14 December 2016
Newsdesk
This year saw the inaugural TDME; Japan’s first of its kind electronic music conference bringing together talking heads from a selection of respected, inspiring corporations and collectives from all around the world. Panels, talks, sessions, workshops and club shows featured around Tokyo’s culture hub, Shibuya from 1-3rd December 2016 with the likes of Giorgio Moroder, Nina Kraviz, Boiler Room, Pioneer, Ableton and Toolroom Records at venues including Red Bull Studios, WOMB, Contact and Hikarie.
The event opened with a focus on clubs, festivals and touring after an introductory message and discussion on the future of Shibuya from its mayor Ken Hasebe. Speakers included Nina Kraviz covering globalism vs glocalism, Association For Electronic Music CEO Mark Lawrence, the district’s night ambassador and respected artist, Zeebra and representatives for a number of Asia’s biggest festivals and events promoters discussing the current state of play for electronic music as well as trends in the market. Sessions and workshops ran through the day at Red Bull Studios with Pioneer, Ableton and Block FM founder, Taku Takahashi.
Day two saw panels themed around music marketing, streaming and new technologies. Ultra Music president and founder, Patrick Moxey paneled with Sony delegates on the global view of the current electronic music scene and speakers covered streaming, subscription services and labels as well as a section for marketing and media including The Fader’s US editor, Ruth Saxelby and DJ Mag’s digital editor, Charlotte Cijffers. Meanwhile, Toolroom curated a day of sessions at Red Bull Studios with their Toolroom Academy offering demo submission guidance, techno masterclass and live A&R feedback. An appearance from beloved, DJ Hello Kitty closed this year’s day time programming leading to a very special Boiler Room event featuring live music from from Japanese talents, Seiho and Galcid followed by Toolroom and Vision’s club shows at WOMB and Sound Museum Vision respectively.
With an engaging and edifying celebration of an industry which is undoubtedly becoming a global force to be reckoned with, TDME closed with two coinciding parties at the city’s leading nightclubs, WOMB and Contact. Dance music legend, Giorgio Moroder topped the bill at the former as well as masked mixer, Claptone while Contact saw Kenji Takimi and DJ Kensei keep the beats thumping till dawn.
