Published
Tue, Apr 11, 2023, 20:45
- IMS was recently acquired by Beatport, which faced allegations of a toxic work environment last August.
Two music organisations, Black Artist Database and shesaid.so, have announced they will not return to this year's International Music Summit (IMS).
Black Artist Database, a community dedicated to the creative and financial advancement of Black artists, and shesaid.so, a collective of women and gender nonconforming professionals, confirmed they are pausing their partnerships with the thought-leadership event. The three-day conference is set to take place in Ibiza from April 26th to the 28th.
The platforms' decision follows news of Beatport's acquisition of IMS earlier this year. Last August, former employees claimed allegations of sexism, racism and bullying that contributed to Beatport's "toxic work environment," VICE reported. Beatport CEO Robb McDaniels has rejected those claims.
Black Artist Database (B.A.D.) said it won't be returning to IMS due to Beatport's stake in the company, according to its statement. B.A.D. had suspended its editorial partnership with Beatport a day after the VICE exposé went live. The official termination came after a seven-month internal review, in which B.A.D. claimed to have spoken with Beatport executives as well as its own community about the situation.
shesaid.so, meanwhile, said it was pausing its partnership with IMS due to a "responsibility to hold our partners accountable and to ensure that our collaborations reflect our values and mission." shesaid.so has been a frequent collaborator of IMS over the last several years, hosting panels, workshops, networking events and artist showcases. shesaid.so was set to take part in Beatport's ReConnect Summit last year but withdrew before the event was postponed indefinitely following the VICE article.
On April 14th, Beatport published an official response after Black Artist Database and shesaid.so pulled out of IMS.
"Although we're disappointed in their decision to sit out of this year’s International Music Summit due to historical concerns with Beatport’s work culture, Beatport today is a much different company than it was five years ago and we remain committed to continuing on the path of improvement," the statement said.
Reiterating its pledge to address issues claimed in the VICE article, Beatport added that its investment into IMS was part of efforts to support diversity and inclusion within the industry.
IMS also issued a statement, which you can read in full via Instagram. The company said it "understands and respects the need to make such decisions and will continue to remain strong supporters of both organisations and the values that they stand for."
Disclosure: RA is partnering with IMS to hold three panel discussions this year.
Update, April 14th: The story was updated to include Beatport's latest statement.
Update, April 17th: The story was updated to include IMS's statement.