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Spirit of the ILMC Dance
by Manfred Tari edited by Allan McGowan

While some of the issues raised during the ILMC seem to have become standardized it is refreshing to see how it has changed over the years and what is new on the agenda. Regarding the ILMC Dance Club hosted by Peter Elliot of Primary, a Czech promoter commented that the debate covered almost the same issues as the year before.

Although there is a certain amount of truth in this, Elliot did a very good job as moderator and guided the discussion very well. According to the changes that have occurred during the last year the content of the debate had been in context with the current development of this particular market. The lack of new talent in this genre is indeed something that has already been acknowledged one or two years ago.

Jack Leighton Pope commented this matter by saying that the Top 6 DJs of the day are usually the pioneers of this part of the business. At the same time as the average age of clubbers grows it is the younger generation that leads the way for change. Urban music is growing and it seems to be problematic for dance promoters to fit this genre in their event formats. Jim King of Creamfield mentioned putting Black Eyed Peas on the bill for this year’s festival.

Nevertheless the consensus was that urban music requires its own settings and conditions to meet the needs of this target group. “Before Dance it was Disco” somebody said in reference to the codes of Urban, the environment for this kind of music demands a mud free zone that does not ruin the “dress to impress” outfits of Urban kids.

Sponsoring was also on the agenda of discussion and the players elaborated on the pros and cons of how Smirnoff, Heineken and other brands exploit the image transfer of music related events. Taking into consideration that the themes might be similar to previous and other ongoing discussions The Dance Club at least revealed some vision of the future of the ILMC itself.

Especially due to the extensive engagement of sponsors within the dance business it is almost obvious that the sponsoring of rock artists and their tours becomes a little bit out of fashion. Bearing in mind how Creamfield exploit the trademark and produce franchise versions of the event abroad it is another significant sign about the future of the live music business.

So in a summary perspective it could be said that the Czech promoter was right when claiming that some issues sounded similar to what has been discussed before and elsewhere, however it also shows that amendments are slowly taking place. Basically it can be said that changes within the dance segment are pioneering movements that sooner or later will reach the entire live music business, issues like franchising and licensing of live events, the involvement of sponsors in a modern way and the settings for production of events.

Even if the Dance Club was held in the smallest room at the ILMC, it could have been the future workshop for many other ILMC delegates looking for inspiration to modernise their business.