The electronic music world’s leading digital download store is expanding further into physical reality.
Beatport announced on Wednesday (June 15) its first ever ReConnect Summit, a two-day conference happening at Williamsburg, Brooklyn event space 74Wythe on September 21-22, 2022.
Summit programming will focus on electronic music culture, creative innovation, technology, Web3 and more. Electronic-oriented companies including wellness initiative Art Of Areté, harm reduction group Dance Safe and representation nonprofit Women in Music will host keynote speeches and one-on-one discussions, with metaverse company PIXELYNX and Web3 streaming platform Audius curating a slate of Web3 focused conversations. Additional programming, including performances, will be announced in the coming months.
“The challenges of the pandemic and the response from our global community have exhibited just how vibrant and resilient our culture is,” Beatport Group CEO Robb McDaniels says in a statement. “ReConnect was born out of the pandemic as an effort to help keep our community thriving, and now that we’re starting to gather again, we thought that bringing together executives, artists and fans of dance music and DJ culture would be a powerful way to reconnect.”
This event joins a slate of global electronic music industry conferences that includes the famed Amsterdam Dance Event, happening October 19-23, 2022 in its namesake city and IMS Ibiza, which took place on its namesake island this past April, happening in person for the first time in two years due to the pandemic. IMS’ U.S. edition, IMS Engage, took place in Los Angeles in the years surrounding the EDM boom, but has not returned since 2016, leaving the U.S. market open for the type of electronic industry conference Beatport is bringing this September.
“It is our hope that extending and transforming the ReConnect concept into an annual place to exchange ideas about our business, resonates with our community in New York and the U.S. in general,” says Ed Hill, the Senior Vice President of Beatport Media Group. “This is a hugely important market for the music that we all love so much.”
Beatport launched the ReConnect brand in 2020 during the pandemic, with the goal of uniting the music community and various charities. It has hosted two ornate livestream events events benefiting those affected by COVID-19, raising over $260,000 in total. In 2020, ReConnect also hosted a fundraising initiative for those affected by the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon in August 2020 explosion and for mental health organization You Are Not Alone.
Tickets for the Summit go on sale later this month and pre-registration is available now.
