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IMS Ibiza 2026 Sessions Go Live With Women, Safety and AI in Focus
New IMS Ibiza 2026 videos revisit Reclaim The Dancefloor through women’s visibility, safety, access, AI and the future of electronic music
IMS Ibiza 2026 opens its archive with culture, data and accountability
The first sessions from IMS Ibiza 2026, presented in partnership with AlphaTheta, are now live on YouTube, bringing this year’s central theme, Reclaim The Dancefloor, to a wider global audience.
The newly released videos include Steven Braines’ opening keynote, the IMS Electronic Music Business Report 2025/26, an expert analysis of the report, a reflective RA Exchange conversation with Suzanne Ciani, a keynote interview with Sister Bliss, and a session on AI, copyright and new revenue streams led by Ralph Boege.
Together, the sessions capture the wider message of this year’s summit in Cala Llonga. Electronic music is growing, but the scene is also being asked to examine who benefits from that growth, who still faces barriers, and what must be protected as the industry expands.
Steven Braines calls for a safer and freer dancefloor
Steven Braines, co founder of HE.SHE.THEY., opened the summit with a keynote that framed electronic music as more than entertainment. His message focused on the values that shaped club culture from the beginning: community, inclusion, freedom, resistance and collective release.
Braines challenged the industry to look beyond familiar booking patterns and create space for talent across race, gender, sexuality and identity.
“All I’m asking is that you also platform their equally talented black and brown peers, their female peers, their queer peers, their trans peers.”
Steven Braines, HE.SHE.THEY.
He also connected representation directly to audience culture, arguing that lineups do more than reflect the scene. They help shape who feels invited into it.
“Diverse lineups give you diverse crowds.”
Steven Braines, HE.SHE.THEY.
For DJane Mag, this was one of the strongest messages of the opening keynote. The future of the dancefloor is not only about bigger stages, stronger production or global growth. It is also about access, visibility and the conditions that allow more women and underrepresented artists to build lasting careers.
“If the dancefloor isn’t safe, it isn’t free. And if it isn’t free, it’s just another room.”
Steven Braines, HE.SHE.THEY.
The IMS Business Report shows growth, but also slow gender progress
The IMS Electronic Music Business Report 2025/26 returned as one of the summit’s key reference points, offering a detailed snapshot of the global electronic music landscape.
As DJane Mag previously reported, the global electronic music industry reached $15.1 billion in 2025, while the presence of female DJs and producers continues to grow slowly across key parts of the ecosystem. Read DJane Mag’s previous breakdown of the IMS Electronic Music Business Report 2025/26.
During the report presentation, Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Research addressed the continuing gender imbalance inside electronic music. He noted that the scene still carries a major male skew among DJs and producers, even as the numbers begin to shift.
“We can see it’s beginning to change, and that’s great. 13%, 14%, 15%, but it’s too slow.”
Mark Mulligan, MIDiA Research
The point was not only statistical. It became a challenge to the wider industry. If the gap is narrowing, the next question is what labels, promoters, festivals, platforms, media and institutions can do to remove the invisible barriers that keep the pace of change slow.
“What is it that you can do to remove what might be invisible barriers?”
Mark Mulligan, MIDiA Research
For a scene built on freedom and belonging, the data reinforces a clear reality: visibility cannot be treated as symbolic. It has to become structural.
Access remains one of the industry’s biggest questions
The report analysis session featured Mark Mulligan, Aurelia Ortiz of Encode Talent, and Finlay Johnson of AFEM, with moderation by Katie Bain. The discussion moved beyond headline growth to examine the deeper realities behind the numbers.
One of the most relevant interventions came from Aurelia Ortiz, who warned that the industry must keep electronic music accessible to younger audiences and to people with fewer economic possibilities.
“We need to keep our scene accessible to younger crowds and people with fewer economic possibilities.”
Aurelia Ortiz, Encode Talent
That question is central to the future of electronic music. If ticket prices rise, nightlife becomes less accessible, and emerging artists face greater financial pressure, the scene risks losing part of the openness that made dance culture powerful in the first place.
At IMS Ibiza 2026, growth was therefore also discussed as a responsibility. The industry may be expanding, but expansion alone does not guarantee a healthier culture. The challenge is to make sure young fans, independent artists, women and underrepresented communities are not left outside the room.
Suzanne Ciani reflects on independence, women and the human soul in electronic music
Another major release from the IMS Ibiza 2026 archive is a rare RA Exchange conversation with Suzanne Ciani, the pioneering electronic musician, sound designer and five time Grammy nominated composer.
Ciani spoke about independence, survival and the persistence required to build a creative life outside systems that were not always built for women. When asked what she had to do to secure her independence, her answer was simple.
“I had to be very stubborn.”
Suzanne Ciani
The conversation also moved into the barriers women have faced in music technology spaces. Ciani recalled being asked to teach a course just for women while working with the music technology department at Berklee College of Music. At first, she questioned why such a course was necessary. The experience changed her view.
“They were always outnumbered 10 to two. They were always being judged for their wardrobe.”
Suzanne Ciani
Ciani’s perspective added historical weight to the summit’s theme. Her story connected electronic music not only with innovation, but also with independence from systems that have often limited women’s creative authority.
The session also touched on artificial intelligence and the creative spirit behind electronic music. While acknowledging the technical power of AI generated music and film, Ciani drew a clear line around what machines cannot reproduce.
“It doesn’t have a human soul.”
Suzanne Ciani
In a summit where AI, ownership and authenticity were recurring subjects, Ciani’s message landed with particular force. Technology can expand electronic music, but the emotional connection that makes dance music matter still depends on human presence, memory and intention.
Sister Bliss and Jaguar discuss visibility, legacy and women in the studio
Sister Bliss also appears in one of the strongest newly released sessions, joining Jaguar for a keynote conversation on Faithless, Insomnia, the dancefloor and the lessons that still matter for the next generation.
The conversation revisited the legacy of one of electronic music’s most defining acts, but it also became a wider reflection on visibility and self belief. Sister Bliss spoke about watching women DJs in the early rave and club scenes and understanding that their presence made another future seem possible.
“If they’re doing it and I’m a woman, well, maybe I can do it.”
Sister Bliss
That message remains deeply relevant in 2026. Visibility is not only about representation on posters or festival lineups. It shapes the imagination of the next artist who is watching from the crowd, the bedroom studio, the radio booth or the dancefloor.
Jaguar also spoke directly about the psychological barriers women and minority gender artists can still face in production spaces. She described how the studio can feel closed off when young artists do not see enough women producing, engineering or leading sessions.
“I just didn’t really see any women doing it.”
Jaguar
She also addressed one of the most damaging assumptions still placed on women in electronic music.
“They’re going to assume I’ve got a ghost producer because I’m a woman.”
Jaguar
Sister Bliss responded with advice rooted in persistence, collaboration and creative community. For emerging female DJs and producers, her message was direct.
“If you are into music and you love it, just keep at it. Keep at it.”
Sister Bliss
She also encouraged artists to question everything, collaborate and find their people. It was one of the clearest reminders across the IMS archive that no creative career is built alone.
AI, copyright and the fight to protect creators
The wider IMS Ibiza 2026 archive also expands the conversation around artificial intelligence, copyright and new revenue models for music. In a session led by Ralph Boege, CEO of Paradise Worldwide, the focus shifted to how the industry can protect original ideas, music rights and creative value as AI platforms reshape production and distribution.
Boege discussed the work around AI principles, attribution models and legal frameworks, arguing that the music industry must be able to identify how creative work is used inside AI systems and how revenue should flow back to original creators.
“We were trying to figure out how can we protect our ideas, to protect our music and have a legal frame.”
Ralph Boege
The session also highlighted the importance of attribution before music is used as training data. For Boege, the value of music begins with the creative work itself.
“Creativity of music is for us the highest value.”
Ralph Boege
Although this session does not focus directly on gender, it matters to the same ecosystem. If AI systems use creative work without proper attribution, independent artists, emerging producers and underrepresented creators risk being affected first. For women in electronic music, fair attribution and transparent revenue models are part of the same fight for visibility, ownership and long term creative power.
Reclaiming the dancefloor means protecting who gets to belong
The first IMS Ibiza 2026 sessions now available on YouTube show a summit concerned not only with business growth, but with culture, safety, access and authorship.
From Steven Braines’ call for safer and more diverse dancefloors to Suzanne Ciani’s reflections on independence, from Sister Bliss and Jaguar’s discussion of women in the studio to Ralph Boege’s warnings around AI and ownership, one message runs through the archive: electronic music cannot reclaim the dancefloor without protecting the people who create, sustain and believe in it.
More sessions from IMS Ibiza 2026 will be released soon on the official International Music Summit YouTube channel, continuing an archive of electronic music insight, culture and debate built across more than 15 years.
Watch the new sessions now and stay tuned for more conversations from this year’s summit.