10 things we learnt at IMS Ibiza

Ah Ibiza, you glorious monster you. Before the season officially kicks off and the island is invaded by thousands of rave-hungry clubbers, International Music Summit (IMS) takes place and the industry's most important figures gather for three days of stats, networking and business.

Naturally the Mixmag crew were there in force at the Hard Rock Hotel and we've digested the jargon into bitesize pieces for you. Here's what we learned at IMS Ibiza this year.

During Patrick Moxey's keynote interview he revealed the launch date of Ultimate DJ will be this spring. But don't worry, Cowell wants to remain respectful of our industry, apparently.

We all know the hullabaloo surrounding SoundCloud at the moment, with issues around licensing and monetisation. And we also know how infrequently the company comments on said hullabaloo. So when its founder and CEO Alexander Ljung stepped up for a keynote interview, the industry had a lot of questions. Turns out Ljung has got the interview skills of a media-trained politician, admitting they'd made "a ton of mistakes" and asked everyone for their patience while they work out making the platform "right".

Dalt Villa in Ibiza Town was the setting for two epic IMS parties. The first one played host to the likes of Luciano, Solomun and Sven Väth. The second featured Zhu, Becky Tong and Rudimental. Trust us, these went down.

We were told this year that Sankeys did a lot of scientific sound testing and settled on Pioneer for the main room, and Void for room two. Whatever they did, it worked a treat. The sound in each of the rooms is on point at every corner of the dancefloor. They're even giving out ear plugs for free behind the bar. That's the power of these beauties.

Well, it's definitely better than a cup of coffee, last night's pizza crust and a spliff, aka most recording studios we've been in.

There were two very unwelcome attendees who kept turning up to IMS this year: cloud and rain. But it wasn't a big issue as we were all there to go to panels and meetings, not sunbathe and drink by the pool. Honestly.

Among a whole lot of other stats and percentages, the IMS 2015 Business Report declared that our beloved industry is now valued at $6.9 billion on a global scale. Translation: we're not doing too shabby.

Looks like those high-rollers and big spenders are all heading to the US to spend copious amounts of cash. Vegas hotspots like XS and Hakkasan took in ridiculous amounts of cash and if the rate of growth we've experienced continues, these figures will only expand ten-fold.

When Carl Craig to the stage for an IMS panel, he oozed charisma and cool. The Detroit legend has always been at the top of his game and some of his vocal barbs were pretty epic. Techno game Kanye West, anyone?

Let's face it. It can get annoying when people bang on about 'unreal sunsets' in Ibiza but this year we experienced one for ourselves and it did blow us away. A great end to a great week on the Isle.