Summer - gorgeous, warm, sparkling summer. The trees are full, the blossom's floating down like snow and we're hankering after those delicious brushes of warm sunshine on our skin. Don't you just love it! But summer brings with it so much more than the seasonal sun - it also comes armed with a whole new bag of music. As spring blends into shimmering summer, our music industry flicks the switch on the vibe dial and suddenly we burst into action on the dance floor.
K-Syran
Summer is officially here and that means dance music is hot on the agenda for the next four months!
Just as the first buds of spring peep into view, our radio stations tempt and tease us as they sprinkle more vibrant and energized dance tracks across the airwaves. From that moment, us music lovers know that the new season of music has sprung into life. Summer 'sounds' are equally as important as the summer sun and as the Ibiza Music Summit came to an end last weekend, it marked the official start of the dance music season, bring it on!
With three Top 10 dance hits of my own, I understand just how important dance music is to all of us. Standing hand-in-hand with festivals and live gigs, dance clubs are one of the few places that our music can touch and interact with our audience on a live level. That's one of the few opportunities that we have to share the exhilarating musical experience as one. For me, that's what music is all about, that touching-point with my audience.
So I applaud my musical sisters who made a stand at this year's Ibiza Music Summit and addressed the vital topic of Diversity in Electronic Music. Tackling the issue of female representation within the electronic music industry, Jackie
Antas of Live Nation exposed some vital statistics about us girls in the industry:
- Just 1 out of 15 of Billboard's One's to Watch were women
- No major music labels have female bosses
- In 2014, only 18% of electronic labels include women on their rosters
- Women made up 11% of rosters in 2016
I'm sure you'll agree that these statistics are kinda shocking in what's meant to be a equal world and within an industry which focuses so heavily on female talent. The Summit discussed the need to implement a change in thought processes globally and it was agreed that there's absolutely no doubt that the industry needs to represent women more fairly. We shouldn't label talent as 'female artists' or 'female DJs' - we should be equal enough to be label for our talent, not our gender.
Bring it on girls, let's show the industry what we're made of! I'm kicking live and loud into this summer of dance with a bucket load of dance music that I'll be releasing across the season. I've been working with some awesome DJs and remixers to bring you the flavour of music that I know keeps you pumping in the clubs. From awesome Dan Boots right through to the unparalleled talent of Kandy Martines, Jamie Lewis and Mr Mike - I've been working relentlessly in the studio with them all and I promise I'll make this a musical summer that you won't forget. Watch this space - us girls will be lighting up those Ibiza dance floors very soon!