IMS Ibiza 2022: Highlights from the first day of the renowned industry event

Live from the five-star Destino Hotel in Ibiza, the venue of this year's highly-anticipated International Music Summit, we're bringing you the very best bits of the first-edition of the renowned industry event since 2019.

Starting with today, the first of three days offering networking opportunities, workshops, keynote speeches and interviews, courtesy of some of the most respected professionals and artists around, we'll be walking you through all the fantastic things we've experienced, basically making you wish you were here with us (sorry, not-sorry). Without a further ado, let's get into it...

The first order of the day, a lush continental breakfast was quickly followed by the opening remarks of IMS Ibiza 2022. BBC Radio presenter, popular DJ and co-host of this year's industry gathering, Jaguar Bingham, otherwise more commonly referred to as Jaguar, kick-started proceedings alongside the co-founder of IMS, Ben Turner who took to the stage to thank delegates for making the trip out to the Balearic dance mecca. 

As the opening words concluded, stages across the site began to open and the punters began to arrive in their droves. After grabbing some essential hydration, as the Mediterranean sun began to burn off the early morning cloud, we headed to the IMS College to learn how to make our very own digital instruments. The college, powered by Beatport, Microsoft Surface and Point Blank Music School, featured an artist-led workshop held in the world-famous Tox nightclub, looking at how instruments can be created out of nothing more than vocal recordings. 

Minds blown, we decided to take a short stroll across the hotel complex to The Art of Arete villa to decompress. Purposely positioned away from the hustle and bustle of the main event, the villa provides all attendees with a place to relax and rebalance, whilst also offering tools to help with the stresses that come with working in a high pressure industry, the likes of the music industry. We arrived and immediately got involved with a breath-work workshop and meditative sound bath session.

Hours later and with a spring in our step, we headed back over to the epicentre of the summit to catch the man, the myth, the legend, Pete Tong MBE in conversation with another icon, Global Head of Music at YouTube and Google - Lyor Cohen. Many interesting stories and anecdotes were shared between the pair, including behind the scenes tales of signing talents the likes of Run DMC, as well as insider knowledge on the future of the giant social media platform.  

We continued to bounce around the event space throughout the day, stopping off at stages run by YouTube, looking at innovations being made in short form media, and the Shesaid.so community, looking at ways in which the industry can support and empower female professionals operating in electronic music. We also managed to squeeze in a few interviews with some pretty well-known and respectable names, caught hanging around the pool. Keep your eyes peeled for footage of said interviews coming soon.

As the evening closes in, the lights across the stunning resort are beginning to come alive. The drinks are flowing, spirits are high and the volume of never-failing house music continues to rise. Day one is drawing closer to its end and the party atmosphere has now taken over.

Following us on Instagram or Facebook? Expect to see plenty of live footage from sets taking place right through the night until 2 am.

We'll be back with more highlights from day two of three at IMS Ibiza 2022 tomorrow. See you then!

Are you considering a trip over to Isla Blanca this summer? If so, you need to check out Skiddle's Ibiza Guide, featuring all the best parties and events taking place over the 2022 season. 

Check out our What's On Guide to discover even more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.