Finding the Rhythm

Yesterday (Wednesday, actually; I’m finishing this post two days later) was the second and final day of Billboard Magazine’s Dance Music Summit (DMS) here in Las Vegas. As I finalize my packing for the flight back home, I find myself reflecting on the DMS and the dance music industry in general.

Honestly, the DMS was everything I expected—and so much less.

On the up side, as I said in my other report, I had the opportunity to meet a number of dance artists, label people, producers and others. I made a number of new friends here, and learned a thing or two in the process. And truly, any conference or trade show is more about the networking than anything else.

But the DMS itself was very nearly a joke. The panel discussions were, by and large, more about the speakers’ egos and/or self-promotion than anything else. The best (or perhaps worst) example was the final panel yesterday, which was ostensibly about thinking outside the box in terms of marketing, and was directed at labels and artists. Not a single, real, tangible, practical, useful idea was presented during the entire panel. The focus of the discussion steered repeatedly away from the subject, and typical of nearly every panel I attended, there were disagreements between panel members.

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