Rooting for Dance Music

Nikhil Chinapa is India’s sole representative in a new international body,set up to further dance music

Earlier this year,at the Midem Convention,a new not-for-profit company,the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM),was launched. The convention — an acronym for Marché International du Disque et de l’Edition Musicale — is an annual event that has been held in Cannes,France,since 1967,and functions as a platform for several thousand people from the music industry. At this year’s edition in January,it was decided that a single body would be formed to further the cause of dance music in the world. A list of the company’s board of advisors was announced soon after,but at the sixth annual International Music Summit (IMS) in Ibiza,held from May 22-24,a longer list of 51 was confirmed. Among this is Mumbai-based DJ and music promoter Nikhil Chinapa. Since forming his company Submerge in 2002,and establishing Sunburn Festival in Goa in 2007,Chinapa has been constantly promoting electronic music in India.

The company was the brainchild of Ben Turner,manager of English-Canadian DJ Richie Hawtin and a partner with the IMS. With him as coordinator is entertainment industry lawyer Kurosh Nasseri. “We set out to create an inclusive organisation with the objective of being a worldwide voice for electronic dance music,” says Turner.

“The response has confirmed our view that the time is right for dance music to assert its voice. It is striking to see so many people who ordinarily are fierce rivals joining together to fight for the music they love,” he adds.

The company has offices in the US and the UK and the board of advisors includes Patrick Moxey,founder of Ultra Music in New York and the President of Sony’s Electronic Music division,Matthew Adell,CEO,Beatport,an online store for electronic music,and Tim McGee,Founder,Ministry of Sound,Australia.