Asia Konnekt is your ADE gateway to East Asia

Dance music culture and Asia have been intertwined from the very start. Japan’s conception of the industry standards that birthed the hallmark sounds of modern day electronic music alone is a testament to that fact. Think of the Technics SL1200 series in 1972 - which unlocked the door to DJ-ing as we know it, Roland’s TR-909 and 303 that gave birth to techno and acid, to Akai’s MPC which democratised sampling and made it a new form of art. On Friday October 18, Asia Konnekt at De Balie is your gateway to one of the most up-and-coming scenes in the world.

Inspecting (a fragment of) Japan’s seminal role in dance music: a panel discussion on Tokyo’s most vibrant clubs kicking off the day at 1 PM. The speakers, among others Keiichiro Oshiro of Vent, Dubfire, Cana Hatsushiba of WOMB, Hito of OTO and moderator Marc Lankreijer of AMS Bookings talk about why the city became a haven for music lovers. It touches on how these clubs - like WOMB and Vent - shape the sound of the island as a whole, how the latter built its revolutionary sound system, and how Japan takes hifi to another level.

Taiwan will frame the following conversation. The densely populated island has been at the forefront of Mandarin pop music culture for almost 60 years, and has turned into a hotbed of electronic music culture throughout the East Asia region of late. Like almost everywhere else in the world it experienced a boom in dance festivals, but this year the bubble has burst. In Taiwan 101: the future of EDM on the island Brian Tsai from Spunite, the country’s longest running electronic music event company, talks to key players like Mr. Pulin from S20 Festival (which attracts a huge LGBTQ crowd from all over Asia), local media and influencers from the dance world in Taiwan to discuss the state of its scene, and where it will go from here into the future.

Next up: K-pop. South Korea is one of the most dynamic, technically advanced and productive music markets in the world right now. K-pop meets EDM, the greatest match: introducing Co-nectd discusses the newly launched Korean label Co-nectd, how it aims to bridge the two worlds, and how the country became the sixth largest music market on the globe. Confirmed speakers are Korean-American songwriter Brian Lee (who contributed for Lady Gaga, Owl City, Kygo, DJ Snake, Post Malone and Camila Cabello), Bas Jansen from Get Real! Management, Conor Systrom (Monstercat), DJ Fedde le Grand and Han Moon of Co-nectd.

Asia Konnekt will round off with another look at Japan. The country has always been somewhat insular, even in terms of the Asian world. Because of that isolation it has sprouted a unique culture that spread across the world like a wildfire, developing a leading role in the worlds of anime, VR and gaming. AVEX is Japan’s longest running (dance) music and entertainment company and has been releasing electronic music there since 1990. They’re hosting Anime VR: present and future of a new medium in a global dance music industry which focuses on the marriage between music, technology and Japanese culture. It's spread across two phases, firstly featuring representatives from AVEX and Wave, who produced the world’s first anime virtual reality video for W&W and Kizuna AI together. Allan Hardenberg (ALDA) and Denis Doeland (DDMCA) join the panel later, after which the event closes with networking drinks hosted by AMS Bookings, SBSTRM and The School Of House.

Come and visit Asia Konnekt on Friday, October 18th from 1 PM until 6 PM at De Balie. This conference is accessible for ADE Delegates.

Asia Konnekt is hosted in collaboration with some of East Asia’s foremost companies - including Avex, Co-nectd and Spunite Productions.

ADE Guesthouse takes place at De Balie and offers a day full of workshops, panels, keynotes and presentations, hosted by industry players from leading regions. For this year's edition, ADE Guesthouse will kick off on Wednesday with House of China. The French Electronic Lab, which is part of this year’s extensive Country Focus conference program in both De Balie and DeLaMar Theater, is the place where key- and new players of the French electronic scene gather on Thursday, October 17th. Asia Konnekt will close the ADE Guesthouse program on Friday.