few days of each other. A highlight of the conference itself is an interview with Alexandra Patsavas. Pastsavas is a music supervisor on TV shows such as The OC, Grey’s Anatomy, Mad Men and Gossip Girl as well as the film Twilight. Other notable attendees include Grammy winners Mark Ronson and David Guetta. In the following video you can see some of the build up to the IMS grand finale which takes place in the UNESCO world heritage site of D’Alt Vila (old town) of Ibiza. Last year featured Basement Jaxx and this years headliner is yet to be announced – watch this space.

International Music Summit – Official Site